In 1955, first escalator came to Queen City

Editor’s note: This story and photograph were published in the Bangor Daily News in 1955.

BANGOR – The first escalator installed in a Maine department store outside of Portland will go into operation Thursday morning at Freese’s Inc. in conjunction with the store’s fall fashion opening, wrote a reporter in the Sept. 14, 1955, edition of the Bangor Daily News.

The story went on to say: The moving stairways, which will carry 5,000 passengers an hour to the second and third floors of the five-floor store, are the last word in modern convenience for customers, and were installed to give better service to the increasing number of customers.

The three elevators now in service will continue to run, and with the escalators will enable customers to reach all parts of the store easily and quickly.

Attractively designed in blue and chromium with rubber hand rails and safety treads, the escalators are a far cry from the original elevator installed in the store more than 40 years ago.

Operated by Mrs. Mary Costigan, this passenger elevator, one of the first in use in Maine, was run by turning a wheel to ascend and reversing the wheel to descend. Two modern elevators replaced this in 1929, and a third was added in 1936.

Installed by the Otis Elevator Co., the new escalators were designed by Crowell, Lancaster and Higgins, with Nickerson and O’Day as contractors.