Houlton, Maine...northern terminus of America's longest N-S Highway, Rt. 95. Part II.
If I asked you what town in America was THE richest, per capita, in the year 1900, I bet you might say New York, or Chicago, maybe San Fransisco after the gold rush, or possibly even Cleveland with the booming oil business of the Rockefellers. Nope...none of those big places. The richest town in America PER CAPITA was Houlton, Maine. That's right. The downtown of this little town (which has never exceeded 12,000 people but was much closer to that figure than the 5800 of today during it's heyday) was loaded with banks of all sizes and descriptions. This was the lumber capital of the East Coast, and several rich lumber barons were resident here at the time. Here are just a few photos of some of the elegant old homes. (NOTE: These are not as large as southern plantation houses, because these had to be heated in -20F-to-40F temps in January and February.):
Back in the 50s Houlton was roughly twice the size it is today. There was a large hotel, a college, a large playhouse, and several more trappings of a larger city than are currently extant. In fact, in the 50s the entire County had around 110,000 residents compared to just under 70,000 today. The reason...well, the lumber industry fell on hard times, mostly because of Canadian direct subsidies to those cutting lumber on Crown Lands for export to the USA, but also because of the rise of plastics to replace many wood products. Then came the coup de grace to the area when Loring Air Force Base (the closest one to Europe, and probably essential to our national defense if our leader's really cared a hoot about that) was shuttered sending out thousands of residents and millions of dollars.
Still, there is plenty of old money in Houlton..but it doesn't move much. It mostly sits in banks collecting practically zero interest from the force of habit of our older residents. But, sometimes, we still see it pop out here and there. One such example is the million-dollar footbridge which was constructed a few years back over The Meduxnekeag River in downtown. There were already two perfectly fine auto bridges with room for foot traffic, so there was ZERO need for this extravagance, but it was sub-scripted based on the donors getting their name on the brick walk way leading up to it, and so...:
Below are some shots of "Market Square" in the center of down town. Festivals and parades are held here, and this used to really be the pumping heart of a vibrant local economy. Now, it's still "in business" but just a shell of it's former glory, as most of the larger businesses have established themselves on "The North Road" above where the Rt. 95 off ramp is located and on the way towards Presque Isle and the rest of Aroostook County. I've photographed some of the several banks (that have not been used as banks for decades) to give you a feel for the town's former rich times:
And, we close this pair of blog entries on the biggest little town on the East Coast with just a few random shots of other points of interest around town:
The Elks Lodge:
The Cary Memorial Library:
The Post Office:
The Museum and The Houlton Historical Society Building:
The County Courthouse:
The Gentle Memorial Building (Rec Center):
The ice hockey rink (for the local high school hockey team and public skating):
The Fair grounds:
The Houlton High School (enrollment around 330) and Athletic Fields (the soccer fields are up and behind out of view, and the brand new football field is four miles out of town and not photographed):
I like this town, I like the architecture with all those original or older buildings still maintained and used. I think that foot traffic bridge is really cool.
Lumber Barons huh? never heard of that but it makes sense.
Thanks, Jon. This town is actually "the enemy" when it comes to high school sports, as there is another little high school down our way that sometimes faces off against the "huge" school from Houlton. Our kids went to Hodgdon High (enrollment 150) so I have to be careful not to speak of Houlton too kindly....
got it. lol!