The Abbott Park Project, initiated in 2017, is an interdisciplinary collaborative project which seeks to highlight the importance of this historic multi-use park on the UMF campus. The park marks the location of the historic Abbott School for boys which was in operation from 1844 to 1930 and was situated at the southern end of the campus and overlaps the modern Abbott Park. While no original school buildings remain, the Abbott School’s historic bridges still stand and recall a unique past and long history of education in Farmington.
The Abbott Park Project treats the park as a “living laboratory” and strives to document all the ways the park continues to be used by the campus and community. In particular, the project is working to elevate the status of the park as a resource for education and research from an array of different fields including history, archaeology, biology, geography, geology, psychology and the humanities. Yet, the importance of the park extends beyond the UMF campus and the project seeks to highlight its value within the greater Farmington community. Taken together, the project can make important gains to understand the ecological, historical, cultural and recreational value of the park while also promoting the park’s long-term historic preservation and environmental conservation for future generations.
An art project in the park by UMF students. Carbon sequestration analysis of trees in the park.
For more information or questions about the project, please contact Dr. Luke Kellett (luke.kellett@maine.edu) in the Department of Anthropology at UMF.