Brownfield Public Library

Brownfield is in the foothills of the White Mountains where the Saco River runs through a wide, sandy valley on its way to the sea. It is an area of much natural beauty, enclosed by the forested mountains of the Presidential Range, with gently rolling uplands, and ponds and streams running through wide meadows. The town sits in a valley beside Shepard’s River, a tributary of the Saco, sheltered on the north by Frost Mountain and on the south by the Burnt Meadow Mountains. To the north of the town of Fryeburg, to the east Denmark and Hiram, to the south Porter, and to the west the New Hampshire state line.

In 1947 its population of about 750 lived in two small villages, Brownfield Center and East Brownfield, and on scattered out-lying farms. Its village streets were lined with elm trees. Many of its houses were more than 100 years old, and at least one, the old Ichabod Merrill place, a Cap Cod cottage, was thought to be nearly 200.

Perhaps the grandest house in town was the Stickney Mansion, a 147- year-old white Colonial with a sunburst fanlight over the front door. It stood about 100 yards east of the historic Pequawket Trail, a path that tradition says’ had been used by the Indians. The house had “Indian shutters,” and large fireplaces, and was filled with antiques and treasures gathered over the years by its well-traveled owners.

One of Brownfield’s most interesting houses, The Sundial House, was a 14-room, two-and-a-half-story frame building with an ell and barn. A large wooden sundial mounted over the front door was known to have been in place as early as 1824. The owners, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Harmon, took pride in the two-foot-wide clear pine boards on the floor of the master bedroom and the big old pine beams that had taken on the gleam and almost the color of mahogany. The house had been owned  by Mrs. Harmon’s family for generations.

to read more click on this link