B A C K   T H E N

Ora B. Quimby Farm

This is the farm of Ora B. Quimby, Cambridge, Somerset County. Although the 1910 Census counted over 60,000 Maine farms, relatively few merited a visit from an EIC photographer. Most that were photographed were in resort areas and no longer cultivated much or at all, having, in effect or in fact, hung out a sign reading, “Tourists Taken Here.”

Despite the surplus of moribund or abandoned farms — many were brought up by summer people — there still were a great many active farms with good soil and able people which were productive and successful. Ora Quimby was a progressive dairyman, and his farm, located on the shore of Cambridge Pond, lay in a belt of good soil that supported a number of dairy farms, some belonging to other Quimbys.

Today, only one large dairy farm remains in Cambridge, and of the handsome set of buildings that were once the Quimbys’ pride, only the house now stands. The rugged barnyard fence, at left, looks to be horse-high and bull-strong. Few fences were also pig-tight. At right, by chance or by design, the EIC Maxwell balances the composition.

Text by William H. Bunting from Maine On Glass. Published by Tilbury House Publishers, 12 Starr St., Thomaston, Maine. 800-582-1899.

Maine On Glass and prints of the photographs are available through the Penobscot Marine Museum: PenobscotMarineMuseum.org.