Senator Holmes House: Maine's First Senator
Near Old Orchard Beach, Maine
The Federal-style mansion on Main Street in Alfred was built in eighteen oh-two by John Holmes, one of Maine's first two United States Senators. Holmes was a leading figure in the effort to separate Maine from Massachusetts, which became a state in eighteen twenty. The house, also known as the Bow and Arrow House for the bow and arrow motif that once decorated its balustrade, was a Federal mansion with a two-story columned porch unusual for this region and period.
The wrought-iron details were made by the Griffin blacksmiths of Alfred. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in nineteen seventy-five.
