Ellsworth, Maine Relocation Guide
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Population: 6,456 Located in Hancock County
Ellsworth was first settled by the Passamaquoddy and Penobscot tribes. The French were the first known who laid claim to the land that later became Ellsworth, though their primary settlements were on Mount Desert Island. The first English settlers arrived in 1763 after Benjamin Milliken financed the building of the first two saw mills on the Union River. The Union River was first bridged in 1793. Other settlers followed, building additional saw mills and a few grist mills. Lumbering and ship building were primary industries for many years. The small town was incorporated as Ellsworth in 1800 and was named the County Seat of Hancock County in 1837. The first church was the present Congregational Church on State Street hill, built in 1818 by Captain Meletiah Jordan as a gift to the Congregational Church Society. Captain Jordan also built the present City Library as a home for his son. Another early benefactor of the city was Colonel John Black who gave the pipe organ to the Congregational Church and remodeled the library before donating it to the city. Colonel Black's home, the Georgian mansion, "Woodlawn," is now a museum. Thriving on lumbering and shipbuilding the community became a city in 1868. The city continued to grow until 1870 when the population reached about 5,000. It would not reach this level again for 100 years. With less accessible old growth forest and a decreased demand for wooden ships, those traditional industries faltered and many young people had to leave the area to find work. The dam on the lower falls of the Union River, visible upstream from the Route I bridge, was built in 1907 and the hydro-electric station was modernized, most recently in 1989. A dam was built at the southern end of Graham Lake in 1922-1923 to allow for a controlled flow of water in Leonard Lake, above the hydro dam. In 1923, the Graham Lake dam was breached under the pressure of spring runoff and the Route 1 bridge was carried away. Most buildings along the east side of the river were damaged or destroyed. Another major catastrophe struck Ellsworth in May, 1933 when much of the downtown area was destroyed in a fire. Over 130 buildings were burned and many others were damaged. Most of the business buildings including City Hall were destroyed. A new City Hall was promptly built and new businesses and offices were constructed. Ellsworth has gradually evolved into a major commercial retail and service center. Its location as the "Gateway to Downeast Maine and Acadia National Park" has served as a stimulus for retail development. Businesses now occupy most of the grand homes on Main Street which escaped the 1933 fire. |
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