History buffs do not have to look very hard to find information about Wiscasset, but a new book of stories just out may be a welcome addition to every collection.

Former selectman and newspaper publisher Phil Di Vece has released his second book, “Wiscasset and Its Times, Stories of Maine's Prettiest Village,” an intriguing patchwork of folklore, history and real life accounts from some of the most memorable characters of Lincoln County's shire town.

“I wouldn't call this a history book,” Di Vece said. “But I do think these are stories of historical significance.”

Di Vece began his research for this book in 2011. During the process, he came across information that was not referenced, old photographs unattributed, and passages from old diaries. 

Embellishments and missing links are certain to prevail by some accounts, but the stories tell something more of the community that has shaped Wiscasset.

“Who can say what really happened?” Di Vece said, but asks his readers to enjoy this exploration of Wiscasset history. 

It is a collection of tales passed along by word of mouth for centuries, “stories of people, places, things and events in danger of being forgotten and sadly lost forever to a new generation of Wiscasseters,” and now recorded in print.

Di Vece moved full time to Wiscasset in 1979, after graduating with a degree in journalism from Colorado State University and wrote for the Boothbay Register. A year later, he launched his own weekly newspaper, The Wiscasset Times, which he ran for the next 15 years. As a publisher and then as a writer for The Lincoln County News and Lincoln County Weekly in Damariscotta, Di Vece came across many stories, and many more he did not have time to write. 

In the book's forward, Di Vece writes, “I had met many interesting and wonderful people who became good friends and neighbors. Just about everyone was willing to suggest an idea or two they thought would make a good story for the newspaper.”

Several caught his eye when putting this book together. The first, about the steamboat Winter Harbor, Di Vece had already written about in the past. This chapter tells how mail was carried by steamboat to Wiscasset from Boothbay. Another, titled “The Penny Press,” recounts the experiences of Wiscasset's first newspaper, published in 1796. A mysterious tale of Native American graves and lights flashing on Goose Island is retold in “Mirror, Mirror.”  

From the back cover: “There's a story of the whistle-stop visit by President Ulysses S. Grant, and another about a 19th century newspaper started by a pair of teenage publishers. Read about Luther Little, naval hero of the Revolutionary War and namesake of a 4-masted schooner left abandoned at the Wiscasset waterfront. Legends of lost treasure, witches, and magical springs are recounted, along with the story of a Wiscasseter who faithfully kept a daily journal for over 50 years.”

“I thought it would be fun,” Di Vece said of his experience in putting together this book. “I enjoyed writing it. There's a lot of history here; that's what makes it interesting for me.”

The Wiscasset area is the location of some of the earliest settlements in the nation. While many towns in Midcoast Maine and along rest of coastal New England have changed over the years, Wiscasset has held onto its uniqueness, Di Vece said. “It's a good community, a good place to raise kids, to have a business and a good place to live. And it really hasn't changed much.”

Di Vece is already working on Volume II of “Wiscasset and Its Times.” One chapter, he said, will be on early industries. The second volume may take a year to complete, but in the meantime, this newly released book can be purchased through Amazon.com. Di Vece donated his first press run to the Wiscasset Public Library. Copies purchased there will help support the library and its services.

To read more about this book and other works written by Di Vece, visit thewiscassettimes.wordpress.com/.