THE STORY OF BANGOR: A Brief History of Maine’s Queen City, several authors, BookMarc’s Publishing, Bangor, 128 pp, $9.95

Oh, you bought a house on the west side? The question is asked not so much with interest, but with surprise. The speaker, of course, lives on — or was raised on — either side of the city, and can’t quite figure out the motivation for living on the other side of the Kenduskeag Stream.

I couldn’t have told you what the genesis was of the attitude some Bangor residents have about the supposed advantages of one area of the city over another — unless it was related to the alignment of the parishes for St. John’s and St. Mary’s Catholic churches.

But there weren’t two parishes until 1872, and the east side-west side thing may go back to roughly 1815, according to an account in the newly published “The Story of Bangor: A Brief History of Maine’s Queen City.”

The incident involved a barrel of brandy owned jointly by two men, one of whom accused the other of watering it down. Since they owned stores on opposite sides of the Kenduskeag Stream, the dispute spurred competition which is said to have spilled over in other areas of development.

The account is just one of the many interesting tales in the local history published by BookMarc’s, a downtown book establishment. Contributors to the 125-page volume — just the right length to cover Bangor’s history without overwhelming the reader — were Marc Berlin, Ardeana Hamlin, Richard Shaw, Gig Weeks and Michael Zuck, with editorial assistance from Margaret Finch, Edith A. Richardson, Bill Sullivan and Paul A. Weeks.

Staff at the Bangor Public Library and the Bangor Historical Society assisted with the research.

Chapters cover the birth of Bangor, its flourishing as a lumber capital, the Great Fire of 1911, its adaptation to the new century of the 1900s, landmarks, places of worship, horticulture and notable people.

Those listed are “an arbitrary sampling of some of the people who lived and worked in Bangor and helped give Bangor its character. The list could be doubled or tripled without sacrificing interest or importance,” according to the introduction to the chapter.

That is absolutely true — and poring over the names to check for those you think should have been included — or excluded — is half the fun. Bangor’s notables, of course, could fill an entire separate volume.

The pictures are a wonderful addition, from Godfrey Field to Union Station. I also appreciate the renderings of Thoreau by the Kenduskeag Stream, and of the Rev. Seth Noble naming Bangor — both the work of David Priesing, an artist at the Bangor Daily News.

An index would have been helpful, but as the chapters are not too lengthy, it’s feasible to look through the book when you want to find something specific. And actually, the bibliography gives the reader good ideas of what to check for more information.

The book’s inclusion of short excerpts from other sources should definitely spur interest in learning more about the Queen City.

Bangor is a city that has succeeded in surviving and even prospering, wrote Marc Berlin, “despite floods and fire and shifting military and social policies. A small city with limited resources, it has always placed a premium on education and the preservation of its natural surroundings.”

The Penobscot River is cleaner today than it was 100 years ago, he notes, and it may be “that the river and woods that once made Bangor a commercial hub will now remake the city as a center for tourism and recreation. At the end of the twentieth century, the story of Bangor seems ready to turn another page and start a new chapter.”

The book is available at BookMarc’s Bookstore & Cafe in Bangor and the Bangor Historical Society.