Historic Hallowell - Portrait of the Proprietor

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Portrait of the Proprietor

Gov. Joseph R. Bodwell, Hallowell, ca. 1887
Hubbard Free Library

Joseph Bodwell opened granite quarries in Vinalhaven in 1852. He moved to Hallowell in 1866 and started the Hallowell Granite Company, later Bodwell Granite Company in 1866. He was the second Maine Governor from Hallowell elected in 1887. His son Joseph F. Bodwell succeeded him as president of the Hallowell Granite Works.

Bodwell House, Hallowell, ca. 1900
Hubbard Free Library

Bodwell purchased a Greek Revival house in 1866 and selected a rather grandiose version of the mansard design for his clapboard dwelling. It was “Victorianized” in 1875.