Main Street looking east from Zion's Hill, 1846. This photograph is one of the earliest Main Street photographs known to exist in the state of Maine. The original daguerreotype was reproduced in the early 1900s by longtime photographer Bert Call. (The original was later stolen from the town's library in the late 1970s.) The picture appears to have been taken during a snow or rainstorm. The old Dexter House (left) served as a hotel from 1846 to 1876. The building has the distinction of being moved twice. The steepled building in the upper left is the Universalist Church; built in 1829, it was Dexter's first church. Directly right of the Universalist church and in the middle of Main Street is the Eaton Store, which years later became known as the T&K (Thurston & Kingsbury) Store. It was razed in 1949 to make room for a filling station, and is now the site of the Dexter Oil Company. The building in the top center with the cupola was Dexter's first town hall, which collapsed during the town meeting of 1856. It was purchased by the Abbotts, moved, and incorporated into their mill complex. Dr. Burleigh's home (to the right from the town hall) is currently the site of the Abbott Memorial Library. The home was moved in 1894 to make room for the new library.

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