the Greenhorns AGRARIAN LIBRARY 

You can read a digital copy of our printed "Library Guide" created by Patrick Kiley of Publication Studio. This helps interpret the use/history of this collection.

The library is housed on the ground floor of the historic “Washington Lodge”, an Odd Fellows Hall built in 1896, designed by architect Nathan Foster. The hall is protected by an easement with Maine Preservation, which had listed it as ‘critically endangered’ in 2017. So far the building has received new windows, new outward facing front door and steps, a new roof, emergency lighting and exit signs, new exterior paint, updated wiring and repair to bulkhead/ground floor egress. Next on the list is 2nd floor egress, soffit/gutter repair, improved lighting in the theater and exterior, and updated historically-correct front porch with bigger landing.

As with many civic buildings in Downeast Maine, our restoration efforts are delayed by a critical shortage of restoration-oriented builders (see the Maine Civic Halls Initiative).

As the fulcrum of our cultural project, we have named this building Reversing Hall, in honor of the tidal falls at the end of our peninsula. The Reversing Falls boil at mid-tide with 13 acres of whitewater, surging, swirling and vortexing, a great place for eagles and seals, and of course the subtidal seaweeds. The Passamaquoddy word Kapskuk, gives us the name for Cobscook Bay—our beloved home—in the northeasternmost corner of the USA, adjoining Passamaquoddy Bay (and homeland) and the Bay of Fundy.

The Agrarian Library and study area is housed on the bottom floor with an ample reading room, sofa, tables, lamps, kitchen, high-speed wifi, and printer/scanner. On the top floor we host our summer workshops, trainings, dance parties, and film screenings using the beautiful red velvet sofas leftover from the Odd Fellows who ceased their use of the hall in 2007.

In 2025 look out for the “Hall to Hall” tour of civic architecture in Downeast Maine, connecting and celebrating the social history of these beautiful buildings. The “Hall to Hall” tour will consist of a printed brochure and a series of pop-up exhibits. This follows in our habit of touring exhibition projects, like the 2017 project “Grange Future,” which traced the politics, songs, economic legacy, and cultural fabric of the Grange Movement in the United States; or the 2019 OUR LAND: Acequia Commons; or the 2020 Earthlife exhibition.

The Greenhorns Agrarian Library contains approximately 9,000 catalogued volumes. The project aims to enable historical exploration and contemporary cultural production. As such, the library safeguards agricultural materials and provides tools for land-based and self-directed learning. As a system for circulating materials—books, ideas, conversations, and projects—the library provides the opportunity for unconventional learning paths.

We hope you will feel welcome to visit and join us in this collective project of making a future together.