“We are standing in one of the most sacred places within the United States. At this time we can hardly realize the importance of this little plot of ground, but future generations will, and sure as the sun rises above us, the traveler passing through the beautiful river, which glides at our feet, will behold on some day not far distant in the future, a magnificent structure erected on this spot in memory of one of the most remarkable women our country has yet given birth.”

Col. Augustus C. Hamlin

HAMPDEN – Dorothea Dix Park on Route 1A marks two milestones this year – 100 years since the announcement of the park design in October 1903, and 50 years since it became a state picnic area in 1953.

Col. Augustus Hamlin spoke his tribute in 1899 at the Fourth of July ceremony to dedicate the 101/2 acres – donated by Thomas Lennen of New York – that was to become the park.

The gathering honored Hampden’s native daughter, who had advocated for the humane treatment of the nation’s mentally ill and implemented a system of caring for them in campuslike hospitals.

“It’s a pretty little park,” said Paula Newcomb, who lives nearby. “People go there for picnics and to play ball. It’s an asset to the town. When I worked in the town office, we got a lot of calls from people wanting to use it for weddings and company picnics.” When she was a Girl Scout leader, she also took her troop on nature walks in the park.

Dix, who was born in Hampden in 1802 and died in 1887, was deemed a heroine of the Civil War. In her 60s when she went to Washington, she became superintendent of women nurses and established a system of delivering medical supplies to military and battlefield hospitals.

In 1899, a dozen years after her death, nearly 200 people lined up on Hampden’s Main Road for the Fourth of July parade to the site of the proposed park. Participants included the 20-piece Newburgh Band, a platoon of Bangor police and Civil War veterans. Hundreds of people followed in carriages.

At the park site, dignitaries erected a 50-foot liberty pole made by 76-year-old David Smith of Hampden. Col. Charles A. Jones, owner of the American House in Boston and a Hampden native, presented the flag.

On the Penobscot River, the steamer City of Bangor blew its whistle in salute as it passed by during the ceremony – and all for a woman who during her lifetime discouraged publicity and did not wish to be memorialized.

After the ceremony, The National Dorothea Dix Association continued to solicit funds to design and build the park. Local trustees included Helen Coffin Beedy, author of “Mothers of Maine”; and Mrs. Hannibal Hamlin, widow of the man who had been Abraham Lincoln’s first vice president.

Honorary trustees included Clara Barton, mother of the Red Cross; author Sarah Orne Jewett; Gettysburg hero Gen. Joshua Chamberlain; Colonel Hamlin, Hannibal Hamlin’s nephew; Julia Ward Howe, writer of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”; and Susan B. Anthony, legendary leader of women’s suffrage. It was a who’s who of prominent people and a reflection of the esteem in which Dix was held. It isn’t known if any of the luminaries besides Hamlin attended the ceremony.

The association’s intent was to “decorate the park and to erect a monument to the memory of Miss Dix.” Four years later the New York architect firm Tefft and Hooper announced a plan for the park.

In a Bangor Daily News article published Oct. 10, 1903, the park was described as “a strip of land extending from the main roadway to the river, a distance of one third of a mile, to be spanned by a long driveway winding gracefully between huge oak and cedar trees. In the center of the park will be a great bed of aquatic plants … and further along … beautiful walks, covered seats and a spring of pure, cold water.” The plan also called for a statue of Dix.

The article referred to the park as “this Paradise of the Penobscot” and said that work already had commenced with surveying by “Mr. Boardman’s class of civil engineering at the University of Maine.”

The stone wall and arch around the park, explained Suzanne Mock of Hampden – granddaughter of the wall’s designer – was designed circa 1915-20 by Bangor architect Victor Hodgins, whose other work included St. Mary’s Church and St. Mary’s School in Orono, a schoolhouse in Island Falls, the Thomas Hill fire station and the first Bangor Auditorium.

Whether or not the park was ever laid out according to Tefft and Hooper’s plan in its entirety has not been determined.

By 1953 most of the members of the association had either died or moved away. The remaining members, Mrs. Guy Pendleton, Maude Rogers and Gladys Whitney, turned over the park to the state to be used forever as a public recreational spot and as a sanctuary for wild beasts and birds.

Today, the park is owned and maintained by the town of Hampden, which acquired it from the state in 1980. Dorothea Dix Park continues to be a popular place for impromptu picnics and family gatherings.

“It’s quite an asset and ought to see more use,” said Hampden town planner Robert Osborne.

A sidewalk extends from the village to the park, making for easier access. The town is assessing highway safety concerns as vehicles enter and exit the park.

A modest bronze plaque on the park’s stone-and-brick arch acquaints visitors with Dix and what she accomplished. It reads:

In memory of Dorothea Lynde Dix, who by her devoted care to sick and wounded soldiers during the Civil War earned the gratitude of the nation, and, by her labors in the cause of prison reform and of humane treatment of the insane won the admiration and reverence of the civilized world. 1802-1887. Her birthplace.