ALBANY — The town Albany in Oxford County was incorporated in 1803 and grew quickly. According to local historian Randall Bennett, in the late 1800s Albany had two churches, 10 public schoolhouses, and a population of over 850 people. It manufactured lumber, shingles, staves, boxes, spools, boots, and shoes.

The Town House was built in 1848 and served as the center of the Albany community, hosting meetings of the 4-H Club, Farm Bureau, Church and Sunday School, public suppers, yard-sales, fundraisers, and town meetings. It was the site of very popular young peoples’ socials (dances); of polling for local, state, and federal elections; and of the town’s Centennial Celebration in 1903 that drew over 2,000 people.

Towards the end of the depression in the late 1930s, Albany gave up its town charter to the State of Maine because of a declining population and a reduction in its tax base caused, in part, by the US Government’s acquisition of land for the White Mountain National Forest. Today, the township has a population of fewer than 500 people. There are no commercial enterprises except a serve-yourself produce and holiday wreath stand, and its only remaining public buildings are the Albany Congregational Church, the Round Mountain Grange, and the Albany Town House.

In 1947 the Oxford County Commissioners turned over the Albany Town House to the Albany Improvement Association (AIA) with the charge of “repairing and maintaining the building for its continued use as a community and civic center.” This organization became inactive sometime during the second half of the 1900s and the Town House’s physical condition fell into severe disrepair.

A leak in the roof weakened structural components and damaged much of the ceiling. The building’s electrical system was declared unsafe, and its foundation had to be frequently repaired. The Town House’s sanitation facilities consisted of nothing but a “one-holer”, its exterior needed painting, and its doors and windows were no match for the weather. In the mid ’90s the community’s fierce opposition to a proposed high stakes bingo hall in Albany Township helped to revive the Albany Improvement Association and the Albany Town House itself. The community members began to repair the old building, but progress was slow. The interior had lost many of its early appointments and it was declared unfit as a polling place by the Oxford County Commissioners in 2007. The voting was then moved to the Grange Hall.

A group of dedicated Albany residents continued to improve the building and in 2007 applied for listing on the National Registry of Historic Places, which would improve their fundraising abilities. Their success in this endeavor led to a grant from the Sunday River Charitable Fund.

This grant enabled the AIA to upgrade the electrical system to code, repair the leak around the chimney, reinforce and replace wooden roof rafters, repair the ceiling, paint the exterior and interior of the building, replace the roof, make the building handicapped-accessible, install a septic system, drill a well, and add a bathroom and a functioning kitchen to the building. These efforts enabled the AIA to regain the Town House’s function as a polling place in 2011.

Over the last several years the Albany Town House has been able to host community meetings, weddings, baby showers, Halloween parties, a variety of speakers, and several old-fashion country dances. Community members have responded generously to annual fundraising drives that help pay for the building’s utilities, insurance, and maintenance. The residents of Albany Township are proud of their town and of its history.

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