The Millinocket Historical Society

09/21/2025

Odds and Ends From The MUSEUM!
By Trudy Wyman, Curator, Millinocket Society Museum

Granite Street School opened in the fall of 1955 as a K-6 elementary school on a site near the mill. This land, owned by GNP, is referred to in sources as McNamara’s field, Fred Peluso’s potato field or a turnip field. The new school was needed as basement rooms were in use at Aroostook Avenue and Katahdin Avenue Schools. All plans for Granite Street School are labeled “new grammar school."
At the 1954 town meeting, a warrant was presented to vote to “construct an elementary school building with ten classrooms, an all-purpose room and individual spaces for principal, clinic and superintendent.” The total cost of the building, equipment, grading, fencing and surfacing a playground area would cost less than $250,000. All work was to be done before September 1, 1955.
The eleven acres were gifted to the town by GNP and they also did the grading on the site. Construction was completed as planned for the fall opening of school 1955. Constructed of brick, the school had the ten planned classrooms, each with many windows and its own outside exit. It was the first school building in town to have no basement reflecting modern school building styles of the 1950’s.
Further changes were made in the 1960’s-early 1970’s with a new wing of eight classrooms for the upper grades and a project room (space for teacher aide, duplicator machine and more) being added. For a time, the school had space there for a student-run radio station.
In that same time frame, the window wall on the playground end of the all-purpose room was removed as two kindergarten classrooms were added at that end. The front lobby was also expanded and another room added on the stream side of the building. Another change occurred during the “energy crisis” of the 1970’s when the tall windows at Granite Street School were reduced in size and the individual outside doors were sealed.
By the 1990’s, declining population numbers led to the closing of Katahdin Avenue School and Aroostook Avenue School and those remaining students (K-4) moved to Granite Street School. This led to all grade 5 students joining the 6th, 7th, and 8th graders at the Millinocket Middle School for the next four year. Later another wing was added to Granite Street School with a cafeteria/all-purpose area with stage and music room, special education spaces and a larger library. Fifth graders then returned to Granite Street School.
At present, Granite Street School houses pre-K through fifth grade students. Go Granite Street Grizzlies!!

***Museum Store… OPEN Thurs-Sat Noon -3
The newest Bill Geller book Chesuncook Passages, 1903-1971: Loggers, Settlers, & Sports, $30 (see below for mail orders and to contact the museum)
Geller books, $30 each: #1 “Within Katahdin’s Realm, Log Drives & Sporting Camps,” #2 “West of Chesuncook North of Moosehead: Log Drives & Sporting Camps,1830-1971,” #3 “Rendezvous at
Chesuncook, 1827-1902; A Chronicle of Surveyors, Landowners, Loggers, Settlers and Sports” ***Millinocket Schoolhouses…A Look Back in Time, $20
*** The Northern magazine, scan, all issues 1921-28 – via email or thumb drive, $50.00
*** Prints The Northern magazine covers, town, mill, river drive photos
***Books: “Logging Towboats & Boom Jumpers” (Moody) $20.00; “Millinocket” (Duplisea) $20; “A Little Taste of History” cookbooks - $20; both Laverty books, $25 history & $10 architecture
*** Preowned yearbooks (SHS & St. Martin’s HS $10), preowned local books
*** Add $6 SH each mailed item.
Also available: Mt. Katahdin bottles, Fernwood cutouts, GNP caps & more!
*** By mail at Millinocket Historical Society, P. O. Box 11, Facebook, phone 922-9000 or by email at [email protected] Visit our website: www.millinockethistoricalsociety.org

09/07/2025

Here's a link to the new page for your convenience. Thanks for helping us make the change.
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61579251549306

New Odds & Ends column just posted on new MHS page. Go to link above to read about the early MFD.

Millinocket Historical Society has been capturing the unique history of Millinocket for almost 50 years. Visit the museum at 80 Central Street, open Thursday, Friday and Saturday from noon to three.

08/31/2025

Here's a link to the new page for your convenience. Thanks for helping us make the change.
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61579251549306

Millinocket Historical Society has been capturing the unique history of Millinocket for almost 50 years. Visit the museum at 80 Central Street, open Thursday, Friday and Saturday from noon to three.

08/28/2025

The auction ends tomorrow! Follow our new page for up to date info and the best of Millinocket’s history!

Silent auction 'August Auction - Millinocket History' hosted online at 32auctions.

08/25/2025

If you missed the Sunday posting of Odds & Ends, find it below. Next week, go to our new FB site, Millinocket Historical Society (no the). In the 1940’s, just about anything Ione wished to purchase could be found at one of the businesses on Penobscot Avenue, Aroostook Avenue and the end of Central St, (near the traffic light). There were also places to spend free time and meet with friends and places to purchase food and beverages. Downtown Millinocket was bustling! Several businesses have been highlighted in this column with the information being found in the old local newspaper. Here are a few more!
The Crowell Studios, owned by Ralph H. Crowell, had been on Penobscot Avenue for seven years at the time the article was written. His studio was the first in Maine to be equipped with Stroboscopic Speed Flash equipment with took pictures at 1/20,000th of a second. Mr. Crowell graduated from the New York Institute of Photography. He had photos published in several national magazines. Today, Crowell’s name can still be seen on the many Stearns High graduates’ senior photos preserved at the museum and in many local homes. He also took all the photos for the Millinocket Journal’s series of stories on the businesses and several hundred photos of Millinocket’s 50th birthday celebration. (Can be viewed at the museum).
The Western Auto Store, opened in 1947 and was locally owned and operated by Mr. & Mrs. Spidell after they moved from Bangor. “The neat and well-managed store stocked automotive supplies, fishing supplies, home and car radios, motor bikes, and many other hard-to-find articles.
Joe Civiello had a pool room in the 1940’s located in one of the oldest buildings on the street. Previously the site was Mrs. Gwynn’s Millinery, then several other businesses until Civiello took over the site in 1945. The article states that Joe’s was “a popular spot.” Civello at that time planned to purchase a new pool table and do improvements on the front of the building. The pool room was open from 9 AM to 12 PM with Civello and assistant Stanley Thorpe. “Candy, pop, ci**rs and ci******es and many other things were sold.”
Katahdin Dry Cleaners was “one of the finest found anywhere in this country.” The cleaning equipment is described in detail (vacuum, filter system, extractor & more). They had a brand-new steam spotting machine which did not use harsh chemicals on your garments. Items were pressed with steam so no scorching. Gerald Nelson, Jr. was owner-manager.
An eatery owned by ex-GI Mickey Mascetta opened in 1946. Called Mickey’s Tavern, the business specialized in Italian foods. Daily hours were 9 AM to 12 Midnight with dancing nightly after 9 o’clock.

Send a message to learn more

08/23/2025

Sunday, Aug. 24 is first post on new Millinocket Historical Society FB page. Look for Millinocket Historical Society (no The). Good Luck and hope you continue reading the stories!

Send a message to learn more

08/17/2025

Notice: Starting next week (Aug.24), my Odds & Ends column will be found on a new page called Millinocket Historical Society (no The). I hope to see that all my regular readers will continue to check in as well as some new visitors to the site. The new FB site will also have more information on what is happening at the museum...events, new items, fundraising & more!
Thank you! Trudy

Odds and Ends From The MUSEUM!
By Trudy Wyman, Curator, Millinocket Society Museum

In conversation, people often mention the Rice Farm Road, but many do not know the origin of the name. An article in The Northern magazine from November 1925 has the story.
The article states that on the old tote road to Medway is property known as the Rice Farm. That property had been first cleared by Charles & Daniel Watson and later owned by Gates, then Reed, and finally came to be owned by James Rice. In 1907, when the development of East Millinocket was projected, both the Rice Farm and the nearby Powers Farm were purchased by the Great Northern Paper Company.
At that time (1907), the Rice Farm was about three acres with the ruins of an old log camp. The company (GNP) started to improve the site, planning to use it for log driving operations. The Powers Farm near that location would be flooded over after most of the buildings were moved to the Rice Farm. Buildings moved included the old boarding house and the barn used for driving horses (those used on the log drives). The barn was referred to as the middle barn. A new storehouse was built.
The company had moved the old Powers farmhouse in 1907, but it was burned in 1909 and replaced by a new structure designed by Hardy Ferguson. (In the 1925 article, that “new” structure was still there at the Rice Farm. New buildings constructed included a harness shop and ice house, a new barn (Hardy Ferguson design) to hold fifty horses and 250 tons of pressed hay. A water tower, tank and pump house were completed soon after. By 1912, a boat house, wagon shed and other necessary structures were added. In 1914, two driving shacks were built to house the driving crews. These later burned and by the time of the 1925 article, they had been replaced.
By 1925, the Rice Farm consisted of forty acres of cleared land surrounding the buildings. Its stables were used to supplement the Millinocket stables which had a capacity of about 100 horses. The Rice Farm also usually housed about three or four hundred hogs and in 1925 was said to have had a registered Ayrshire cow that “regularly provided sixty pounds of milk a day” and sometimes eighty pounds. The milk was very rich in butterfat!
At the time of the article, the Rice Farm was mainly used as a depot for the driving crews covering the lower West Branch. For several years, the Rice Farm was the depot for sorting the four-foot wood from the long logs until only four-foot wood came down to the mills.
The article mentions Mr. A.I. Mann, who had worked as Superintendent of the Lower Drive for the past eighteen years where his territory extended from North Twin to Medway. He was responsible for the construction of the “many piers in the course of his work and is considered an expert in their construction.”
The article lists many others employed at the Rice Farm (until 1925) and states that “it is not one of the large farms, but the Rice Farm fills a mighty useful place in the company’s scheme of things.”

08/11/2025

The new auction begins today at 6 pm. Bid high, friends!
go to 32auctions.com/MHSAuction12025

08/11/2025

It's time for another auction at the historical society! Check out the great items for sale and bid generously. The bidding begins today at 6 pm and ends August 29 at 2 pm. Thanks!

Silent auction 'August Auction - Millinocket History' hosted online at 32auctions.

08/10/2025

Odds and Ends From The MUSEUM!
By Trudy Wyman, Curator, Millinocket Society Museum

Do you remember the school safety patrol? This was in the 1940’s-50’s when 5th & 6th graders (usually) were charged with the task of stopping traffic to allow groups of younger children to safely cross the street. They wore white safety patrol belts complete with badge. Many schools in the state had this program. An article in the Dec. 8, 1947 copy of The Millinocket Journal (complete with two photos on the front page) tells of the origin of the safety patrol in Millinocket.
“The new school patrol is sponsored by the Donald V. Henry Post #80, American Legion with Francis Galvin and Pat Comeau serving as the Patrol Committee. The article states that the patrol has been doing an outstanding job and deserves a great deal of credit for directing the school children across the busy roads near the schools.” The idea was approved by the Selectmen, Police Chief, School Board and the Superintendent of Schools.
The Aroostook Avenue School patrol was under the direction of Principal Mr. Day. Katahdin Avenue School’s group was led by Miss Howe and St. Martin’s Parochial School’s group was directed by Father J.D. Quinn. “The purpose of this patrol is to eliminate traffic accidents around school zones by group crossing. It is requested that the townspeople drive carefully, and have an entire school year without accident.”
One of the photos in this newspaper shows the following patrol boys. Katahdin Avenue School, David Larlee, Wayne Nice, Robert Guptill, John Spruce, John Hale (Capt.); Parochial School, Gerald Burke (Capt.), Herman Morrow, Billy Rush, Llewellyn Baron; Aroostook Avenue School, Dale Smart (Capt.), Terry Healey, Frank McDade, Jerry Bearce, Charles Davis, Joe Gagliardi, Jr. and Barney Morrison. The second photo depicts a group of children crossing with the help of the patrol boy.
The museum has a Millinocket patrol belt complete with shiny badge on display. It is one of six used at Aroostook Avenue School and donated by the school at the time of that building’s closing.
Were you a Safety Patrol kid in elementary school? I was, as a fifth and sixth grader at my school not too many miles from Millinocket. Safety Patrol students were given the task that today is done by crossing guards. Each day at dismissal, these students strapped on the white belt with the shiny badge and guided younger students across a nearby street (probably in the 1950’s-1970’s. Did Millinocket have any girls on the Safety Patrol?
A photo of Granite Street School soon after its opening in 1955 is displayed. It shows a student wearing a Patrol belt. Stop in…we need an ID on this boy!
The museum has on display other school items that will bring back memories of days gone by! They include: ink wells and ink bottles (some original SHS) and a globe (rescued from the attic of Aroostook Ave. School. We have a student desk from each elementary school and a chalkboard eraser cleaner from Miss Griffin’s 1930’s classroom. The master clock from SHS is seen as you walk in the door of the museum. A few still remember Miss Garcelon’s famous paddle used to instill discipline in all students under her watch (as teacher & principal). Many memories of schools past!

***Museum Store… OPEN Thurs-Sat Noon -3
The newest Bill Geller book Chesuncook Passages, 1903-1971: Loggers, Settlers, & Sports, $30 (see below for mail orders and to contact the museum)
Geller books, $30 each: #1 “Within Katahdin’s Realm, Log Drives & Sporting Camps,” #2 “West of Chesuncook North of Moosehead: Log Drives & Sporting Camps,1830-1971,” #3 “Rendezvous at
Chesuncook, 1827-1902; A Chronicle of Surveyors, Landowners, Loggers, Settlers and Sports” ***Millinocket Schoolhouses…A Look Back in Time, $20
*** The Northern magazine, scan, all issues 1921-28 – via email or thumb drive, $50.00
*** Prints The Northern magazine covers, town, mill, river drive photos
***Books: “Logging Towboats & Boom Jumpers” (Moody) $20.00; “Millinocket” (Duplisea) $20; “A Little Taste of History” cookbooks - $20; both Laverty books, $25 history & $10 architecture
*** Preowned yearbooks (SHS & St. Martin’s HS $10), preowned local books
*** Add $6 SH each mailed item.
Also available: Mt. Katahdin bottles, Fernwood cutouts, GNP caps & more!
*** By mail at Millinocket Historical Society, P. O. Box 11, Facebook, phone 922-9000 or by email at [email protected] Visit our website: www.millinockethistoricalsociety.org

08/07/2025

Thank you to everyone who has donated cans and bottles! ❤️ Just as a reminder we are now collecting them at the museum and not Milli's. We have 2 blue barrels at the end of the driveway in front of the shed. If full, just place your bottles next to barrels. You can drop off any day, anytime. Please share this post so more people will get this information. Thank you!