The John Tarr House
One of the oldest surviving timber-frame houses in Maine, the John Tarr house, located at the end of Ferry Lane, is today threatened with imminent destruction.
Built in 1730 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, this magnificent structure is one of two colonial houses still standing in Biddeford.
The Tarr house was the home of John Tarr, a mariner who built the house at the end of Ferry Lane with easy access to the Saco River and open ocean.
The house is part of early colonial settlement on the river, and the site is historically significant, as it was the backbone of early travel and commerce, as a ferry service was located on that land, linking together Biddeford and Saco settlers.
The site also once included the Ebenezer Hill garrison, built approximately 1702, that served both as a tavern and trading post along the river and the King’s Highway.
Importantly, Indigenous people lived and farmed on that site, as is suggested by Samuel de Champlain’s map of 1605.
The birth of Biddeford occurred in this area.
The Tarr house is the only surviving piece of this once thriving area.
It is a direct, tangible and physical link to Biddeford’s early colonial past.
This house is structurally robust and beautiful and deserves renovation, not destruction, yet with its valuable water views and the unquenchable appetite for development, this irreplaceable timber frame structure will likely face demolition.
That would be a travesty.
Future generations of Biddeford deserve to be able to witness and connect with the last vestige of this early colonial settlement.
Too many historically significant buildings in Biddeford have been lost forever, and this house has no ordinances or protections to save it.
An irreplaceable piece of early colonial history is at the mercy of a new homeowner who can order its destruction, and it will be lost to Biddeford history forever.
The John Tarr house is a vital link to our early colonial past, history and heritage.
The Biddeford Historical Society believes that it is wrong to sacrifice a historical house and site for the pleasure of million-dollar homes and development. A bulldozer is not a friend of historical preservation.
We need your help in saving this piece of Biddeford history.
Please reach out to us and sign your name in support of saving this historical treasure.
Tell your friends what is happening!
Contact the Biddeford Historical Society at: biddhistsoc@gmail.com
Photos courtesy of Zillow and Wikepedia
