Sanford Sunshine Cottage

09/30/2026

🌾🎃 HAY ART SEASON IS HERE & WE NEED YOUR HELP TO NAME THAT CHARACTER! 🎨✨

Sanford, it’s time to get creative! Our amazing Parks and Recreation team has been hard at work crafting this year’s Halloween holiday-themed hay art display. You might recognize the inspiration behind this mischievous character... but we want YOU to give it an official name!

This year’s masterpiece was cleverly created by Billie Jean Puleo and Eric Griffin from our Parks & Rec Department! 👏👏

🎁 CONTEST DETAILS & HOW TO ENTER:

Drop your best, most creative name in the comments below!

Vote for your favorites! The comment with the most likes will become the official winning name (subject to City approval).

The Prize: The winner receives an official City of Sanford T-shirt! 👕✨

🗓 Deadline to Enter: Monday, October 5th at Noon.

📸 Snap a Selfie!
Stop by the corner of Park Avenue and 1st Street in Historic Downtown Sanford to check out the display and grab a picture with our festive hay art!

Now, the big question... What should we name this mischievous character? Drop your ideas below! 👇🎃

09/23/2026

🍂 POV: It’s the first day of fall in Sanford.

The calendar says fall. The temperature says absolutely not. 😂

But we’ll take the oak-lined streets, brick roads, a little Spanish moss and pretend that iced pumpkin spice counts as sweater weather.

Happy first day of fall, Sanford! 🍁☀️

📸 Daniella Hume, Mastropieces Productions

06/10/2026

Downtown Sanford isn’t just a place to shop, eat, sip, stroll, and explore 💛💛 it’s a community.

When you support local, you’re helping neighbors, families, artists, makers, servers, shop owners, and dreamers keep doing what they love. You’re also helping keep Downtown Sanford full of character, creativity, and that one-of-a-kind charm we all love.

Every visit makes a difference.

04/26/2026

Discover shopping, food and things to do in the historic district with the new Kiosk located on 1st street in magnolia square

04/21/2026

The good news, most of the plants at the Sanford Sunshine Cottage survived the freeze. Unfortunately it will take years for some to grow back to the maturity they were prior.
I absolutely loved the tall jatropha tree that was by the house. It had beautiful red flowers all year round, and you could often spot a butterfly feeding on the pollen. Now this tree is just a few leaves popping out of the ground.
The star gooseberry bushes in front of the fence were around 10’ tall. They are pretty tiny now, but growing back fast. 🌱
The birds of paradise is now just a fraction of what it was before, but is looking full and popping out new leaves 💚
Surprisingly the banana tree is fine. I wrapped a sheet around it and apparently that was enough to keep it alive!
Atleast with all of the foliage gone, I was able to put a much needed fresh coat of paint on the fence. ☀️

04/07/2026

On Oak and 5th street

Happy World Health Day 🌍

George and Mabel Fernald lived at Oak Ave and 5th Street in Sanford. George was the founder of the Fernald Hardware Company. After his death in 1916 Mabel donated the house to the county in memory of her husband and her mother, Elizabeth Laughton.

It became known as the Fernald Laughton Memorial Hospital. In 1945 the hospital’s facilities were moved to the Sanford Naval Base. The base closed in April of 1951 and the hospital facilities were moved back to 500 Oak in September and remained there until 1956.

It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1987, and one of the many remarkable buildings in Sanford’s Residential Historic District.

📍 Explore more of the city’s history at the Sanford Museum — open Tue–Sat, 9AM–5PM. Free admission. 520 E. 1st Street.