8388_LGP_MechanicFalls_2022AnnualReport_Web

Have you ever wondered what your town looked like when it first began or even how it came to be a town in the first place? Have you ever wondered why a street is named is what it is? I am fascinated by the history of small towns in Maine and often imagine what life must have been like when a town began. Was a town settled because it was on the way to someplace else and people simply stayed? It seems that even in the most remote parts of the state, people formed towns and made their lives. Lucky for me, and all of us really; there have been people through the years who thought to record the happenings of their day that have become our history. Thank you to our fabulous Historical Society for letting me “play” in the archives. The Town of Mechanic Falls came to be in 1893, but before that it was a village called Bog Falls that was actually part of both Poland and Minot. As was the case with many towns in Maine at that time, the boundary between Poland and Minot was the Little Androscoggin River. The power of the river attracted people to the area surrounding the falls and several mills were built there making up the village of Bog Falls. In the mid-1800s these mills included Drake, Dwinal & Co. paper mill (formerly Drake & Mitchell) on the Minot side and A.C. Dennison & Co. (formerly owned by Isaiah Perkins) on the Poland side. J.W. Penney began manufacturing steam engines, machinery and foundry articles in Mechanic Falls. In 1886, his two sons, became partners, formally establishing J.W. Penney & Sons which grew to become one of the greatest machine shops in Maine and was a great factor in the prosperity of Mechanic Falls. It was J.W. Penney who introduced electric lighting to the village. He is also one of people to be credited for recording the events and way of life at that point in time. Jesse M. Libby, who was a member of the Maine State Senate at this time, fought in favor of formally dividing the Towns of Poland & Minot to create the Town of Mechanic Falls. Though there was some initial opposition, the bill passed and the Town of Mechanic Falls was incorporated on March 22, 1893. The First Annual Report was for the year ending February 28, 1894. The first Town Officers were: Clerk: J.H. DeCoster; Treasurer: O.B. Dwinal; Selectmen, Assessors & Overseers of the Poor: H.E. Thurston, F.O. Purington and F.A. Millett; Road Commissioners: C.L. Hackett, W.C. Chipman and A.D. Bemis. The answer to my questions of how the town began

and whether people were just passing through is: they settled here for the purpose of harnessing the power of the Little Androscoggin River and what it provided to the businesses that were relevant at that time. They successfully fought to create this town and make it their home. Many of the names mentioned here still have roads named for them and descendants who reside in the Town of Mechanic Falls. ~JMF

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