UNION —The Union Historical Society’s Come Spring Bus Tour, Saturday, July 20, at 8:30 a.m., will depart from the Old Town House, at 128 Town House Road, in Union.

The narrated tour follows the George’s River Scenic Byway and identifies sites where Union’s early settlers built cabins and lived their lives in the late 1700s. The names of the settlers are documented in Union Town records, and their lives and stories are recounted by Ben Ames Williams in his 1940 historical novel, Come Spring. Included in the tour are dismount stops at three historic sites, of which all are located on private property and not open to the public at other times. The bus will pause at the Common Cemetery on Ayer Hill to learn about the history of the cemetery. Settler’s grave sites in the Cemetery will be marked so that tour participants can
visit after the bus tour.

Next the tour will stop at the cellar hole of the cabin where Philip Robbins’ large family spent a crowded winter in 1776, and then on to the homestead of Philip’s oldest son, David. The route then goes up Clarry Hill to the cellar hole of Sadie Keller and to the site of the Clarry Hill School. After a circuit over the wild blueberry fields of Clarry Hill, tour participants will visit the site of the “Royal Mess”, the bachelor home of Jason Ware, Joel Adams and Matthias Hawes, overlooking the hillside where Adams and his wife Mimi Robbins built their home. The tour will conclude after it winds its way back to the Old Town House.

Tickets are $15 per person. The roughly two-hour tour takes place rain or shine.

To purchase Come Spring Bus Tour tickets call Mary Thompson at 207-385-4611 and leave a message. Your reservation is confirmed when your payment is received. This event usually sells out and it is suggested to purchase your tickets early. The Bus Tour is being sponsored by the David Robbins Homestead in support of Union’s Sestercentennial.