Maine Memory Network
Maine's Online Museum

Title: Runnel's Dam in Caribou, ca. 1900

Contributed by: Caribou Public Library

Date: circa 1900

Location: Caribou

Media: monochrome photograph

Title: Building the new dam above the Old Falls, Sanford, 1906

Contributed by: Sanford Historical Committee

Date: 1906

Location: Sanford

Media: Print from Glasss Negative

Title: Construction of the New Dam at Estes Lake, Sanford

Contributed by: Sanford Historical Committee

Date: circa 1905

Location: Sanford

Media: Print from Glass Negative

Powering Pejepscot Paper Co.

In 1893, F.C. Whitehouse of Topsham, who owned paper mills in Topsham and Lisbon Falls, began construction of a third mill on the eastern banks of the Androscoggin River five miles north of Topsham. First, he had to build a dam to harness the river's power.

Moving Lumber, Growing Bangor

Bangor became the largest lumber port in the world in the early 19th century, aided by several dams that diverted water and made lumber drives down the Penobscot River possible.

Walter Wyman and River Power

Walter Wyman's vision to capture the power of Maine's rivers to produce electricity led to the formation of Central Maine Power Co. and to a struggle within the state over what should happen to the power produced by the state's natural resources.