Victoria Mansion

Happy Cow Appreciation Day! Did you know the Libbys, the second owners of the Mansion, kept their own cow to provide milk for their family? Food safety was questionable in the early 1900's. Milk could be infected with tuberculous bacteria or might contain additions like plaster to make it stretch further. Owning a cow meant a more reliable, safer option.
Libby granddaughter Alice Cutter Willman, who grew up diagonally across from the Mansion, explained that the cow grazed in a nearby lot on Park St. She said the cow was milked by the furniture delivery man from her grandfather's dry goods store. He delivered the milk to both Alice's house and the Mansion.

As you may be aware, two days ago a gull became caught on the Mansion’s tower spire. The lightening rod at the tip of the spire pierced the bird’s wing and abdomen, and she was unable to free herself. Once Mansion staff became aware of the bird’s plight, we set to work trying to arrange her safe removal. This was complicated by the building’s configuration and the great heights involved. The tip of the spire is about 70 feet from the ground.
On Monday the Portland Fire Department attempted to rescue the gull with their 100-foot aerial ladder truck, but could not get to her—even after reaching beyond the bucket with a long fire pole. Tuesday we fielded offers of help, talked with avian experts and colleagues at PETA, and assessed our best path forward. Our goal was to get the gull down as soon as possible, but in a way that would not put any human lives at risk. We felt terrible for the gull. We also felt a deep responsibility to protect the safety of those who wanted to attempt a rescue. Ultimately, we worked with our friends at Keeley Crane to arrange for a person to be lifted to the tower roof to extricate the gull.
The evening before this was scheduled to happen, two individuals brought ladders to the property, scaled multiple roofs, and carried the bird to the ground. The organization was not consulted about this rescue attempt and would not have condoned it because the plan did not meet our standards for human safety.
Sadly, the gull did not survive her injuries. We are currently assessing the Mansion’s lightening protection system to see if there are ways to make it safer for birds. This was a very unusual and unexpected mishap, but we are determined to reduce the odds that it will ever happen again.

NEW this year at Brownstone Brews & Bites - we will have raffle baskets with goodies from these community partners!

Event tickets for this Friday's lawn party can be purchased on our website: https://victoriamansion.org/news-events

Raffle tickets can be purchased onsite Friday- the fun starts at 5:30pm!
Thank you to these local businesses for their donations!
🏒 Maine Mariners Hockey
🏛 Maine Historical Society
🏀 Maine Celtics
🦞 The Highroller Lobster Co.
⚾ Portland Sea Dogs
🎭 Schoolhouse Arts Center at Sebago Lake
🩰 Portland Ballet
🎨 Abacus