Poland Spring Museums

Part 3: Poland Springs Museum, Poland, ME

---

For Part 3 of my “I Do Fun Things In New England So You Don’t Have To”, I went to the Poland Spring Museum in Poland, ME and this is my new favorite museum! The architecture is stunning! Just look at the pics below! And the history of it was so cool! I’ll share some info as you scroll the photos.

“Where is Part 2?!” I didn’t take pictures that day which is very unike me so you can watch the reel about Fort Popham and just pretend you saw pics of it! Now, on to Part 3!

Not aware of this new IG Reels series I made? Heres a quick guide to it: The series is a quick 1 minute video; educational yet satirical at times. And I try to focus on one fun, weird, salacious fact from the place I visited (usually a historic home, museum, or historic site). So check out the Reels Series on my IG: @whitemuckphoto but for now Enjoy some photos from:

Part 3: Poland Spring Museum, Poland, ME

This building was built for the 1893 World Fair which took place in Chicago. 36 states submitted houses/buildings for the fair. This is the Maine State Building. All the materials from this home came from Maine, were shipped to Chicago, constructed there, and remained there for the duration of the fair. At the endo f the fair it was set to be demolished however….

Hiram Rickers bought the building and had it moved to his private property where he used it as a tourist attraction and boutique hotel. Rickers had a massive property where Poland Springs ran through. He realized the water was so pure, he proposed to doctors and scientists that this water be promoted as a cute/healthy choice for how clean it is. He vowed it was so pure, it cured his chronic heartburn! The property also features a golf course, a chapel, and the original bottling plant for Poland Springs! The wildest thing I learned at this museum was…

About the history of America’s first serial killer! He used the 1893 World’s Fair as his means for finding and killing single women. To learn more about him and his story, check out PART 3 of my IG Reels Series!

Want to check out videos from this series? Click the IG button below to see my “I Do Fun Things In New England So You Don’t Have To” Series!

A Holiday Proposal...

Is this a Hallmark movie? A proposal at the Christmas Tree Farm?

No, it’s better because it was Katie & TJ’s Proposal! Keep scrolling to see the magic from their wintery proposal!

Why do I love the story of Tj’s proposal to Katie so much? Well for starters, Katie is one of my best friends! But the plot thickens! I asked Katie and TJ if I could take their picture at the Tree Farm so that I had samples to use for this year’s Tree Farm Sessions. They said yes, and TJ being the sly dog he is, reached out to me a few weeks before the photoshoot to ask if I would be ok with him using that opportunity to propose to Katie. My literal response? (keep reading!)

“TJJJJJJJJ I’ve been WAITING for this day!!!” Because even though I never said anything to either of them, my secret hope was that when the big day did come, TJ would ask me to be the one to capture the moment! I was so excited for both of them and it was shockingly easy to keep this secret from Katie despite the fact that she… (keep reading!)

Had messaged me the week before and we were discussing outfits for the “photoshoot day” and even said something like “this would be a great opportunity for TJ to use this time to propose. But I bet her won’t be clever enough to do that”. I, of course, had to act like I had no clue that he DID in fact already ask and had it planned out and I responded with “maybe he’ll propose on Christmas!”. So TJ and I made a loose plan to talk about “the lighting” and I would get Katie to turn around for a pose. I had mistletoe with me and told her I had this idea for a pose where he will be behind her and holding up the mistletoe. She was very confused by my vision of this but thankfully stayed turned around so that TJ could get down on one knee. And when he was ready, I said “scrap it, this pose isn’t going to work” so that she turned around and said… well, she said the last thing you’d expect someone to say who is getting proposed to. Katie said….(keep reading!)

“Jesus fucking Christ!” Yep. Katie turned around to see the love of her life proposing to her and her initial reaction was to say “Jesus fucking Christ!” ahhh yes, classic Katie. The good news is she said this because she was genuinely surprised, or maybe shocked, that TJ was proposing! TJ responded with “would you like to marry me” and the best news of all is, despite her initial exclamation, Katie said YES! Once she had the ring on her finger she turned to me and said “did you know about this?” and my response was “duh, how do you think I got you to turn around?”. She then said to TJ “ wait, is this the team?”. I, not knowing what what means, asked “team?” and Katie said she had just asked TJ that week if he was working on a proposal for her (they are a modern couple, of course they talked about getting married, a proposal, the ring, etc in advance) and TJ said yep. But really, what more of a team did you need to put on a great surprise proposal with beautiful pics besides TJ and I? And yes, TJ picked a ring that was perfect for Katie, a very unique ring. A gold band with little stars across it! So, the moral of the story? (keep reading!)

Well, the moral of the story is TJ proposed to Katie, she said yes, I got to photograph it which was my hope, and they are getting married next year! I am so excited for them and obviously its not secret I am so stoked, and grateful, that I got to be the one to capture the moment! Congrats to Katie & TJ!