November 2003

In yard of Old Stone House in Lisbon. According to Gard and Vodrey's book on page 189, this plate resided in the basement of the Lisbon City Hall at the time of the book's writing, and it came from the lock that was at the foot of Market Street in Lisbon. "The date of this inscription is 1836 and the number 27 evidently belongs to the earlier Gill series which does not agree with the later Robert's numbering used in this story." So it came from one of the missing locks around Lisbon that Gard and Vodrey number 17 through 21, though they do not say exactly which number it was. The plate was moved to the yard of the Old Stone House shortly after the writing of the book.
(Revision January 2005): Stopped by the Lisbon Historical Society during the summer of 2004 to talk about the lockplate. Was told that it was only placed there in the mid to late 1980's. When I told them that I had two photos from 1955 showing the lockplate in its present location, I was told that it was impossible. Returning a couple weeks later with copies of the prints in hand I got a different story. It seems that the lockplate was indeed there in 1955 temporarily for the town's 150th anniversary, but was then taken back to the city hall for storage. That just makes the deterioration of the lockplate that much more dramatic. It will be totally unreadable soon if left outdoors.
Beatrice Westover, in her book Elkton & Elkrun T.W.P. History claims that this stone came from Lusk's Lock. An easy mistake since Lusk's Lock is Lock 27.