Belfast, Maine - Perry's Nut House

Belfast, Maine - Perry's Nut House

Several outdoor animal photo-ops make it worth stopping at this once-classic attraction. Roadsideamerica.com Report...

Belfast, Maine - Perry's Nut House

I was very disappointed with Perry's Nut House because I used to go here all the time as a kid. However, the careful observer will notice that some of the old Nut House charm still exists.

They have a "lost mummy," which is obviously fake, but still kind of cool, a big stuffed albatross, some shrunken heads, and maybe a few other oddities. However, the focus is definitely on buying candy and tacky Maine souvenirs. Still worth a stop if you're on your way somewhere, but definitely not worth a trip just for that. [Matt, 07/29/2007]

[RA: After the sell-off of the older exhibits in the late 1990s, new Perry's management tells us they have been slowly building up there own collection of oddities, and re-acquiring some Perry's classics. Old Perry's had the advantage of decades of dusty accumulation -- and they were in it for the retail commerce as well, make no mistake!]

Belfast, Maine - Perry's Nut House

You will be happy to hear that Perry's Nut House, under the management of new owners George and Ellen Darling, is back and better than ever. I'm their next door neighbor and have seen Perry's coming back to life.

Perry's Nut House is celebrating their 80th Anniversary this year. The dusty old store is being spiffed up with lots of great things to see and do. They still make their own fudge, a favorite far and wide.

They are also working on getting a new giant elephant, as the previous one was purchased at auction about 10 years ago and currently resides at the local movie theater. It may not be the Perry's Nut House that your grandparents remember, but there are many things that are even better. And the Albatross is back and bigger than ever! [Kim Dunn, 07/02/2007]

Belfast, Maine - Perry's Nut House

The summer of 1991, before my final year in college, a friend and I hitch-hiked around the east coast. One woman who picked us up thought we should certainly see Perry's Nut House, home to the world's largest nut collection and all sorts of moth-eaten taxidermy. Of course, we loved it. The woman came in with us and shopped around with us -- then suddenly disappeared. We wandered out of the store a few minutes later and found our backpacks in a pile on the ground and the woman peeling out of the parking lot. I'm not sure why she suddenly decided to abandon us, but I guess Perry's Nut House was as good a place as any to be left stranded. [Cookie, 01/08/2005]

Belfast, Maine - Perry's Nut House

Growing up in Mid-Coast Maine (Thomaston, about 45 minutes south of Belfast) Perry's was a common treat for us kids. When we heard it was closing in '97 my friends and I organized a convoy to attend the grand auction and get one last glimpse. Needless to say three cars full of twenty-somethings, very obviously penniless, were not well received and before we were all finally ejected from the building several of us had, thankfully managed to steal several pockets-full of Perry's Nut House postcards and stickers. After all, we justified to ourselves. Perry's had belonged to us, the children of the area, not these creepy old men in RV's from Minnesota. Who cares if they actually have the money.

The famous elephants now belong to the movie theater in Belfast. The rest of the artifacts? Who knows, but the re-opened Perry's is a far cry, since the owner only managed to aquire the building and one or two of the crappier stuffed animals. I don't think he even has any of the nuts. Perry's is no longer the monument to very large nuts and stuffed albatross and wooden indians. That Perry's exists only in memory. [Sarah Feuquay, 01/28/2000]

[RA: It may take years for the new items to decay to olde Perry's vintage, but give it time. If you're passing through this part of Maine, it's still worth a stop. We liked the cranky wise-cracking fisherman sitting in the outhouse near the restrooms...]