Christina Explores Maine : Lebanon Town Pound

November 9 2013 around Noon

Initial Notes: Honestly, I have noticed this thing sitting on the side of the road since I was young. I've lived in Lebanon my entire life (other than the three or so days I lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts after my birth which apparently make it so I am "from away"). I have never given much thought to it growing up, just thinking it was some weird stone thing that no one really cared about. Then I took this class and when this project was mentioned I instantly thought of this thing. It is in really great condition for being so old and no on really seems to bother it. It has never been vandalized and there was no trash around it. The grass was cut and nothing was overgrown. The town seems to really care about this piece of history.

Reaction: The Lebanon Town Pound for stray farm animals was built in 1813. In 2001 it was restored by the Lebanon Historical Society. It was restored in memory of Harriette M. Hersom and unfortunately I could not find any information on her. I can only assume from the plaque that she donated a lot of money and time to the Lebanon Historical Society in life, so they decided to restore this piece of history in her memory.

After some research I have found that these types of pounds were common in New England early in the colonial era. According to Susan Allport author of Sermons in Stone and Elizabeth Banks MacRury author of Town Pounds in New England, these town pounds in Massachusetts alone date back to 1635. Town pounds were initially made of wood fencing, but they often times had to be rebuilt due to wear and tear. This led to towns preferring to make their pounds out of stone because it lasted a lot longer (obviously since we can still find them in New England towns). This transition began in 1740 and by 1800 all town pounds were made of stone. The point of the town pounds was to have a common area that people could bring stray animals that were lost, a problem, or illegally roaming around. The pounds were common and regularly used from the 1600s till the late 1800s.

Town pounds that have survived represent many different time periods and building techniques. We can see from looking at the ones that are still around the way buildings have changed and techniques. A lot of the pounds were restored in the 20th Century by historical societies looking to maintain their town's history (as is what they are for). The restoration usually only involves replacing stones that may have fallen because the bases of the walls tend to be pretty sturdy and reliable.

The Lebanon Town Pound is located on Center Street. It is a round pound that has an open entrance. The entrance is topped with a lintel stone and has a vertical stone slab on either side of the entrance. This is apparently an unusual feature of town pounds.

What I love so much about my town's pound is how interesting its history is. If I hadn't taken this Maine History course I never would have thought to actually research the pound. I just always thought it was a random stone wall, but now apparently the stone walls and structures around New England and my hometown are quite important to American History. There are people who have written entire books about these things! What else I love is how this concept shows how close knit small communities and towns were back in the 1600s. The towns just build a round circle out of stone and were like "Hey, if anyone's cows get loose just put them in here". I mean, I'm sure it was more elegantly discussed and decided, but that's the gist of the concept. People in New England, and Maine especially, were and even still today very close knit. The communities of people that live in Maine trust each other, but not outsiders and people from away. They could trust that their livestock and any other animals would be put into these town pounds for them to retrieve. I just really admire the collective idea of the towns and people to have thought to build these structures.