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    Guilford and Sangerville
    Guilford and Sangerville
    Guilford and Sangerville
    Ebook167 pages52 minutes

    Guilford and Sangerville

    By Sieferd C. Schultz

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    About this ebook

    Guilford and Sangerville typify hundreds of small towns scattered across Maine, and this volume reveals the two towns rich visual history. Each a beautiful community, and nearly self-sufficient until recently, they border each other with the beautiful Piscataquis River running between. Guilford sits on the north with Sangerville on the south. From the dawn of the Industrial Revolution to the advent of electricity, almost every river in the state spawned dozens of towns as waterpower was harnessed for a variety of mills. Railroads and the subsequent highways provided the needed transportation for importing raw materials and exporting finished goods. Rivers proved to be a blessing and a curse when severe floods washed away many businesses and homes, but the area remained vibrant. While Guilford and Sangerville are quieter now, they still boast strong and proud communities.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateMar 10, 2008
    ISBN9781439619940
    Guilford and Sangerville
    Author

    Sieferd C. Schultz

    Sieferd C. Schultz has been a member of the Guilford Historical Society for 15 years and has held the treasurer position for more than 10 years. A member of the Sangerville Historical Society, he was born in Guilford and has lived in Sangerville as well.

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      Book preview

      Guilford and Sangerville - Sieferd C. Schultz

      ground.

      INTRODUCTION

      In 1803, two men, Robert Low Jr. and Robert Herring Jr., purchased a large tract of land from Bowdoin College in what is now the incorporated town of Guilford, with part of the agreement being that they would establish homes on this land. In 1804, a number of trees were felled on lots along the Piscataquis River, and corn was planted the next year. By 1806, there were seven men residing within the area. At this time, the area was within the boundaries of Somerset County, and in October 1812, a warrant was issued by the county to organize the area into a plantation. This was done in November, and immediately provisions were made for the education of the children. Education has remained a high priority for the entire existence of the town. In 1815, Thomas Macomber was given a grant of 300 acres and, in return, agreed to stay and preach for a minimum of 10 years. He actually stayed 20.

      In 1816, the town petitioned the general court to be incorporated under the laws of the State of Massachusetts and to be named Fluvanna. The Massachusetts legislature passed the warrant in February 1816 but disliked the name and changed it to Guilford. By 1819, there were 13 families living in the township. The next year, 1820, Maine was granted statehood under the Missouri Compromise and Guilford became part of Piscataquis County. According to the census at that time, Guilford had 325 citizens.

      In 1818, a meetinghouse was erected in Guilford center that also served as a school and town hall until it burned in 1825. In 1824, a crib dam was built across the Piscataquis River and a sawmill was established by Robert Herring Jr., along with two other individuals. From this point on, Guilford began to grow and gradually became highly industrialized due to the abundance of waterpower available to run mills and factories. In 1825, Addison Martin opened the first store in the village, and by then, the population had soared to 500 people. In 1827, he built the first frame house, and although it has been remodeled many times, it still stands to this day and was last used as an inn and bar.

      In 1834, the Guilford Free Meeting House was built on High Street by the Methodists and Universalists and was used by both until each established their separate churches within the village proper. It stood where the First Pentecostal Church is currently located.

      In the ensuing years, many businesses were established, factories and mills flourished, and Guilford became a model of industry until the start of World War II, when almost anything a person could ever want was available within the town. The Bangor and Piscataquis Railroad reached town in 1871, providing both freight and passenger service to Bangor where it interconnected with the Maine Central Railroad. In 1881, a woolen mill was built on the north side of the river, and a town hall, which also contained the village high school, was erected at the corner of School and North Main Streets and saw many uses until it burned flat in 1928, a huge loss at the time.

      With the advent of electricity, the power of the rivers was no longer needed to run the mills, and gradually everything was changed over to electric power, signaling the end of a very important chapter in America’s Industrial Revolution.

      Devastating fires and floods have plagued Guilford from the time it was settled, with floods taking out bridges and destroying property right up through 1987, when the flood of the century probably caused more damage than all the others put together, even taking out the historic, 130-year-old Lows bridge. Fires have been almost as bad over the years, destroying several small schools, the Turner House, the high school, the town hall, the Hardwood Products Mill, the entire Koritsky block, the Braeburn Hotel, and many private homes, with some causing loss of life, to name a few. One exception was during the 1947 drought, when huge forest fires swept the state and Guilford did not have one serious fire. The local fire chief at the time mobilized almost the entire town with roving patrols out every night to watch for even the slightest conflagration, and all the local farms were asked to keep as much water as possible at the ready. The only bad fire in this area was in East Sangerville.

      Through a lot of hard work, perseverance, and sometimes a little luck, Guilford has managed to keep most of its industries, and today it is more or less the manufacturing center of the county. The town has survived many adversities over the course of its existence and continues today as a vibrant community, always looking to the future with the optimism inherited from its forbearers.

      The town of Sangerville consists of 24,216 acres and was sold by the State of Massachusetts for the princely sum of 25¢ per acre, 75 percent of which was purchased by Col. Calvin Sanger of Sherborn, Massachusetts, around 1800. The other 25 percent, consisting of the southeast quadrant, had previously been allotted to Moses Hodsdon. Sanger soon purchased this also and became the sole owner of the entire town. The first settler was Phineas Ames of New Hampshire, settling near Lane’s Corner in

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