About Us
At the annual meeting on September 21, 2005 the following officers were elected:

2006-07 Officers
President – Peter Prescott
Vice-president – Thomas Tillson
Treasurer – David Pearson
Secretary – Carol Feurtado
Director – Richard Whitney

Even before the society existed there were Dexter citizens concerned with her history to whom we owe a debt of gratitude for information, particularly lawyer Volney Sprague whose research and interviews with older citizens was the basis of much of the information in Senator Stanley Plummer's history. Again we owe preservation and expansion of this history to Mary Hamilton and Annie Winslow Murphy. They also inventoried Elmwood and Mt. Pleasant cemeteries, raided town records and published many early family histories in years of weekly newspaper columns during the1930's.

The birth pangs of the current society began appropriately enough on July 4, 1962 when Frank Spizuoco was reading some Civil War letters in an old attic. As he told people about them he heard about other items of interest and soon had a personal collection. When seniors at Dexter High were looking for a project the next spring, Spizuoco suggested displaying his collection. Their exhibit at Reed's Clothing Store was a success and continued under the sponsorship of the Jaycees in a couple of different vacant stores that fall and in 1964 and 65. The Eastern Gazette, the local newspaper, gave it considerable attention. This brought in many donations for which Spizuoco devised a cataloging system.

While steps were being taken to form an official society the idea of using the old S. L. Small Grist Mill, which had just closed its doors after over 150 years of operation, to house and display the collection was put forth by Gazette editor Russ Gerould. Town meeting in 1966 approved town takeover of the building and its use was arranged by the society which was formed May 1, 1966 with election of officers, Frank Spizuoco, president, Veth Hope, vice-president, Ruth Dudley, secretary and Dean Thompson, treasurer and adoption of by-laws stating its purpose.

" a. To stimulate the collection and preservation of printed and manuscript material and artifacts, and objects of historical interest. To provide for accessibility to those items to all who wish to examine or study them."

" b. To promote among the public a greater interest in and awareness of local history."

In 1987 Richard Whitney, then president, proposed a fulltime curatorship and secured business sponsorship for a three year period. Besides cataloging materials and managing the museum he wrote weekly columns for the newspaper, initiated a clean-up of stones at Elmwood and Greene cemeteries, conducted an archeological dig at Carr School and offered many class activities at local schools. He has since continued as summer time curator. 1987 also saw completion of a project spearheaded by Anne Kendall that achieved the restoration of the historic Millers House and its opening with further society displays as well as with use by the Dexter Public Health nurses.

A series of meetings in the fall of 1994, spurred by a contract Frank Spizuoco had obtained to write a book about Dexter and by encouragement from Dave Greenham, then Dexter's Community Development Director, reinvigorated the society. The book, “Dexter, Spirit of an Age: Defining Dexter's Character” was published in the fall of 1995 and sales were excellent.

In 1996 many needed repairs to the physical plant were accomplished, such as the purchase of a new furnace for the Millers House as well as repainting it. A new roof was put in place over the crucial vault area of the Grist Mill Museum. A microfilm reader was also acquired and a collection of materials begun. That summer the town-wide celebration of Dexterfest was dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the Dexter Historical Society.

In 1997 a special fund drive was begun to enable the society to move the one-room 1845 Carr Schoolhouse from its location three miles out of town in to the museum complex. This move was accomplished in September of 1998 with restoration and renovation work done from 1999 to 2000. The school will be used for living history programs and other events of public interest.

In 1999 a computer system was purchased which will allow the extensive catalogue to be easily maintained and queried once all the information has been input. The system includes a scanner for reproduction of photographs and documents, and has E-mail and Internet access.

In December 1999, after over three years of research, interviews and writing, the book “Our Neighborly Neighbors” by Frank Spizuoco and Carol Feurtado was printed and available just before Christmas.

The society participated in many events during the year-long (2000-2001) celebration of Dexter's Bicentennial. The renovated Carr Schoolhouse was dedicated in September, in October Rick Whitney led a tour of Dexter's cemeteries, in November we launched the book “Bubbles in the Sun” by Isabel Jacobs. In March the musical play “About the Thriving Town of Dexter” written by Carol Feurtado and Edward Hummel was performed at the Dexter Regional High School. At the culminating event on August 11 we had an entry in the parade, offered an art exhibit and a display of Bert Call's photographs and had specially designed commemorative coins and an afghan for sale.

In July 2001 we received the gift of the former Abbott Mill office building from the Interface Group and began a five year adaptive renovation project to fit the building for multipurpose use.

In 2001 we received a Multicultural Research Grant to study the history of Dexter's French-Canadian population. Several video-taped interviews were conducted and a public presentation of a video and other information gathered was presented in November.

Summer 2002 saw a special celebration for the 35th anniversary of the Grist Mill Museum, honoring the original members of the society and in summer 2004 we celebrated the 150th anniversary of the Grist Mill building, presenting Helen Wilkins former owner of the grist mill business with an honorary membership.

In summer 2003 we had an open house at the Abbott building to show our progress that far and on August 23, 2004 we opened the gift shop and soon other rooms on the upper floor of the Abbott Museum.

Many visitors tour our facilities every year and research queries abound, especially those relating to genealogy. While the Grist Mill Museum campus is only open in the summer, the Abbott Museum and all the society's materials are available for research year round.

Membership in the society is open to anyone with an interest in Dexter area history. Officers are elected at an annual meeting and meetings open to all are held on the third Wednesday of every month.