The Harpswell Historical Society is dedicated to the discovery, identification, collection, preservation, interpretation, and dissemination of materials relating to the history of Harpswell and its people.

The Harpswell Historical Society was created in 1979 by citizens who were concerned about preserving the Old Harpswell Meeting House and its contents. The group, headed by Harpswell resident and first president, Thurlow Alexander, met in the spring of ’79 and by fall had a group of 16 charter members dedicated to the preservation of Harpswell’s heritage. The other members of the organizing committee included Betsy Alexander, William Alexander, Delia Blanchette, Lena Everett Brown, John Dunlap, Jr., William N. Clee, L. Miller and Sumner K. Wiley. In the following years the Society oversaw repairs and stabilization of the Old Harpswell Meeting House, a Registered National Historic Landmark. It was instrumental in relocating the Hearse House and its horse drawn hearse to Harpswell Center, and it assisted in the discovery and reconstruction of the 1759 vintage Harpswell Center Cattle Pound.

In 1993 the Society received the deed to one of Harpswell’s few public community buildings, Centennial Hall. This building was constructed in 1876 by town residents, to celebrate the centennial this countries independence from England. The building served the public as a meeting place for suppers, plays, dances and recitals well into the 1940’s and 50’s. For many years it was the home of the Harpswell Garden Club and many of their functions were held there. Centennial Hall gradually fell into disuse and ill repair, but when Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Thompson made the building available, the Historical Society in partnership with the Harpswell Garden Club arranged to have the building cut into three pieces and moved to Harpswell Center and onto land owned by the Garden Club and designated as the Ann Francis Hodgkins Memorial Park. This then created the Harpswell Historic Park. In the following years the Historic Park Committee, made up of members of both the Historical Society and the Garden Club, oversaw the reconstruction of the building and landscaping of the grounds. In 19XX the Wilson Family donated the 1889 North Harpswell District #2 one room schoolhouse as another addition to the Historic Park as an example of one of the nineteen school buildings which once existed in Harpswell. Restoration of this building continues.

In 2000 through the generosity of Helen and Walter Norton and a town-wide fundraising effort, the Historical Society found a permanent home in the former Bailey's Store at 929 Harpswell Neck Road opposite Centennial Hall in Harpswell Center. The Museum was renovated and updated in 2025-26.

Each year the Historical Society sponsors three public meetings with guest speakers. The programs have traditionally been held at Cundy’s Harbor, Orr’s Island and Harpswell Center. In most years the Society has a fourth speaker presentation at its annual meeting typically held during the summer or fall. The Society also cooperates closely with "Harpswell Yesterdays" on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/919474142575822) (make this a hyperlink) and the Harpswell Islands Genealogy and History Center.