Though it abounds with history, one thing Belfast seems to lack — unlike many small Maine towns — is a good, hair-raising ghost story, the kind of legendary sighting passed down through generations. At midnight, white-gowned specters choose to waft elsewhere, not on the Harbor Walk. Apparitions apparently eschew the upper windows of the Opera House on moonlit nights. Grove Cemetery is a sea of remarkable calm in the mists billowing in off the bay. Anecdotal tales of phantom, old-house bumps and creaks are no doubt shared among friends, but the hardcore legends — the kind that end up in books – seem sparse.
Taking this paucity into account, at noon on Tuesday, Oct. 21 in the Abbott Room of Belfast Free Library, the Belfast Garden Club will host Belfast Historical Society President Megan Pinette for a seasonable exploration of the ghosts of gardens that once graced the backyards of some of Belfast’s historic homes.
Though Belfast’s first gardens were likely composed mostly of edible plants, by the time Belfast became a city in 1850, the ideal of bringing botanical beauty to one’s own spot of land was an established New England tradition. The famed rose garden of Admiral Veazie Pratt on Primrose Hill will be a feature of the talk.
Pinette is president of the Belfast Historical Society and Museum and also serves as
curator of the Belfast Museum. Active with the historical society for the past 25 years,
Pinette has worked on “The Museum in the Streets”, the 30 interpretive panels along the waterfront, downtown and residential streets, and on the Church Street architectural and history walking tour brochure.
As always, this talk sponsored by the Belfast Garden Club is free and open to the public.
