In this article I will start off with a section of land that has been divided and broken off into different towns from 1754 to 1848.
The town of Bristol was incorporated in 1765, then the town of Nobleboro was incorporated in 1788. Then a portion of land was taken from Bristol, which was incorporated in 1848. The date was March 15, 1848.
Damariscotta is a small town in size of 14.71 square miles. We find of that 14.71 square miles, 2.29 is water, so the total land mass is 12.42 square miles.
We find Damariscotta has one large lake called Pemaquid Lake and three small ponds. Their names are Muddy Pond, Little Pond, and Biscay Pond. The town of Damariscotta gets its water supply from the spring-fed pond called Little Pond.
The town of Damariscotta’s boundary line on its west side is the tidal waters of the Damariscotta River. It starts at the headwaters of the so-called Great Salt Bay and runs downriver past the towns of Damariscotta, Bristol, and South Bristol to the open sea.
The tide ebbs and flows twice a day on this beautiful river. This river is abundant with sea life, clams, crabs, lobsters, scallops, and fish as well as many oyster farms now.
We find that Mr. Herman Castner built Damariscotta’s first town water system that provided fire hydrants and running water to homes and businesses here in town. Herman Castner hired a group of 100 Italian laborers to dig the ditches and lay pipes in every street in town. Work started on Oct. 12, 1896 and by Jan. 15, 1897, water was flowing into town.
We find Mr. Castner formed a company and, in 1904, he petitioned the Legislature for permission to supply the town with electricity. In 1905 poles were set for electricity in Damariscotta. An engine and generator were installed at Little Pond. Houses and stores were wired. The light company was a subsidiary of the water company until it was sold to Central Maine Power Co.
The water company also installed a large iron drinking fountain on Main Street. This basin was used to water the horses and a lower basin was used by dogs. Water was also used to sprinkle down the unpaved gravel streets and keep the dust down.
At this period in Damariscotta, all roads and streets were gravel roads and were quite dusty in hot summer months.
Horses and wagons and carriages were the only way of travel on land between towns and local country farms. In the winter months the town roads were not plowed. They sometimes would use a snow roller to roll down the snow so one could use a horse and sleigh for travel over the packed down snow. When spring came the packed down snow would change to slush and then mud and travel became very hard. People often had to wait until the dirt roads dried out.
Here in the village of Damariscotta the snow was removed by hand, one shovelful at a time, and hauled by the wagon load and dumped into the Damariscotta River by the bridge.
Now in 1848, when Damariscotta became a town, we had six school districts. District 1 was a two-story brick building on Church Street and it was called the Longfellow and Kipling School. District 2 was located on Round Top and called the Hawthorne School and had grades one to eight.
District 3 was a brick school building on Upper School Street by the Bristol Road called Whittier School. District 4 was the old Oak School, which was located on the Back Meadow Road and had grades one to eight.
District 5 was called the Gen. Grant School and was located on Biscay Road and had grades one to eight. District 6 was called the Lessner School and was located on the Lessner Road and had grades one to eight.
In 1927 Edward Castner gave land for a new brick school building and thereafter every schoolchild aged 6 and beyond went to Castner School on School Street. The day of one-room schools had come to an end.
Here in Damariscotta the new Castner School had four teachers. Madeline Hopkins taught grades one and two; Florence Erskine, grades three and four; Doris Goudy, grades five and six; and Alvah Nickerson, grades seven and eight.
The first bridge between the Twin Villages was built in 1797 with a three-cent toll for pedestrians and eight cents for a horse and passenger.
The second bridge was built in 1869 and called the Virgie Bridge. In 1888 the third bridge was built and called the Hitchcock Bridge. There was a $3 fine for driving across the bridge faster than a walk. After a fire damaged one end of the wooden bridge on the Damariscotta side, a steel bridge was built in 1905, which was the fourth bridge.
Then in 1953 a wider, concrete bridge was built and it was dedicated on June 19, 1953, becoming the fifth bridge over a period of 156 years.
We now turn to brick making here on the Damariscotta River. We learn that all the old brick blocks on Main Street today were made of Damariscotta River brick in the period between 1846 and 1875.
The Piper Brickyard was the largest brickyard in Damariscotta and was located on the shore of the Piper Farm in the section of land now known as Westview Acres on the Bristol Road. Bricks were shipped by boats to Portland and points south and also to St. Johns in Canada. The local brickyard business ended around 1900.
Now for a brief history of the Massasoit Engine Co. After the great fire of 1846 a group of Damariscotta men decided to purchase a hand pumper for fire protection. At first it was used to fill newly built ships with salt water to test them for leaks. At that time there was no organized fire company.
In 1876 one was formed and voters approved money for hose and other equipment. The first engine house was built on Bristol Road across from the Damariscotta Baptist Church. The first engine house had a hose drying tower and a bell was installed at the top to ring in case of a fire.
It was a two-story building. In 1930 the town’s first motorized truck, a Packard, arrived. We find the new truck was a great help in providing mutual aid to surrounding towns. We find a second truck was purchased in 1939 and a Chevy truck replaced the Packard in 1937.
In 1957 the town voted for a new firehouse, which was to be combined with a town office. This was the second firehouse to be built in Damariscotta. We find in 1995 with a new, heavy fire truck, the second firehouse was deemed structurally unsafe.
The town voted to buy land on the Biscay Road and built a new modern firehouse, which could house a ladder truck and other fire trucks and have a room to show and display the old Massasoit hand pumps as well as the hose reel wagons and all the old fire equipment of past years.
We as citizens of Damariscotta must all be thankful for the faithful care provided by the Massasoit Fire Co.
We must always remember the name of Mrs. Geneva King Strout, who opened the first hospital on Elm Street in 1928. Mrs. Strout was a World War I nurse and she opened the hospital in the so-called Howe Tavern in memory of her father, Dr. Joseph King. She was forced to close in 1929 due to the Great Depression. In 1930 a group of citizens reopened the hospital.
In 1938 Mrs. Isabel Miles donated land and $50,000 to build a new hospital. The cornerstone was laid in August, 1940 and the new Miles Memorial Hospital opened on June 6, 1941. I remember my father, Merrill H. Dodge, worked in the construction of the hospital. Miles has enlarged many times over the years and is now known as LincolnHealth’s Miles Campus. We as Damariscotta citizens have to be very proud to have such a hospital, with all the doctors and staff. The hospital is the biggest employer in Damariscotta.
We must never forget the early men and women who first settled in the Damariscotta area were strong in spirit and had the stamina and strong work habits to succeed in all their plans. These men and women came from all parts of Europe. They came here for one reason: to own their own land, build a home, worship in their own religion, and build their own businesses.
We must always remember we are a town full of people who still have a strong work habit, a love for each other, and we truly care about our children’s needs and education.
Our churches are still active and their church steeples tower over our beloved town in different locations.
May the blessing of God look over all of us when our world is in such stress. Just remember, we live in a great community full of caring and loving people, who are always willing to help in all events.
Have a safe week and take a good refreshing walk each day.
