Maine Memory Network

Mill workers during the lunch hour on Main Street, Biddeford, 1912

Contributed by: McArthur Public Library Date: 1912 Location: Biddeford Media: Photographic print

Lincoln Mill workers, Lewiston, ca. 1900

Contributed by: Lewiston Public Library Date: circa 1880 Location: Lewiston Media: Phototransparency

Biddeford, Saco and the Textile Industry

The largest textile factory in the country reached seven stories up on the banks of the Saco River in 1825, ushering in more than a century of making cloth in Biddeford and Saco. Along with the industry came larger populations and commercial, retail, social, and cultural growth.

From French Canadians to Franco-Americans

French Canadians who emigrated to the Lewiston-Auburn area faced discrimination as children and adults -- such as living in "Little Canada" tenements and being ridiculed for speaking French -- but also adapted to their new lives and sustained many cultural traditions.

Old Berwick Historical Society

View collections, facts, and contact information for this Contributing Partner.

Biddeford History & Heritage Project - The Civil War/Reconstruction Era as Experienced in Biddeford & Saco - Page 14 of 17

"Layoffs were common for mill workers, many of which were forced to rely on the city's Poor Farm for Assistance program."

Growing up in Lewiston
by Kathy Becvar

Growing up in Lewiston in the 1960s and 1970s.

My career working at Pepperell Mills in the Vellux Division
by David Bishop

My 35 years working in the Vellux blanket division of Pepperell Mills, Biddeford.