The “Magic City” as it was and still is known, had grown by leaps and bounds by April 1921. That year the Bangor Daily News was printing a weekly full page of the story of Millinocket’s growth and what the town was like in 1921. The page (with very small print) also had about 20 business advertisements.
From virgin forest to an up-to-date town in two decades. Four or five persons on land that was to become the millsite. Near the railroad was a section house and hunter’s camp. When mill construction began, temporary buildings were the norm until more substantial homes and businesses could be erected.
Between 1899 and 1921 many changes occurred. The Millinocket Water company was formed and a water supply was secured from Ferguson Pond. Fire hydrants were installed at convenient points on public roads. The town was incorporated, a town meeting was held and town officers elected.
Educational facilities were needed and at a special town meeting $18,000 was appropriated for a common school (elementary students) and high school students. The school opened for the 1901-02 year with over 300 students. By 1921, there were three schools as Oxford St. & Aroostook Ave. schools had been added.
Early on, the streets were lighted by acetylene gas supplied by the newly organized Millinocket Gas Company located near the railroad tracks (behind what was later Katahdin Avenue School). By 1921, electricity for homes and businesses was available. “As good an electric lighting system as can be found in the state.”
Infectious diseases (typhoid, smallpox) were common. The news article describes it as “an anxious time.” The Great Northern’s boarding house, the Mountain View, was taken over and used as a hospital with a “full corps” of nurses on hand. Diphtheria and cholera epidemics also occurred in the first 20 years of Millinocket.
Fire protection increased in the first 20 years in the town of wooden buildings. The first fire station was constructed in 1905 on Penobscot Avenue after GNP deeded 2 lots. It housed a hook and ladder truck (horse-drawn) & other equipment. A fire alarm system was installed around town. By 1921, very efficient fire protection was available under the watch of Fred Gates, long time chief. A combination chemical motor truck had been added. This was able to “throw a good stream of water to the top of the lofty steel short wood towers in the mill yard.”
Businesses and a bank opened along Penobscot Avenue, the earliest being closest to the mill. Ads appear in the 1921 article for Kimball’s, Rush Bros. and M.D. Smart. Two “picture houses” showed popular movies (Opera House & Dreamland).
Early, GNP had gifted the town with two open spaces. One was on the main street opposite the Opera House (the park). The bandstand would be in place by the end of 1921. The other early gift was land for a ball park (Central St. space from Aroostook Avenue School to Millinocket Stream). By 1921, the old grandstand had been replaced and the playing field improved.
Lots more detail in this 1921 article of Millinocket’s rapid growth!
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