Editor’s Note: This is the eighth in 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 the Corinna Junior High eighth grade; with Gina Doyle teacher

Incorporated in 1816, the town of Corinna grew up around several mills on the shores of the Sebasticook River. By 1900 the town had a number of shingle and lumber mills, a gristmill, a textile mill and a vegetable canning plant.

A number of fires and other factors led to a decline in manufacturing, and by 1996 there were no large manufacturing industries left in town.

Agriculture also was a large part of life in the 1900s. Main crops included potatoes, corn, peas, and beans. The canning plant in town gave farmers a local market, but today few farms are left. Potatoes are still a major crop, however, and there remain several dairy farms.

In 1916 there were 11 schools. Today Corinna Elementary School and Corinna Junior High School enjoy support from the community, including a small but active PTF group that coordinates special events and fund-raisers. Members of this group and other residents helped to purchase and build the school playground.

Corinna is serious about sports. The Corinna Recreation Department sponsors teams for school-age children. The resulting sporting events are well-attended. School sports programs, first at Corinna Union Academy and now at the junior high, have been a source of community pride as well.

Corinna is now in the midst of an EPA cleanup at the former Eastland Woolen Mill. This will involve the demolition of the mill and digging up some of the river bed under Main Street.

Townspeople are working together to redesign the village center for the third time in the town’s history. Downtown Corinna was redesigned after the fires of 1904 and 1911.

Today Corinna is in the midst of changes. There is no single industry that dominates. Instead, a number of smaller businesses form a community base.

Timeline

1904 Fire destroys part of downtown, which was rebuilt the next year. Corinna’s first fire department is founded.

1906 Telephone lines are installed.

1911 Fire destroys a large part of Main Street.

1912 Main Street is rebuilt. New buildings include the Realty Block, a gristmill and the plant for the Corinna Manufacturing Co.

1935 Eastland Woolen Mill is founded using the plant of the former Corinna Manufacturing Company

1945 Snowflake Canning Co. begins the first commercial processing of frozen french fried potatoes in the country. The plant also processes peas, beans and corn.

1950 Fire destroys the Moosehead Mill causing $2.5 million damage. Destruction of the mill displaced 360 workers,

1954 Eastland Consolidated School opens. This eventually led to the consolidation of all the elementary schools in Corinna.

1968 The last class graduates from Corinna Union Academy. High school students from Corinna begin attending Nokomis Regional High School along with other students from SAD 48, established in 1966. The C.U.A building is used to house Corinna Junior High School. A fire damages Snowflake Canning Co. and the business does not reopen.

1986 The rail line closes after 100 years of service.

1991 Corinna celebrates the 175th anniversary of its incorporation as a town.

1996 Eastland Woolen Mill closes. This was the last of the textile mills in Corinna.

1998 Last classes are held in the Corinna Junior High building. The building is no longer be used as a school.

1999 Corinna is designated a Superfund site by the Environmental Protection Agency. Demolition of Eastland Woolen Mill begins as part of the EPA cleanup.