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

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Editor’s Note: This is the 39th in 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 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 Eastport Elementary School eighth-graders Kathleen Esposito and Caitlyn Harner-Stellrecht, and seventh-grader Elizabeth Mitchell, with teacher Terry Charlton.

Founded in 1798, Eastport is the easternmost city in the United States. Since its founding, it has experienced many disasters, including three major fires, an earthquake and a destructive gale. Despite these events, Eastport endures.

Eastport has many celebrations throughout the year. The Fourth of July has been celebrated in the town since 1820. It is honored with water sports, concerts, parades and fireworks. The Navy sends ships for the celebration. Ninety-seven ships, including warships and Coast Guard vessels, have joined in the festivities.

The Salmon Festival has celebrated the livelihood of many Eastporters since 1987. The festival, which is held on the second Sunday of September, attracts crowds of 2,000 to 3,000 people. The festival features a salmon dinner, crafts and musicians.

The millennium celebration was a monumental occasion, as Eastport was the first city in the United States to see the sunrise. Pupils from Eastport Elementary School created a time capsule that Gov. Angus King signed. The lobster crate dropped at midnight, and there was a great display of fireworks.

In the 1930s, Dexter Cooper, an engineer and a summer resident in the area, designed the Passamaquoddy Tidal Power Project, a plan to harness the tides for hydroelectricity. This project employed more than 3,000 Works Projects Administration workers. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had pledged $7 million toward the plan, visited Quoddy Village, where workers lived. Because of political problems with Congress, the Quoddy project was abandoned in 1936.

The original reason the power project was planned for Passamaquoddy Bay was its extremely high tides. Along with the giant tides, this area is also home to the largest whirlpool in the western hemisphere, Old Sow.

Sardine factories played a large part in Eastport’s economy from 1875 to 1983. In the 1950s, sardine factories experienced large setbacks, and the industry was reduced to two canneries.

Today, salmon farming is the occupation of many. Connors Aquaculture operates a processing plant and owns pens at Broad and Deep coves. Eastport’s future depends on using its waters and bays.

1900 Raye’s Mustard Mill opens to provide mustard to the sardine industry. Raye’s is still in operation as a producer of gourmet mustards.

1904 Eastport experiences an earthquake of 5.8 on the Richter scale.

1910 President Taft visits Eastport on the presidential yacht Mayflower.

1924 WaCo Diner is opened by Nelson Watts and Ralph Colwell. It is still doing business.

1934 President Franklin Delano Roosevelt arrives at Passamaquoddy Bay on the battleship Mississippi.

1935 The Quoddy Tidal Project begins. The project would have captured the tidal power of Cobscook and Passamaquoddy bays. It rivaled other public projects of the era such as the Tennessee Valley Authority. It was abandoned in 1936.

1941 Eastport Municipal Airport is built.

1953 The Eastport Sentinel, the city’s newspaper for 135 years, ends publication.

1961 Construction begins on a breakwater pier that will provide a berth for large cargo ships.

1968 The Quoddy Tides, America’s most easterly newspaper, begins publication.

1970 The U.S. Coast Guard opens an Eastport substation.

1976 Groundhog Day gale wipes out many downtown businesses, inflicting severe damage.

1977 The Eastport Port Authority is formed.

1978 The Marine Technology Center, known to local people as “the boat school,” opens. Railroad service to Eastport ends.

1979 A waterfront redevelopment project begins.

1982 Ocean Products opens a salmon aquaculture operation. Many see this industry as important to Eastport’s future.

1983 The last Eastport sardine factory closes.

1986 The Eastport Gallery opens.

1991 Stage East presents its first theatrical production.

1997 Guilford Mill closes.

1998 Creative Apparel, Tex-Shield and Group Home Foundation occupy the site of the Guilford Mill. A new cargo pier is dedicated at Estes Head, with berths for two large cargo ships.

1999 Shead High School Tigerettes win Class D state basketball championship.

Local historians John Terry Holt and Wayne Wilcox provided help with this project.