The Major Reuben Colburn House is a

historic house museum A historic house museum is a house of historic significance that has been transformed into a museum. Historic furnishings may be displayed in a way that reflects their original placement and usage in a home. Historic house museums are held to a ...

and state historic site on Arnold Road in

Pittston, Maine Pittston is a town in Kennebec County, Maine, United States. The population was 2,875 at the 2020 census. The town was named after the family of John Pitt, who were early settlers. Pittston is included in the Augusta, Maine micropolitan New En ...

. Built in 1765, it was the home of

Reuben Colburn Reuben Colburn (1740–1818) was a shipbuilder in Pittston, Maine who made great contributions to the American side in the Revolutionary War. His home, the Major Reuben Colburn House, is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Biograp ...

, a patriot and shipbuilder, from 1765 to 1818. The house, one of the first to be built in the area, is most notable as one of the staging area's for

Benedict Arnold Benedict Arnold ( Brandt (1994), p. 4June 14, 1801) was an American military officer who served during the Revolutionary War. He fought with distinction for the American Continental Army and rose to the rank of major general before defect ...

's 1775 Quebec expedition. It is operated by the state as the Colburn House State Historic Site, and 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 2004.

Description

The Colburn House stands on a rise overlooking the

Kennebec River The Kennebec River (Abenaki language, Abenaki: ''Kinəpékʷihtəkʷ'') is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed June 30, 2011 river within the U.S. state of Maine. It ri ...

to the west. It is set south of the First Congregational Church of Pittston, on the west side of Arnold Road, an old alignment of

Maine State Route 27 State Route 27 (abbreviated SR 27) is part of Maine's system of numbered state highways, running from the village of Newagen in Southport at SR 238 to the Coburn Gore-Woburn Border Crossing, where it continues into Quebec as Route 161. SR ...

, which runs just to the east. The house is a -story timber-frame structure, with a side gable roof, central brick chimney, and clapboard siding. The front facade is five bays wide, with slightly irregular spacing of windows, and a comparatively elaborate front door surround consisting of flanking sidelight windows and pilasters supporting a corniced entablature.

History

Reuben Colburn and his family settled in Gardinerston (then part of

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

) in 1761. In 1763, he was granted of land and built a saw mill, brick yard, boat yard, and grist mill on the shores of the

. In 1765, he built his two-story home on "an eminence which gradually slopes down to the shore." Colburn was later described as "one of our earliest 'kings of industry.'" Colburn assisted

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

and

in the planning and provisioning of Arnold's 1775 military expedition through the northern wilderness of Maine to

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...

. This site was one of the last outposts of support and supply for the expedition. The house passed out of the Colburn family in 1953, after which it underwent some restorative work under private ownership. It was acquired by the state in 1971, and has been operated as a historic site since.

References

External links

Colburn House State Historic Site
Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry

Arnold Expedition Historical Society {{Authority control Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Maine Houses in Kennebec County, Maine Museums in Kennebec County, Maine Historic house museums in Maine Maine state historic sites Houses completed in 1765 National Register of Historic Places in Kennebec County, Maine Historic district contributing properties in Maine