The Edith Marion Patch House is a historic house at 500 College Avenue in

Old Town, Maine Old Town is a city in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. The population was 7,431 at the 2020 census. The city's developed area is chiefly located on the relatively large Marsh Island, though its boundaries extend beyond that. The island i ...

. Built about 1837, the house was from 1913 to 1954 it was the home of

entomologist Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...

and writer

Edith Marion Patch Edith Marion Patch (27 July 1876 – 28 September 1954) was an American entomologist and writer. Born in Worcester, Massachusetts, she received a degree from the University of Minnesota in 1901 and originally embarked on a career as an Englis ...

. She named the house Braeside for the Scottish bluebells that grew on the property. The house was rescued from demolition in 2000, and plans are in development to establish a research center and museum dedicated to Patch's life and work. It 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 2001.

Description and history

The Patch House is set on the east side of College Avenue, at the northern end of the campus of the

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine or UMO) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Orono, Maine. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the Flagship universities, flagshi ...

, most of which is located in Orono. It is a -story wood-frame Cape style house, three bays wide, with a side-gable roof, clapboard siding. A two-story addition extends to the rear of the main block. The main facade is symmetrically arranged, with a gable-roofed entrance bay flanked by sash windows. The entrance is flanked by sidelight windows and is topped by a molded hood; there is a sash window in the gable above. The house was built about 1837 and expanded twice, the last time about 1900. Edith Marion Patch purchased the house, which sat on a parcel of land more than in size, in 1913. She sold off the land across College Avenue, and lived in this house with her sister Alice. Edith died in 1954, several years after Alice. Patch, a graduate of the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

, was hired by the university to work at its agricultural experimental station. She eventually came to head that station, and spent her entire professional career at the university. She published a number of articles in leading journals, and did groundbreaking research on

aphid Aphids are small sap-sucking insects and members of the superfamily Aphidoidea. Common names include greenfly and blackfly, although individuals within a species can vary widely in color. The group includes the fluffy white woolly aphids. A t ...

s, which were a major crop pest. She retired from the university in 1937, but continued to be active in professional circles.

Preservation

In 1997, the building, owned by the

, was scheduled to be burned as a training exercise for the Old Town Fire Department. After the Maine Historic Preservation Commission determined that it was eligible for NRHP consideration and it was listed as one of Maine's 10 most endangered historic properties, the University worked with private groups to raise funds for a rehabilitation of the house.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine Houses in Penobscot County, Maine Gothic Revival architecture in Maine Buildings and structures in Old Town, Maine Buildings and structures at the University of Maine National Register of Historic Places in Penobscot County, Maine Houses completed in 1837

Description and history

Preservation

See also

References