The History House is set on the south side of Elm Street, between it and the
Kennebec River, at the junction of Elm with Norridgewock Avenue and Pleasant Street. It is a two-story brick structure, five bays wide, with a side-gable roof and two end chimneys. The brick is laid in a modified English bond, with seven rows of stretchers followed by a course of headers. Its Greek Revival styling includes a simple cornice and returns at the gable ends, sidelight windows and pilasters flanking the main entrance, and granite sills and lintels. A fireproof museum wing was added to the rear of the house in 1935. The house was built in c. 1839 by Samuel Philbrick, a potter, later a clerk for Skowhegan Savings Bank, and was a fairly typical small worker's house of the period. Most similar buildings in Skowhegan were lost due to the city's industrialization over the remainder of the 19th century. The first permanent home owner was Arron Spear, a blacksmith, who later sold the house to James H.K. Lord. The house was acquired by Louise Helen Coburn, a local historian, who in 1937, opened its doors as a museum. The rear addition, added at that time, was executed with sympathetic techniques and styling. The museum is open Tuesday-Friday between June and September, or by appointment. Its collections are focused on local history, and include unique documents and artifacts. ==See also==