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

Editor’s Note: This is the 27th in a a series of town history centennial projects written by students about their communities in the Bangor Daily News readership area. Students were asked to compile a time line 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 the Jonesport Elementary School eighth grade; with teacher Pierre Huntress.

The town of Jonesport was incorporated in 1832. Neighboring towns include Addison, Beals Island and Jonesboro, of which Jonesport was orginally a part.

About 1,500 people live in Jonesport today. The main industries are shipbuilding, seafood and tourism.

At one time, three fish packing factories operated here. They ran nonstop, 24 hours a day.

The William Underwood sardine factory was located to the right of the Jonesport-Beals bridge, where the U. S. Coast Guard station now operates. The original structure was built in the early 1800’s.

The factory packed sardines and clams for markets around the world. It processed 600 to 700 bushels of clams a day, many cleaned in local homes and brought to the plant to be processed, diced for chowder and packed.

The plant had a sardine cutting machine invented by Arthur B. Roger of Jonesport. It was the only one of its kind in the country. The machine cut the sardines all the same length for packing by hand. An experienced worker could pack about 2,200 cans a day.

The Stevens Factory was a fish packing factory at Cross Cove. R. B. Stevens owned the smoked fish plant, which featured a 22-bay smokehouse. A. E. Drisco was an associate of Stevens. They were engaged in packing sardines and processing fish. They also had their own firm to manufacture cans. They could handle the process from beginning to end.

When the sardine factories first opened, people worked 10 hours a day. Children also worked in the factories. The hourly wage was a dime.

TIMELINE

1915 — Peabody Library, donated to the town by Mary Peabody in memory of her husband and brother, is erected.

1934 — A huge fire swept through Jonesport after the burning of a blueberry field on Alleys Lane got out of control.

World War II — Darrel “Tubby” Trynor was the first casualty from Jonesport. He died in the Battle of the Bulge, and Trynor Square in West Jonesport is named in his honor.

1958 — A toll bridge connecting Jonesport and Beals Island is opened, replacing the ferry. The toll house was eliminated in 1968.

Late-1950s — Jonesport lobster boat races start.

1966 — The Jonesport High School boys basketball team won the state championship in its class.

1969 — A U. S. Coast Guard Station is built at the base of the bridge to Beals Island.

1969 — Jonesport-Beals High School, located next to the Jonesport Elementary School, opens.

1970 — The Jonesport-Beals boys basketball team wins the first of nine state championships in its class.

1980 — Jonesport Elementary School is completed; a new wing is added in 1994-95.

1989 — A fire destroys the True Value store, a restaurant, apartments and an antique business.

1998 — The Arnold Memorial Medical Center opens a bigger, state-of-the-art facility on Blueberry Lane.