the Greenhorns AGRARIAN LIBRARY 

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, and furnace repair.

In 2023 we have contracted with Paredes Painting for an exterior paint job, fire safety upgrades, and repair to the unique gutters and soffits. Like many other civic buildings in Downeast Maine it has to wait in line for fixes in a region with 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.

This hall has seen much community activity over the years, and we look forward to bringing more events for the local community during winter months now that the heating is more reliable and thanks to an animation grant from the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation.

In 2024 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 catalogged 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.