Brewer

Brewer Along the Penobscot (2003)

Year Population 1970 9,300 1980 9,017 1990 9,021 2000 8,987 2010 9,482 Geographic Data N. Latitude 44:46:44 W. Longitude 69:25:29 Maine House Dists 128,129 Maine Senate District 8 Congress District 2 Area sq. mi. (total) 15.6 Area sq. mi. (land) 15.1 Population/sq.mi. (land) 628.0 County: Penobscot Total=land+water; Land=land only  Brewer is a city in Penobscot…

Golden Road

The Golden Road, privately owned and mostly unpaved, extends from Millinocket west over 100 miles to the Quebec border at township T5 R20 WELS, a four hour trip.  It was established in the 1970’s as a transportation conduit for raw wood to feed the hungry Great Northern Paper Company mills in Millinocket and East Millinocket.…

Westbrook

Immediately west of Portland but part of the Portland metropolitan area, Westbrook is home to industrial, professional, and commercial enterprises, as well as to a campus of Husson University. Flowing through the city is the Presumpscot River, whose name means “many rough places river. ” Now the 12th largest community in Maine by population, it was edged out of its 1990 11th largest position by Saco in the 2000 Census.

Topsham

Recently the downtown (see photos) has witnessed a renewal with modern buildings. Topsham has been a very rapidly growing community both in population and in commercial development.The area of the Topsham Fair Mall is located adjacent to Interstate 95. Pejepscot Village was once an active community when the Pejepscot Paper Mill was in full production. Falls in the Androscoggin River between Topsham and Brunswick encouraged the development of paper and textile mills which dominated the economy into the 20th century.

Rumford

Deacon Hutchins House (1979)

Year Population 1970 9,363 1980 8,240 1990 7,078 2000 6,472 2010 5,841 Geographic Data N. Latitude 44:31:19 W. Longitude 70:35:50 Maine House District 115 Maine Senate District 18 Congress District 2 Area sq. mi. (total) 69.9 Area sq. mi. (land) 68.6 Population/sq.mi. (land) 85.2 County: Oxford   Total=land+water; Land=land only [RUM-frd] a town in Oxford…

Old Town

The town is heavily influenced by the nearby University of Maine, and the long-lived Old Town Canoe Company maintains an outlet that attracts customers with a broad range of outdoor recreation interests. See photos. DeWitt Field, Old Town’s municipal airport, hash three runways. Since 1669, the area has been the principal home of the Penobscot Indians.

Mexico

Stack of Paper Mill in Rumford near the Androscoggin River from the Mexico-Rumford Bridge (2013)

The town, across the Swift River and the Androscoggin River from Rumford, is home to many workers in the Rumford paper mill. See photos. In the 1960’s, the mill employed over 3,000 people; by 2009 it employed less than 600. The crash in this and other manufacturing has contributed to the sharp population decline Mexico has experienced since 1970.

Mechanic Falls

Ever since a paper mill was established on the Little Androscoggin River in 1850, the town has been part of Maine’s paper making economy. See photos. One of the inventors of the Stanley Steamer automobile, Freeland O. Stanley, built some models here and was the town’s first high school principal.

Madawaska

was named for the river whose Indian name means “having its outlet among the reeds” and “worn out grass (land).” A monument marks the landing of the Acadians. Its main street, U.S. Route 1, is dominated by Fraser Paper Company, whose plant straddles the border with Edmunston, New Brunswick. Agriculture remains a significant portion of the economy. Most residents in this heavily Catholic community are fluent in French and have extended family members in Canada.

Livermore Falls

Livermore Falls Birdseye View 1889

For years Livermore Falls was a thriving paper mill town. See video and photos. Recently, the employment future has become less certain, as shown by the age of the housing stock. Pikes Corner at Route 133 and 106 is in the East Livermore area, in Livermore Falls. The town is directly north of the Lewiston-Auburn area. An extensive logging and manufacturing operation produces wood pallets.

Katahdin, The

The Katahdin (2002)

The first Katahdin, a wooden hulled steam vessel, began plying the waters of Moosehead Lake in 1896. While towing a raft of logs near Sand Bar Island, her steam engines caught fire on May 13, 1913. Work on a replacement began almost immediately. Hull # 63 was built for the Coburn Steamboat Company by Bath…

Jay

Main Street in Jay near the Mill and Androscoggin River (2013)

Both Jay and Livermore Falls, have been paper mill towns on the River since the 19th century. See photos. Jay’s town line cuts through Livermore Falls village with little obvious effect. The VFW Post is just a few hundred feet north of Livermore Falls. Jay was the scene of an extended and bitter strike of workers against the International Paper Androscoggin mill in 18987-1988. The white granite for President Ulysses S. Grant’s tomb came from North Jay

Millinocket

This 1912 building was the Great Northern Paper Co. administration building. Later mill owners used it for offices until just before the mill

The Great Northern Paper Mill and the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad have been keys to the economic life of Millinocket for many years. See photos. The declining employment in the paper industry contributed to the steady loss of population over the past forty years – 42%. Millinocket is the gateway to Baxter State Park and its famed Mount Katahdin.

East Millinocket

Truly a company town, as is Millinocket, its incorporation followed Great Northern’s development of the paper mill and ground wood mill in 1906. Once a source of well-paid employment, the mill has been under economic pressure, a partial cause of population loss of over 3 % during the 1970-2010 period. It is just west of Medway off I-95 in Aroostook County.

Clinton

is a town in Kennebec County, incorporated under the name Maine in 1848. The following year, the confusing address “Maine, Maine” was changed. Across the Kennebec River from Hinckley lies the Pishon Ferry area, now served by a modern bridge. A small white church overlooks the river. See photos.

Bucksport

in Hancock County was settled in 1762. Jed Prouty’s Tavern and Inn, no longer operating, was a stop for the Bangor to Castine stage route. The paper mill (once St. Regis, then Champion, then Verso) dominates the north end of town and is across the Penobscot River from Fort Knox. Northeast Historic Film, a moving image archives, research and education center is located here. See photos.

Bradley

Sign: "Welcome to Bradley, home of Leonard

Named for an early, prominent settler Bradley Blackman, the town economy flourished in 1833 with the coming of the Great Works Milling and Manufacturing Company. Bradley is located on the east side of the Penobscot River, across from Orono and Old Town, just south of Milford. The paper mill in Old Town dominates the landscape. See photos.

Madison

Madison Paper Industries (2009)

The site of many mills in its history, its largest has been a paper mill at the dam where U.S. Route 201 crosses the Kennebec River from Anson. Until the end of the log drives in 1976, the river was often choked with pulp logs destined for this mill and others. The Lakewood Summer Theater, opened in 1901 in East Madison. Benedick Arnold passed through on his way to Quebec.

Winslow

Winslow is on the east side of the Kennebec River, across from Waterville, on Routes U.S. 201 and Maine routes 32, 100, 100A, and 137. See photos. A reconstructed blockhouse of Fort Halifax, which incorporates many original timbers, stands on the fort’s original site.