Gazetteer of the State of Maine With Numerous Illustrations, by Geo. J. Varney

BOSTON: PUBLISHED BY B. B. RUSSELL, 57 CORNHILL. 1882. Public domain image from

96    GAZETTEER    OF    MAINE.

course of the Kenduskeag through the town is from the north-north-
west.

The outcropping and underlying rocks are mostly slate. The soil
is clayey loam, with small areas of gravelly loam, while there is gener-
ally a hard pan of clay ; so that much of the land is relieved of water only
by thorough drainage. The water power of Bangor is a marked feature.
On the Penobscot, one mile above the harbor proper, is “ Treat’s Falls,”
where in the dryest time, besides the quantity required in the sluice for
the passage of rafts of timber, there is available about 2,000 feet of
water per second for manufacturing purposes. It is calculated that
by the excellent dam of 15 feet in height, with flash-boards, the amount
of flowage available in the dryest time will reach 9,000 horse powers.
Ou the Kenduskeag the powers are,—first, “ Drummond’s Mills,”
“McQuestion’s Mills,” “Bruce’s Mills, “Hatch’s Mills,” the “Four
Mile Falls” and “Six Mile Falls.” The power of this series may be
apprehended by the fact that Bruce’s Mills (now flour mill) could saw
3,000,000 feet of boards annually. Bangor stands midway between the
great Maine forests and the sea. Her vesssels span the latter, while her
rivers gather in their branches, and bring down the vast product of forest
and mills from a wide belt extending nearly across the State. The
booms to hold tbe logs extend for miles along tbe river. Up to 1855,
there had been 2,999,847,201 feet of lumber surveyed at Bangor; be-
tween 1859 and 1869, 1,869,965,454 feet of long lumber were shipped
hence ; in 1868, 274,000,000 feet of short lumber (clapboards, laths and
shingles) were shipped; and in 1872, there were 246,500,000 feet of
long lumber surveyed here. The total lumber crop of Maine in 1872
was about 700,000,000 feet of which 225,000,000 floated down the Penob-
scot. To transport these vast amounts of lumber to its markets, hun-
dreds of vessels must ascend this great thoroughfare of Maine, the
lordly Penobscot.

As might be supposed, many industries dependent or connected
with the lumber business flourish here. There are one or more saw
and water-wheel manufactures, three iron foundries, two brass foun-
dries, three machine shops; edge-tool, belting and boiler factories,
ship-yards, a door, sash and blind factory, seven barrel factories, five
brick-yards, a coffee and spice mill, four boot and shoe factories, three
carriage factories, a broom and brush factory, etc.

Besides the lumber manufactures within her own borders, Bangor
is the common shipping-place for the numerous mills and quarries up
the river and its branches, and has therefore extensive exports of
lumber, roofing slate and agricultural products. The city has been
the second lumber mart of the world. Besides her coastwise business,
she has a large commerce with the West Indies and European ports;
there are large entries as well as clearances at her custom house. No
other city of New England is the trade centre of so large a number of
rural towns as Bangor. The head of navigation in winter is at Bucks-
port, about 18 miles south,—with which Bangor is connected by the
Bucksport and Bangor railroad. The city is connected with the
southern interior and south-western portion of the State by means of
the Maine Central railroad and its branches; with the central section
of the State, embracing the slate region of southern Piscataquis
County, by the Bangor and Piscataquis railroad ; with the eastern,
north and south-eastern parts and with New Brunswick and the St.