This is the Dyer Library located in Saco, Maine. The library has two levels as well as an attic. It is an all brick building as shown above and has many rooms within. It used to be the private residence of the Deering family. Today the library is composed of the original building which houses most of the books as well as the Maine reading room and many documents of Saco history.
The room that used to be the Deering parlor is now a reading room and still has the original piano. There is a ghost story about the piano that is told during the Pumpkinfest in Saco. Supposedly one the servants for the Deering family used to love to play the piano. One day she was angry over something that had happened and ran out of the house. No one ever saw her again, but when the librarians work late at night and they are the only ones in the house they can hear someone play the piano, and when they come down to look there is no one in the house but them. The carriage house which has no history of being haunted is now connected to the main house and is used as the children's reading room.
The Deering family is one of the most well known families in the Portland Area. J.G Deering, who was the original Deering, was a banker, lumberman and local merchant. He lived from 1816 to 1892 and built the Deering Mansion in 1870. His grandson Joseph Godfrey Deering followed in the families footsteps in banking and the lumber business. He was also very active in the community serving on many boards inclduing the Dyer Library Board. He was the one who donated the Deering Mansion to the Dyer Libary. He also made donations of land to create the Ferry Beach state park and the first donation for the Great Saco Health Preserve. The house itself is an Italianate mansion that was composed completely of brick from a brickyard that Mr. Deering purchased in order to proivde the supplies for the house. The original building had an observatory tower added to it in the 1930's while it was still owned by the Deering family. When the mansion was donated to the library in 1955 the observatory was moved to Thornton Hall where it still stands today.
The Deering family was one of the wealthiest and most influencial families in Saco. There contributions through banking and lumber help to make Saco into a city and not just a town. The gifts that they Deering family has donated over the years have made it possible to preserve the history and the environment of Saco.
