March 29, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

East Millinocket> Local town history centennial projects written by students about their communities

Editor’s Note: This is the seventh in a a series of 42 town history centennial projects written by students about their communities in the Bangor Daily News readership area. Students were asked to compile a timeline of important events in the 20th century, to write an essay about what has set their community apart, and to choose a photograph that sums up something important about their community’s history during the century.

By Medway Middle School eighth-graders Jessie Powers, Ginger Cole, Tyler Landry, Allison Fleming and Chad Stanley; with teacher Frank Davis

East Millinocket, Medway and Woodville (all memnbers of School Union 113) are small, adjacent towns located about 60 miles north of Bangor near the foot of Mount Katahdin. This area is known for its abundance of forests and waterways. In fact, all three towns are built along the Penobscot River where the East Branch and West Branch come together.

Early settlements in what are now Medway and Woodville were formed as pioneers cleared the forest for small farms. These two towns developed as rural, sprawling communities.

East Millinocket, on the other hand, was a planned community. The mill is on one side of Main Street and the residential section on the other side. Great Northern Paper Co. engineers designed the town in a checkerboard fashion in the early 1900s to house the people who would build, then work in the mill.

The people who settled the area to work in the paper mills were mostly European immigrants who brought their traditions and cultures with them. Many French Canadians also were attracted to the area and make up a large part of the population.

Many of the people in these three communities take advantage of the abundant wilderness that surrounds them. Many hunt and fish, while others enjoy riding the trails on snowmobiles and ATVs. Leisure time often is spent at family camps on many remote ponds and lakes in the region. Another favorite pastime is supporting school sports.

Although each of the three towns is distinctive, they share a common bond in the paper mill, the one major industry in the region. In the first half of the century, Great Northern Paper prospered and so did the communities. Jobs were plentiful, and wages and benefits were good.

Unfortunately, the end of the century brought much uncertainty in the paper industry. The Great Northern Paper Co. was sold several times and has seen many layoffs. In recent years it has been rumored that the mill might close. In 1999 Inexcon bought the mill, and residents hope that the new company will be able to restore it to its former vitality.

Timeline

1906 Great Northern Paper starts building a mill in East Millinocket.

1907 East Millinocket incorporates as town.

1908 The first schoolhouse in East Millinocket opens.

1911 Harry Fiske is the first car owner in Medway.

1926 Garret Schenck High School, now the Opal Myrick Elementary School, is completed.

1927 Garret Schenck, a pioneer of GNP, dies.

1934 Schenck High School destroyed by fire, then rebuilt.

1949-50 Schenck High School basketball teams earn state championhip.

1957 New Schenck High School opens for Medway and East Millinocket.

1975 Medway celebrates its 100th anniversary.

1980 Joyce McLain, 16, was murdered behind Schenck High School.

1982 Woodville Pioneer Days marks the town’s 150th anniversary.

1987 GNP announces cut of 1,200 jobs.

1998 Medway, East Millinocket, and Woodville consolidate schools.

1999 New Harold Beathem Bridge built over the East Branch of the Penobscot River.


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