Built around 1800, it's known as the Spofford-Wanning house, but over the last 224 years it has had numerous owners and links to many families who have shaped Blue Hill's history.
The house has survived at least three fires—one in 1911 destroyed the barn, but a new barn was soon erected. A bucket brigade of townspeople passed buckets of water from the church to prevent the fire from spreading to the house.
Daniel Spofford, a carpenter, miller and builder, built the house on land he purchased in the 1790s. He also helped build and operate two of the first tidal mills in the area on the Mill Pond north of Blue Hill Falls. One was a saw mill, the other a grist mill. He was one of the five men Blue Hill residents elected in the 1790s to build the first town meeting hall. Spofford left Blue Hill in 1803 and moved to Bucksport where he died in 1852 at age 86.
Spofford's son Daniel followed his father's vocation to become a mill builder and with Nathan Ellis-built the first mill at what was then called McHard's, now East Blue Hill.
After deciding to leave Blue Hill, Daniel Spofford sold his house to the Holt Brothers, Jeremiah and Jonah, ship owners and storekeepers, who later built and owned the house at 3 Water Street that now serves as the Blue Hill Historical Society headquarters.
The Carter family owned the Spofford house from 1875 to 1902, when it was sold to Captain William Peters and his son-in-law Eugene Hinckley and their wives, Abby and Ella Mae. Mr. and Mrs. Hinckley later became the sole owners. They had four children, one of whom, Wallace Hinckley, became a builder and architect and lived in the house with his own wife and children until his death at age 35 in 1918. He made a lasting mark on the area by designing and building Arcady, the Nevin family mansion overlooking Blue Hill Falls.
In the 1970s and 80s, Wallace's son William documented Blue Hill's history in a regular column for the Weekly Packet, and those articles were bound into a series titled "Bits of Local History." William was born in the Spofford-Wanning house in 1913.
In 1945, the Hinckley heirs decided to sell the house, in part because the spring that had long been its sole source of water suddenly stopped prod...
The house has survived at least three fires—one in 1911 destroyed the barn, but a new barn was soon erected. A bucket brigade of townspeople passed buckets of water from the church to prevent the fire from spreading to the house.
Daniel Spofford, a carpenter, miller and builder, built the house on land he purchased in the 1790s. He also helped build and operate two of the first tidal mills in the area on the Mill Pond north of Blue Hill Falls. One was a saw mill, the other a grist mill. He was one of the five men Blue Hill residents elected in the 1790s to build the first town meeting hall. Spofford left Blue Hill in 1803 and moved to Bucksport where he died in 1852 at age 86.
Spofford's son Daniel followed his father's vocation to become a mill builder and with Nathan Ellis-built the first mill at what was then called McHard's, now East Blue Hill.
After deciding to leave Blue Hill, Daniel Spofford sold his house to the Holt Brothers, Jeremiah and Jonah, ship owners and storekeepers, who later built and owned the house at 3 Water Street that now serves as the Blue Hill Historical Society headquarters.
The Carter family owned the Spofford house from 1875 to 1902, when it was sold to Captain William Peters and his son-in-law Eugene Hinckley and their wives, Abby and Ella Mae. Mr. and Mrs. Hinckley later became the sole owners. They had four children, one of whom, Wallace Hinckley, became a builder and architect and lived in the house with his own wife and children until his death at age 35 in 1918. He made a lasting mark on the area by designing and building Arcady, the Nevin family mansion overlooking Blue Hill Falls.
In the 1970s and 80s, Wallace's son William documented Blue Hill's history in a regular column for the Weekly Packet, and those articles were bound into a series titled "Bits of Local History." William was born in the Spofford-Wanning house in 1913.
In 1945, the Hinckley heirs decided to sell the house, in part because the spring that had long been its sole source of water suddenly stopped prod...
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The Weekly Packet (Digital) - 1 Issue, February 20. 2025