Criterion A: Commerce
Criterion A: Industry
Criterion C: Architecture
Period of Significance: ca. 1872 to 1960
Local Level of Significance
The Farwell Brothers Store is a functionally related group of three commercial buildings located along the Belfast and Moosehead Lake Railroad line in the Town of Thorndike, Waldo County, Maine. The store was built ca. 1872 and served the community from then until 1960 as a general store with the mill building added ca. 1915 and the lumber shed added ca. 1920. The store was owned by O. J. Farwell, and later his sons, from 1875 until 1960. The complex sold groceries, general merchandise, farm implements and feed. The business purchased and traded farm products from local farmers as well. The buildings are locally significant architecturally for their type, period and method of construction. Individually the store and the mill each represent a once common building type designed and built for a specific purpose. Collectively the complex functioned as a commercial hub for the town. The complex is significant in the area of Commerce as a longstanding community anchor in both retail sales and trade or barter of a wide range of agricultural products. The mill is significant in the area of Industry for its manufacture of ground grain and animal feeds. The period of significance extends from the construction date of the store, ca 1872 to its closure in 1960.