East Millinocket

[mil-ihn-OK-eht] is a town in Penobscot County, incorporated on February 21, 1907 from a portion of TA R7 WELS township, formerly known as Burnt Sands Rip.

Great Northern Paper Company began with construction of a mill in Millinocket in 1899.

Truly a company town, its incorporation followed the Great Northern’s efforts to develop the paper mill and the ground wood mill there in 1906.

 

 

 

 

 

Dolby Dam across the West Branch of the Penobscot River flooded the northeast section of the town creating Dolby Pond in a low lying area.

Residential neighborhoods lie on a rise north of the main street, within sight of Mount Katahdin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Traditionally a source of well-paid employment for nearly a century, the paper mill has been under economic pressure in recent years, largely the cause of population loss, over 30 percent, during the 1970-2010 period.

With the common economic base being the paper industry, Millinocket and East Millinocket share the problems of the decline in the forest products industry.

East Millinocket is the long-time home of U.S. Representative Michael H. Michaud, who once worked in the local mill.

 

 

 

 

 

Routes 11 and 157 pass over Dolby Pond linking the town to Millinocket and the south entrance to Baxter State Park.

Form of Government: Town Meeting-Select Board-Administrative Assistant.

Additional resources

Chadbourne, Ava Harriet. Maine Place Names and The Peopling of its Towns.

Great Northern Paper Company. Records, 1889-1992. (Cataloger Note: 60 boxes. Records organized into five series: I. Executive and administrative records. II. Financial records. III. Production and sales records. IV. Department reports. V. John E. McLeod papers. Series I organized into six sub-series: 1. General and special files. 2. Records of Madison mill. 3. Contracts for materials, supplies and services. 4. Labor. 5. Publications. 6. Photographs. Kept at Fogler Library’s offsite storage facility. One week’s notice required for retrieval. Collection includes correspondence, subject files, publications, contracts for material and labor, maps and plans, photographs and production record.)

McCann, Everett. The East Millinocket Story. East Millinocket. The Town. 1978? (Cataloger Note: Cover title: The town that paper made.)

Rush, Harry A. M. Centennial Diary of East Millinocket, Maine, 1907-2007. East Millinocket, Me. 2007.