Civil War Gun Powerder Mill

Instead of a bad picture of me, here's my dog at the mills.

     This site I went to next was the remains of the Gambo Powder Mills. Some of the class took a trip there on Saturday, but I was working Saturday so went the Friday morning before. It was a fairly nice fall day, but there was also a lot of leaves on the ground, which made me almost walk by a few stone structures,but they had signs at them. I had never even heard of these, so it was pretty cool to go and check out a significant Civil War related site a few towns over.

 

      However, I was expecting the mills to be in better condition. When I first heard there was a mill I wasn't expecting a restored building, but thought there would some building left. There are many older structures around Maine still standing. There wasn't much left but a few foundations and such. It was still interesting to look at, and it would have been interesting to take guided tour, as all I really learned about the site was what was on the signs. There wasn't anyone else there, and it looked like it wasn't really a busy place. 

 

  

Powder Mills Historical Significance

     The powder mills at Gambo Falls must have played a great significance in the Civil War. It produced a large portion of the gunpowder used by the Union troops.  This would have been been useful to everyone in the Union army, not just the soldiers from Maine. In addition, it would provided jobs to those who stayed back in Maine, and didn't go off to fight. This would have helped the local economy in a time when many of those who were able to work were not around. Due to its dangerous conditions, the mill payed especially high wages, .50 to .75 cents a day more than other jobs in the area. The total pay per day at the end of the war was about $2.50. However, after the war, the demand for the powder declined, and the mill eventually went out of business.

Cutting Down Elsa

   

     For my second local landmark, I chose to go to the cutting down of Elsa. This was the giant elm tree that was a fixture of Oak Hill in Scarborough for years. The tree itself was estimated to be about 150-200 years old, but was dying. It also may have had Dutch-Elm disease. The town decided to cut it down either way, and hack it's remains up into various wooden items to raise money for the town.

      On the morning of October 15th, I went to Oak Hill to watch the tree get cut down. There were cranes and other tree felling trucks around. For some reason I was expecting a couple of burly men in flannel to hack at it with an axe until it fell into the road. It took quite a while for them to tie ropes to the tree and bring in a bucket truck with a man with a chainsaw inside. From there they took the tree apart little bits at a time. On the side of the road I was on there was only a few people, mostly local reporters, a town representative, and a couple people from the town public works. On the other side of the road, in the Amato's parking lot, a thrilled group of people watched on the edge of their seats the town provided.
      People seemed a little nostalgic, talking about how the tree had been there as long as they could remember, but people generally just thought of it as a good spectacle to watch. One local reporter interviewed me, which would have been my proof I was there, but alas, I must have been too boring as he didn't use me in the article in the paper. I said something about how I used to drive by the tree on the way to high school and just thought I would come and see it get cut down. I was there for little over an hour before I had to leave, at which point they still had lots to go. When I drove past later there was just a stump left of the old town landmark.

Historical Significance Of Elsa

The historical significance of Elsa isn't anything particularly special. I doubt anyone from Scarborough would even know the tree had a name or anything about it's history. Many people from Scarborough probably never even noticed it. However, the tree dates back to the early 1800's, and was certainly a part of the town for years. That would date it, at most, 100 years before any of my ancestors even came to America. In once sense the tree was significant to the town just for it's age.

 

Oak Hill in Scarborough ca. 1950, though Elsa would have been to the left of this photo, it still was at least 100 years old at this point in the town's history.

In another sense, the tree is much more a representation of the town's changes through time. Many of the town's old landmarks have gone the same way throughout the years: the abandoned drive-in became a park, the water tower (which was maybe a hundred feet from Elsa) was torn down, Winslow Homer's famous house is gated off, the old greasy spoon that seemed to be built in the fire station parking lot was replaced with a bench, Shop N' Save became Hannaford, etc, etc.. Elsa is just one more former piece of a formerly small town that is changing rapidly. So, at least I think, it's significance is not in anything it did for the town, but as a symbol of a what the town used to be, and is now.

Mt. Blue State Park

 

View from parking near summit trail.

     For my history of Maine class at USM I have been given the task of visiting places around the state. On October 11th, the first place I went to was Mt. Blue State Park, in the town of Weld, Maine. The area is roughly two hours north of Portland, near the town of Farmington. According to the Maine Bureau of Parks and Land's website, the land was given to the state in 1955. Before this it was ran by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, who acquired the land as a WPA project during the Great Depression.

     However, do to too much antique shopping by myself on the drive up, as well as a refusal to use a GPS took up most of my time getting there. Therefore I didn't have time to climb the summit trail of the mountain before sunset. Should I actually researched the park before going I also would have known the trail was closed for repair. This actually made the trip much more enjoyable. In order to try to find another trail that I did have time to do, I drove many of the dirt roads in the area. Many of these appeared to be current logging roads, with small patches of trees missing. One road had a small cabin that appeared to be very old, but eventually just led to a small church camp, which was very strange in itself. Regardless, it was still very interesting to see a part of the state I have never been.

 

Dirt road and empty bible camp in the woods.

     Eventually the driving led me to Webb Lake. The area was closed the day before, leaving it empty. I had to park on the side of the road and walk in. The view from the pond was great. You could see all the mountains in the area. It was also great for what you couldn't see. No people, very few houses on the lake, no jet ski's, no Canadians, and no development. You really got a feeling this was true rural Maine, an area that still lived on the land and not in the office. I learned that hope for Maine turning into a giant industrial park or housing development wasn't totally lost (if the gas station still ran by an attendant didn't convince you), you just have to drive 3 hours to see it. Even better, was that due to my own poor management of time I managed to get to the lake at sunset, which was prime for touristy leaf peeping as it was.

 

Yours truly with dog truly at Webb Lake.

Webb Lake at sunset.

Historical Significance of Weld, Maine and Mt. Blue State Park.
  

  As said above, Mt. Blue was first purchased by the USDA during the Great Depression. Before becoming the state park, the area was settled around 1800. According to Geo J. Varney’s History of Temple, Weld, and Wilton, Maine (http://history.rays-place.com/me/franklin3.htm) as of 1886, the town was still home to five saw-mills. The area also produced other small items. The area, while not destitute, does not appear to ever have been a particularly thriving town. It was certainly never a Bangor, and certainly isn’t now.
    Then why is this area historically significant? It never had a major factory, never had a population far over a thousand people, never had a particularly famous citizen (in 1886 Varney says the most esteemed citizen is a doctor), had no major tourism industry , and never became super wealthy. I believe that the area is important to the history of Maine for all those exact reasons. It is still very much that way, and for me, who rarely sees Maine out of the greater Portland area, it appears to be the quintessential Maine town. These are the towns that built our state, one small contribution at a time. Small towns, connected by small roads, with houses not set up in neighborhoods, but set back from the road by mile long dirt driveways.
    For me this area gives more representation of how out state was, what attracted people to it, made it once thriving, and how it should stay than most of the places I see day to day around Portland.