Town's End -- Belfast, Maine D127

Town's End -- Belfast, Maine D127

"Town's End -- Belfast, Maine D127" Buildings, Town's End, Sign [Town's End 1773], Lawn, flag pole, gazing ball Town's End, the last house in Belfast on Searsport Avenue, was built by Deacon John Tuft in 1773. It was a simple, unadorned Cape Cod type with a detached barn which later served as a billboard for advertising. Deacon Tuft was a leader among Belfast's settlers. He served as town moderator and church deacon and a member of the Committee of Safety during the Revolutionary War. In August of 1779 with the Bitish Fleet in the bay, Belfast's 109 residents abandoned their homes and fled to safety in the Camden-Rokland-Thomaston area. With peace restored in 1784, the town's residents returned to find their homes destroyed. It was Deacon Tuft who called the town meeting to make plans for reconstruction. Gazing ball note: The gazing ball is said to have been invented in Venice, Italy, in the 13th century. Skilled glass blowers crafted beautiful spheres in many sizes and colors. An Italian priest and chemist, known as Antonio Neri , referred to gazing balls in 1612 as "spheres of light." Francis Bacon, in the 16th century, remarked that a "proper garden would have colored balls for the sun to play upon." The gazing ball became popular in the 19th century because King Ludwig II of Bavaria had the balls placed throughout the gardens at his castle Herrenchiemsee, a replica of the castle at Versailles. Many homes in Europe and the United States had gazing balls beginning in the Victorian era.