Lewiston Historic Register

Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Lewiston (2001)

National Register of Historic Places – Listings – Lewiston Photos by James Henderson, and edited text are from nominations to the National Register of Historic Places researched by Maine. Historic Preservation Commission. Full text and National Register photos are at https://npgallery.nps.gov/nrhp Androscoggin Mill Block [269-271 Park Street] Due primarily to demands for an increasing labor…

Stroudwater

Cumberland and Oxford Canal with Maine Historic Civil Engineering Landmark recognition

Stroudwater, a neighborhood in the City of Portland, lies west of the railroad tracks to the Westbrook border. Several locations of historical significance include the Tate House Museum, a portion of the Cumberland & Oxford Canal, and an old dam on the Stroudwater River. It is a highly developed residential and commercial area.

Canals

Cumberland and Oxford Canal (2001)

An early transportation facility in Maine was the canal.  The need for public support for canals was recognized in 1820 by the state’s first  governor William King’s inaugural address. In 1834 the Board of Internal Improvements was authorized by the Maine Legislature. The Board’s responsibility was to “explore and examine the great water courses of…

New Meadows River

Valve Regulating Water to the Peterson Canal (2010)

This “river” is one of those inlets from the sea that is not a true river.  It had been tidal as far inland a Bath until a dam was  constructed that created ponds above it. At its northern most reach the Peterson Canal once linked Merrymeeting Bay with Casco Bay. Built around 1790 to connect…

Warren

Farm on Route 235 on the shore of Seven Tree Pond (2003)

The village lies off the heavily traveled highways: U.S. Route 1 and Maine Routes 90, 131, and 235. See photos. Adjacent to Thomaston, long a synonym for “State Prison,” Warren is now the site of its replacement. Meadow Mountain is a 259 acre town forest that serves as a nature preserve.

Union

Union (see photos) became the subject of Ben Ames Williams’ historical novel Come Spring, which chronicles the early settlement of the town through the lives of the Robbins family, whose home is now that of the Vose Library and the Union Historical Society. Most of the 591-acre Crawford Pond and the 523-acre Seven Tree Pond are shared with Warren to the south.

Transportation

Horse-drawn Road Grader at the Hallowell Public Works Garage (2003)

For the earliest residents, Native Americans, dugout canoes were the vehicles of choice along the coast. Full use of rivers, lakes and streams awaited the invention of the lighter birch bark canoe, which could be carried from one water body to another, creating important links inland and to the north. After the Europeans arrived, rivers…

Standish

Daniel Marrett House (one of several historic buildings) in Standish, on East Ossippee Trail (2018)

Named in honor of Captain Miles Standish, the military leader of the Plymouth Colony, the town has a very long shoreline on Sebago Lake in its southwest corner, including its Lower Bay. See photos. In the 19th century, the Oxford-Cumberland Canal allowed passage of boats from Harrison to Portland. Steep Falls was a thriving village historically, with its excellent water power on the Saco River and the railroad station in its midst. Both a recreational area and suburb of Portland, the town is served by six Maine highway routes.

Searsmont

The main village is located on the St. George River and is adjacent to Quantabacook Lake. See photos. The town is served by Maine Routes 3, 131 and 173 and lies about ten miles southwest of Belfast. In 1925 the first international radio broadcast was relayed from Belfast through Searsmont and on to New York City.

Naples

Long Lake on Route 302 in Naples (2013)

Blessed with ample access to Long Lake, Sebago Lake at the intersection of U.S. Route 302 and Maine Routes 11, 35 and 114, Naples has long been a vacation resort community. See photos. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Nathaniel Hawthorne have sung its praises. The Songo Lock, built about 1830 and now shared with the town of Casco, linked Long Pond and Brandy Pond with Sebago Lake

Lewiston

Thorncrag Bird Sanctuary in Lewiston (2002)

Lewiston Falls, on the Androscoggin River between downtown Lewiston and neighboring Auburn, its “twin” city, was a fishing source for Native Americans. Recently, a park has been developed at the site of the falls, known as Great Falls, and one of the old mills, now a housing complex, that once thrived on its power. The great demand for manufacturing labor in the 19th century drew large numbers of French speaking people from Canada and northern Maine. From 1970 to 2000 the city’s population was again in decline. In 2010 it grew by about 1,000. This time another ethnic group, Somali refugees, were instrumental in the recent growth.

Casco

Songo Lock in Casco (2003)

settled by Europeans in 1771, in Cumberland County, incorporated in 1841, is on the north shore of Sebago Lake. The Songo Lock, built about 1830, linked Long Pond and Brandy Pond with Sebago Lake, allowing boat passage from Harrison to Portland. Nathaniel Hawthorne, author and Bowdoin College graduate was its most prominent resident.