The Charles Best House is a historic house on Old County Road in West

Pembroke, Maine Pembroke is a town in Washington County, Maine, United States. The population was 788 at the 2020 census. The town is home to a reversing falls on Mahar's Point. History Called ''Pennamaquan'' by the Passamaquoddy Indians, the area was sett ...

, United States. Built in 1845, it is a fairly typical example of a mid-19th century Greek Revival connected farmstead. It is notable as the birthplace in 1899 of Charles Best (1899–1978), who is credited as a co-discoverer of

insulin Insulin (, from Latin ''insula'', 'island') is a peptide hormone produced by beta cells of the pancreatic islets encoded in humans by the ''INS'' gene. It is considered to be the main anabolic hormone of the body. It regulates the metabolism o ...

and the development of its therapeutic use in the treatment of

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...

. The house was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1982.

Description and significance

The Best House is set on the north side of Old County Road in the village of West Pembroke in

Down East "Down East", also "Downeast", is a term for parts of eastern coastal New England and Canada, particularly the U.S. state of Maine and Canada's Maritime Provinces, an area that closely corresponds to the historical French territory of Acadia. Th ...

Maine. The main portion of the house is a -story wood frame block, three bays wide, with a front-facing gable roof and clapboard siding. The entrance, set in the leftmost bay of the southwest-facing front, is flanked by sidelight windows and topped by an entablature. Southeast of the main block, a -story ell has a secondary entrance with a gable-roof dormer above. A second ell connects this wing to a single-story carriage house and a barn. The house is estimated to have been built about 1845. In 1899, it was here that Charles Best was born. Best was educated at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

, and in 1921 began a fruitful collaboration with Drs.

Frederick Banting Sir Frederick Grant Banting (November 14, 1891 – February 21, 1941) was a Canadian medical scientist, physician, painter, and Nobel laureate noted as the co-discoverer of insulin and its therapeutic potential. In 1923, Banting and J ...

and John Macleod. On January 11, 1922, Best administered the first dose of

to a human subject. Although he did not formally share in the

Nobel Prize in Medicine The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or medicine. The Nobel Prize is not a single prize, but five separate prizes that, according ...

awarded in 1923 to Banting and Macleod, the latter shared his prize money with Best. Best continued his successful research career with the development of several enzyme-based therapies. He died in 1978. His birthplace was purchased in 1959 by the

American Diabetes Association The American Diabetes Association (ADA) is a United States-based nonprofit that seeks to educate the public about diabetes and to help those affected by it through funding research to manage, cure and prevent diabetes (including type 1 diabetes, ...

, and transferred in 1978 to the

National Trust for Historic Preservation The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a privately funded, nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that works in the field of historic preservation in the United States. The member-supported organization was founded in 1949 by ...

, which sold it, with preservation restrictions, into private hands.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Best, Charles, House Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine Greek Revival houses in Maine Houses in Washington County, Maine National Register of Historic Places in Washington County, Maine Houses completed in 1845

Description and significance

See also

References