By Carol Stocker, Globe Staff, 11/01/2000
HALLOWELL - For tourists who venture inland from the coast,
Maine's smallest city (pop. 2,500), just south of Augusta, is
a real find. Because of its site along the Kennebec River near
the head of the tide, Hallowell served as an early trading station
for the Colonists and developed into a major shipping port and
cultural center in the 19th century.
Still largely undiscovered by tourists, it has long been a year-round destination for state residents due to its cluster of interesting restaurants, antiques stores, and other specialty shops - and its easy location just off Interstate 95. The downtown area, a National Historic District, is a compact and beautifully restored Victorian period piece. Water Street's riverfront brick and granite storefronts once housed ship chandlers and warehouses. Beautiful ship captains' homes and churches of local granite rise up the hill away from the river. Some buildings date from the 1820s. But Hallowell is also a healthy, vibrant community that attracts an eclectic mix of artisans.
Their work is featured in local galleries such as the Harlow Gallery, which is run as a cooperative by the Kennebec Valley Art Association, at 160 Water St. Maine's recently appointed poet laureate, Baron Wormser, lives in Hallowell. Hallowell's revitalization dates from the mid-1970s, when the US Department of Transportation considered knocking down most of the old buildings along the river to widen the road. Town residents successfully rallied to save their riverfront, and the date of their first mass protest meeting, in the third weekend of July, is now observed annually as Old Hallowell Day.
''There's not much in Maine open in the winter, so visitors travel a longer distance to see us,'' says Richard Marsano, co-owner of Johnson-Marsano Antiques at 172 Water St. ''Hallowell is central, so people from northern and southern Maine meet here. We're equidistant from three colleges - Bowdoin, Bates, and Colby - so we get the parents on Parents' Weekends, and football weekends, too.'' Like the legislators and lobbyists at the state Capitol (built with Hallowell granite) just 2 miles up the street, they come to eat.
Slates Restaurant & Bakery at 169 Water St., famous for its Sunday brunches, is the biggest draw. The award-winning Lucky Garden, the Thai River View, and the River Cafe, which serves Lebanese fare, are ethnic restaurants located on Water Street, as almost everything is. A new brewpub scheduled to open later this month has taken the name the Liberal Cup to reflect the city's progressive politics.
The Kennebec Coffee Co. at 104 Water St. is an unhurried hangout with stuffed furniture and pastries, while the Wharf at 132 Water St. is a bar with excellent rock, jazz, country, and blues acts on Friday and Saturday nights. After people eat, many go shopping. An easy stroll down six blocks of Water Street covers most of the shops. Each is one-of-a-kind, and so is much of the merchandise, which is heavy on antiques and local artwork.
With no Gap stores in sight, Hallowell can make a visitor feel as though he or shehas entered a pre-mall time warp, where historic little downtowns thrive and every merchant has roots in the community. Hallowell was one of Maine's first ''antiques villages,'' as clusters of antiques stores are often called. Though even central Maine has yielded most of its best antiques to professional pickers by now, Water Street still boasts a dozen antiques stores with prices generally lower than those found on the coast, and out-of-state dealers still visit regularly.
Most of the shops are independent stores rather than group outlets, and are run by knowledgable people who earn their livings selling antiques. They can answer buyers' questions, and they price their merchandise to sell. Brass and Friends is a major regional source for quality antique lighting fixtures, though it looks like a junk store with its pack rat's piles of odds and ends among the glass globes and beaded shades. Narrow paths through the heaps lead to numerous dead ends; leave a trail of bread crumbs as you browse so you can retrace your steps and find your way out. Merrill's Bookshop is permeated with the rich smell of old leather bindings, and has a strong selection of Maine history.
Josiah Smith Antiques specializes in Asian and British ceramics and early glass. Berdan & Newsom Antiques is widely known for folk art and early painted country furniture. China Lake Coins & Currency next door sells old letters and other ephemera. Acme Antiques has 1950s lamps and textiles.
Reappearances offers vintage clothing. Johnson-Marsano Antiques sells Victorian, Art Deco, and Bakelite jewelry for prices under $1,000. Judith Johnson has studied the field since she began collecting as a child, and even her $5 items (''future antiques'') are helpfully and accurately labeled in minute, meticulous handwriting.
Water Street is also lined with specialty shops, including Water Street Yarns, Berry & Berry Floral, Paper Kicks cards and gifts, the Kennebec Cigar Co., and David-Brooks Goldsmiths. The Hubbard Free Library, the first library building erected in Maine, is at 115 Second St., which runs parallel to Water Street one block farther from the river. Around the corner on Central Street is Brahms-Mount Textiles, a former granite-cutting shed where blankets are now woven on restored old looms. The Cushnoc Trader (''cushnoc'' is a Native American word for ''head of tide''), in a private home at 2 Middle St., parallel to Water and Second but farther up the hill, sells reproduction antiques.
Though there are hotels a short drive away, locals highly recommend Maple Hill Farm Bed & Breakfast, 3 miles from downtown. It's an 1890 working farm where children can see the chickens that laid their breakfast eggs and pet a goat. Owners Scott Cowger and Vincent Hannan cut their hayfields, but there are cross-country ski trails in the nearby woods. ''The shops are generally open year-round,'' says Bruce Weber, of Josiah Smith Antiques. ''There's no day when all the shops are closed - unless there's a big funeral in town. But people are very individualistic in this town, and lots of people don't keep set hours.'' Adds Marsano, ''Everything is weather-dependent. This is Maine, after all.''
This story ran on page C07 of the Boston Globe on 11/1/2000. © Copyright 2000 Globe Newspaper Company.
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