IV. The Augusta Arboretum

This is a photo of the piggery at the Hospital Farm which is now known as the Arboretum. When the park was first constructed in the early 1800s, it was used for farming and was owned by farms in the area. The State Hospital, now called the Augusta Mental Health Institute, purchased 224 acres of land for the use of their patients in 1835. Here, they raised crops and livestock as well as using the area as a recreational and exercise option for their patients. The land also gave the patients a chance to work which they believed would be good for their health. The park grew to 600 acres as the hospital grew, giving all the patients space to use. The piggery was closed and a new one built in 1896 and the farm land that was used for crops is now the park. All of this info and the photo were thanks to the dept. of conservation.


This photo, gathered off of the Maine Memory Network is a picture of a group of the Civilian Conservation Corps working in 1935. During the Depression, many groups of the CCC worked in parks. These men were from Jefferson and were WWI veterans who "built foot trails, foot bridges, hand rails, picnic tables, benches, and an artificial pond." This park has a long history in Augusta. Starting out with the Hospital and then as a work site for those who needed jobs during the Depression, it became a beautiful park neighboring a baseball field and well set from the road. It's a sort of quiet walk through park that is also a place of remembrance for a lot of families. Many plaques are placed on trees, bridges, benches, and wells throughout the park to commemorate all sorts of people. Some of those people are those who have made donations to the park but a lot of them are personal donations to put the name of loved ones there. The picture to the right I took with my mom and puppy when we were there last weekend. There were a few older couples there when I went and the people who visit the park are usually take their time examining signs and plants, looking at the bridges and little stone benches throughout the park. It's a very peaceful place. The park is significant to Augusta's history in particular as a place that has provided work, leisure, and a way to go and remember lost loved ones for families for more than 100 years.