It is the only surviving courthouse in the state of Maine that was built during the colonial period, and is now a museum owned and operated by the Lincoln County Historical Society.

[1] The Pownalborough Courthouse stands in what is now a rural area of western Dresden, overlooking the Kennebec River just to the west.

The courthouse has a roughly square three-story main block, framed in wood, covered by a hip roof, and clad in wooden clapboards.

Adams wrote in his journals that he hated the journey to the Pownalborough Court House because of the muddy and unkempt road and always spoke at length about his hatred of trees because they blocked his path numerous times during the trip.

John Adams was offered a job with the Kennebec Proprietors to represent them in property cases, and he did so on the condition that he could work out of the Falmouth (now Portland, ME) Court House instead.

When Arnold arrived, the court's caretaker Major Samuel Goodwin refused to give him maps of the region that he created himself.

After a physical altercation with his son, a patriot, Major Goodwin traveled to Fort Western and turned over the maps to Arnold and his expedition.

[6] Judge North was not a fan of Reverend Foster's unorthodox preaching and ran a campaign to get him fired, eventually succeeding.

Mrs. Foster told Martha Ballard that in the course of one week, three men had broken into her house and raped her, including Judge North.

When Judge North was found not guilty, it shocked the religious Martha Ballard to her core, so much so that she refused to attend public church services for 7 years after that.