McLellan House

     After a visit to the Academy Building, I continued on to another listing in the National Register of Historic Places at USM - the McLellan House. The McLellan House on School Street now houses the Center for Education Policy, Applied Research & Evaluation; as it was after hours, the building was closed. I roamed the exterior and tried to see if I could glimpse the Academy Building from there, since that site was originally part of this homestead, but the line of view was blocked by trees.



     The house is historically significant as it was the first brick building constructed in Cumberland County, completed in 1773. The house was built by Hugh McLellan, an immigrant from Ireland, for his family. It was built from bricks made on site with clay from Tommy's Brook, which ran through his land. The brick work looks extraordinarily well preserved after 240 years. I took a photo of just the bricks to highlight the craftsmanship.
It appears that the white part of the house was added on at a later date, and the barns and outbuildings shown in old pictures are long gone. I don't know the date of the image below, but it's likely contemporary to Hugh's time. Later images from the late 1800's show an addition built onto the left of the house.

     Hugh McLellan purchased two hundred acres in Narragansett No. 7 for ten pounds in 1739, before the town of Gorham was incorporated. He and his family lived in a log house and in the fort during the French and Indian War, but were able to complete their brick house in four years, 1769-1773. The house had been used at times for schooling before grammar schools were built, as houses often were. The family was also noted for their military service and were great supporters of the Revolution. Having made money in lumbering and farming, Hugh McLellan was also able to contribute most of the funds for the town to purchase a load of corn for the town's suffering soldiers during the Revolution. Hugh and his wife Elizabeth were the progenitors of the McLellans in Gorham, and they and their family were influential citizens. Their youngest son, Thomas McLellan, gave one acre of land for the Academy Building, and one of  the McLellan descendants, Hugh Davis McLellan, wrote "History of Gorham, ME" which was further edited and published by his daughter, Katharine Lewis, in 1902. The town and the university owes much to these first citizens of Gorham.

     The day after my visit, I went back during business hours so I could view the interior. Sharon, an administrative staff person, showed me around. I particularly noted the narrow stairways and the wonderfully detailed, recessed windows and sills. The building was acquired by Gorham State College in 1966 and was made into housing for women in the honors program. The dormitory was eventually opened to other students aged 20 years or older. Over time, the building usage changed again, housing Human Resources for a time, and now the Center for Education Policy, Applied Research & Evaluation, as stated earlier.  

 

Sources consulted include:
http://www.mainememory.net/artifact/15708/enlarge
http://books.google.com/books?id=c1tAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA242&dq=Gorham+Academy&hl=en&sa=X&ei=B_qKUc-EO4qH0QG_5IDQDA&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=hugh%20mclellan%20house&f=false
http://usm.maine.edu/library/specialcollections/campus-descriptions-gorham
http://www.usm.maine.edu/arboretum/area-e