New Gloucester

New Gloucester combines early town history with glimpses of farm life and activities close to nature. If you’re choosing between historical sites, a farm visit, and time outdoors for your trip, you’ll find a range of options here—from the New Gloucester Historic District to the trails of the Pineland Public Lands.

Historic Sites and Shaker History

The New Gloucester Historic District includes 31 listed properties; 20 of them date from before 1820. The two-story Federal-style houses illustrate the town’s early prosperity, which was predominantly based on agriculture. One house is particularly notable for its place in local history: New Gloucester’s first timber-frame house was built by Isaac Parsons in 1761 and still stands today.

The Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village, founded in 1783, offers a different historical perspective. It is home to the world’s only active Shaker community. The Sabbathday Lake Shaker Museum is located within this community. Here, the history of the place and an active community today are connected in a special way. If you’re interested in religious communities and their history, you can include this part of New Gloucester in your travel plans.

Discover Farm Life

At the Family Farmyard at Pineland Farms in New Gloucester, Maine, you can experience farm life in a hands-on, educational way. Animals kept year-round include laying hens, goats, sheep, Shetland ponies, rabbits, and peacocks. The variety offers a firsthand encounter with different animals and everyday life on a farm. To access the Family Farmyard and Valley Farm, an online reservation for a time slot grants entry to a self-guided tour. This offers an independent way to explore; be sure to factor the reserved time slot into your plans.

Food and Local Products

The Market at Pineland Farms combines its own kitchen and bakery with locally sourced foods. It offers fresh breakfast and lunch dishes; the Market also sells locally sourced fruit and vegetables, meat, cheese, and baked goods. Alongside the farm experiences, this offers a culinary way to explore Pineland Farms. If you enjoy discovering local products while traveling or want to plan a meal from the on-site kitchen and bakery, you’ll find another appealing focus here.

Trails and Winter Activities

The Pineland Public Lands cover more than 600 acres and extend across New Gloucester, Gray, and North Yarmouth. The trails offer ways to explore the landscape on foot. Two of the three trails are open to mountain biking. This distinction is helpful when deciding whether you’d rather spend time outdoors hiking or mountain biking.

Winter brings another activity option: the South Loop Trail is used for snowshoeing and cross-country skiing. The experiences described here vary by season and mode of travel. For a trip focused on nature and activity, the Pineland Public Lands offer a destination in their own right; if you’d rather focus on history or farm life, the other places in New Gloucester offer a very different experience.

More to Discover and Events

The New Gloucester Historical Society holds an annual Strawberry Festival as a benefit event. Its program also includes monthly events featuring speakers, excursions, or educational content. This adds community events with changing themes to the area’s historic sites. If you’re interested, check the dates that suit you before your trip.

For more local pages in the same collection: Gorham, Standish, Westbrook, Cape Elizabeth, Portland, Windham, Casco and Harpswell.

For the broader travel overview: Cumberland.