This year's Annual Meeting was held Saturday, October 18th, at 1:30 p.m., in the Russell Room of Falmouth Memorial Library at 5 Lunt Road.

Remembering the 1775 Burning of Falmouth

On a Wednesday morning in October 1775, a flotilla of Royal Navy vessels under the command of Lt. Henry Mowatt opened fire on Falmouth's town center (today Portland's Old Port).  Over the course of nine hours, the town was raked by cannon fire—3,000 rounds were expended using incendiary cannonballs to set the town ablaze.  When that failed to do the job, marines went ashore and set fire to any buildings that had survived the cannonade.  Some of the marines were wounded and one was killed.  Most of the town's residents fled before the attack began; only one was injured during the attack.  By evening, "the body of the town was in one flame."  Falmouth's town center was devastated with more than 400 buildings damaged or destroyed.

The presentation told the story of events leading up to the destruction, what happened during the attack, and the aftermath. 

The presentation was sponsored jointly by Falmouth Memorial Library and the Falmouth Historical Society.  It is part of our town's engagement in America's Semiquincentennial celebration.

The presentation was followed by a short business meeting as required by our Bylaws.  Revised Bylaws were unanimously approved by the membership.  The membership also unanimously elected the slate of officers and directors for 2025-27 recommended by the Nominating Committee.

	Our autumn newsletter is out!  New!
	If you missed it, here is our summer newsletter. Other recent newsletters can be found here.

Online Survey Printed Survey

Community Survey How are we doing?  Are we meeting your expectations?  Your town's historical society would like to know! We created a survey using Google Forms.  It has only thirteen short questions! The easiest way to take the survey is online.  Simply click on the purple icon at left. If you are "old school," click on the form at left to print a paper copy of the survey.  You can return it at the annual meeting or drop it off in the box on the porch of the Society Secretary's house (44 Farm Gate Road, just off Lunt).

Annual Meeting Materials

Here are links to the slides for the presentation and business portion of the annual meeting:

The Burning of Falmouth (Slides) New!  

 

Annual Membership Fall Meeting (Slides)  New! 

 

Speakers notes for the presentation, minutes for the business meeting, and a recording of the presentation will be posted when ready.  Other documents related to the annual meeting may be found here.