The Raitt Homestead Farm was built in 1896 by Charles A. Raitt on State Road in Eliot, Maine. Charles was a local brick mason, manufacturing the bricks on the property. He also operated a saw mill at the farm and had a successful apple orchard whose produce was shipped as far away as England.  When Charles passed away, his son Roland took over the farm. Roland sold the brick yards during the depression. When the apple orchard was destroyed by winter kill, Roland turned to dairy farming. The milk was sold to Badger Farms Dairy of Portsmouth, NH. The Raitt Homestead Farm was typical for the era and the tasks were many including milking cows, haying the fields, and cutting fire wood. The fence lines were repaired with posts sawed right on the farm. Roland passed away in 1962 and his son Gerald took over the farm. He purchased the adjacent Anderson Apple Orchard in 1967 to restore the apple business to the farm. The farm was truly a family business; Gerald’s brothers worked at the farm and even nieces and nephews helped with the apple orchards and sold the apples at his farm stand on the front lawn. Gerald retired from the dairy business in 1983 but he continued to raise chickens and sell eggs until 2004. 

1996 started a new era for the Raitt Homestead Farm. The first Eliot Antique Tractor and Engine Show was held on the farm and the Eliot Antique Tractor and Engine Association was formed. The Association was granted non-profit status in 2001.  In 2003, Gerald donated the homestead to the Association in exchange for a life interest in the property. The Eliot Antique Tractor and Engine Association became The Raitt Homestead Farm Museum in 2006 to better reflect the Association’s mission of educating the public with displays & demonstrations of antique farm implements & equipment for the purpose of keeping valuable farm heritage alive.  The Raitt Homestead Farm Museum is an asset to the entire community. The property’s open space is utilized for town & regional events. The Museum is able to share the fruits of its efforts through two major annual events.

The success of these events is vital for the realization of the Museum’s vision and has already been paying dividends. The Raitt Homestead Farm Museum  in 2010 was able to restore the chimneys on the shop and the ones on the Homestead.  The Homestead and attached shed now have a new roof and a new utility building is in the process of being finished.  In the spring of 2011 the Shingle Mill pad was poured in addition to the Blacksmith Shop pad, and the Woodsplitter pad, and in 2012 these buildings will be constructed.  Throughout the years  a new entrance road has been put in, shade trees have been planted, and the restoration of the Apple Barn is continuing. In 2012, the museum is expected to complete the exterior work on the Apple Barn and establish it as exhibit space. Future plans include re-building the Saw Mill and restoration of the farm’s other structures. With these continuing efforts, the Raitt Homestead Farm Museum will allow children and adults alike to experience the history of farming in the Seacoast region for generations to come.