Madame History

02/13/2026

Historical love on Valentine's Day weekend from Bangor, Maine!

11/06/2025

Bangor is associated with some famous folks - including Madame Fan Jones, of course - but none are as well known as author Stephen King, whose fictional town of "Derry, Maine" is inspired by the city.

NBC10 Boston journalist Mike Gavin came to Bangor just before the release of the new HBO Max TV series, "IT: Welcome to Derry" to better understand Bangor, the people who live here, and their relationship with King and their city's alter ego, Derry.

He spent a few days getting to know the city, exploring Downtown Bangor, and visiting sites in The Greater Bangor Region featured in King's universe.

Here's what he, and many of our favorite locals at 2 Feet Brewing, SK Tours of Maine, Bangor Historical Society, The Briar Patch, Bangor Public Library and even Madame History herself had to say about living in Derry, Maine.

Here's what residents in King's hometown of Bangor, Maine have to say about the famed author, the new HBO series "Welcome to Derry" and what living in the area is really like.

10/13/2025

https://www.mainememory.net/sitebuilder/site/2976/slideshow/1735/display?format=list&prev_object_id=4665&prev_object=page

On Indigenous Peoples' Day, I think of the gifts that were shared with people who settled this region by those who had been here for much, much longer.

Learn about Native diplomacy and obligation by exploring 13,000 years of Wabanaki residence in Maine through 17th century treaties, historic items, and contemporary artworks—from ash baskets to high fashion. Wabanaki voices contextualize present-day relevance and repercussions of 400 years of shar...

10/06/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/1CnNKEajVP/

Fantastic opportunity to help preserve America's written history!

09/10/2025

Hmmmmm...is 2 Feet Brewing the Bangor Tour Guide meetup spot or what???

(Well, yeah, because they have beer and the best cake, and there's always ice cream, so...I think I answered my own question.)

09/10/2025

Those local tour guides...they was us! 😍🥰🤩

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1LKCnzBGi4/

09/04/2025

We love introducing people to Bangor and especially to our spectacular historic garden cemetery. Today I got to share this gem with 80 people... And a lot of turtles!

Here's a Maine Minute for you from Mt. Hope Cemetery this fine September morning.

08/29/2025

This weekend is often seen as the "end of summer" and Labor Day is that extra day off that we get and then spend it either at camp or at the hardware store shopping to finish (or start) the house projects that we meant to start in June...

But what IS Labor Day and why do we celebrate it? This article by the Smithsonian Institution will shed some light on this end-of-summer American holiday.

Labor Day—the American holiday on the first Monday of September—generally marks the end of summer, the beginning of the school year, and—in certain circles—an arbitrary cut-off point for wearing white. It's frequently celebrated by taking a long-weekend trip, firing up the backyard grill at ...

07/17/2025

It's evening and 80 degrees in our little piece of Maine. So we went to one of our favorite places to hang out with some very chatty friends, the frogs of Mt. Hope Cemetery (and one very small turtle.)

I hope you enjoy the visit too!

06/30/2025

Some days require staff ice cream. Thank goodness Wild Cow Creamery is at the waterfront!!

04/18/2025

I am so excited about this addition to the wardrobe!

This is a progress photo of the heel plates which have been custom made for the boots I wear when I'm portraying Madame Fan Jones. I have been dreading breaking in my new boots, but now I can't wait to get them on!

Heel and toe plates were worn by both men and women throughout the mid and late 1800s to extend the life of the shoe. Having had to repair the worn heels of my last boots during last year's tour season, I understand the desire to have shoes last as long as possible! This is one of the reasons that I decided to have plates made for my shoes.

However, this specific design of heel plate has a bit of legend associated with it, in part due to the number of finds at Civil War sites. It's said that this specific heart design was worn by "ladies of the evening" as a subtle way to advertise her occupation. It's suspected that the larger number of these found at Civil War sites is because such ladies followed soldiers from camp to camp, because what businesswoman wouldn't go where the customers are?

Look in the comments for a couple of links to actual artifacts and their stories.

Nathan Webb is a blacksmith who usually makes beautiful knives in a multitude of historic styles. When I went looking for someone to make these, he offered to give it a go, so I gave him my new boots to measure, and this is the photo he sent of the work in progress.

I'm very excited to see how these will work, both as a protector for my leather-soled Civil War era reproduction boots and as "advertising" tools.

This is the kind of living history that truly delights me -- it's unlikely anyone on my walking tours will notice this detail but I'll know, and it will bring me even closer to understanding the women walking the streets more than 150 years ago.

04/18/2025

April has brought us rain and spring. The first flowers are blooming in spots with lots of sunshine and there are flashes of green all over. Yesterday I attended the Maine Governor's Conference on Tourism and was pleased to have a plenary session devoted to heritage tourism, which is my specific area of interest.

The conference also brought my first walking tour of the season! I had the pleasure of leading a group of conference guests to take in some of the public art in Downtown Bangor on a route I designed for this purpose, which will be expanded slightly for a Jane's Walk on May 3rd.

I was wearing my Downtown Bangor hat (shoes) it's a delight when my worlds collide this way. It's also fun to be able to focus on modern Bangor with people from across the state. I suspect that SK Tours of Maine had a similar experience with their tour!

I also got to see my friends at the Downeast Scenic Railroad and CruiseMaine at the conference, in addition to many other folks.

I remain grateful for the many people who work tirelessly to encourage guests to visit our gorgeous state. It's a great place to be.