Auburn Maine Real Estate- Auburn ME Homes For Sale - Property Listings

Article

The Dot Fernald Team - a Group of Dedicated Realtors® Selling Real Estate in Central Maine

Lewiston, ME Area Guide

Lewiston is the second largest city in Maine and has been named a 2007 All-American City by the National Civic League. Lewiston is located on the Androscoggin River midway between the state's spectacular coastline and lush mountains. This beautiful city is home to Bates College, the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, the University of Southern Maine's Lewiston-Auburn College, and two significant regional general hospitals: Central Maine Medical Center and Saint Mary's Regional Medical Center.

Lewiston History

Lewiston has a history dating all the way back to 1768 when it was founded by Jonathan Bagley and Moses Little of Newbury, Massachusetts. They settled fifty families there and built a road to connect with the road from Topsham. The place was named "Lewistown," apparently in honor of the late Job Lewis, a Boston merchant and former Proprietor. By the first census in 1790, Lewiston's population was 532 persons. The residents sought incorporation as a town and received their charter February 18, 1795.

Water power for this town was harnessed relatively early, as a dam was built of timber by 1808-1809 and a canal was made. In 1809 Michael Little built a large wooden building with saw, grist, and fueling mills next to the falls. The town grew slowly, reaching 1549 inhabitants by 1830. The first bridge was built in 1823, but most of Lewiston Falls Village was on what is now the Auburn side of the river.

In 1836 local entrepreneurs organized a company to build dams, canals and mills, but they lacked money and support to achieve their goals. The company became known as the Lewiston Water Power Company in 1848 and was taken over by the Franklin Company in 1857. As late as the 1840's what is now Lisbon Street was undeveloped, but the community soon changed. Boston investors, including Benjamin E. Bates, financed the construction of the canal system and several textile mills. These mills prospered during the Civil War because the owners had stockpiled sufficient cotton to maintain production.

After a fire destroyed several stores on Lisbon Street, leading citizens decided to construct "the best opera house east of Boston." The Music Hall was built in 1877 at 69 Lisbon Street. The Empire Theater and many other halls generally featured traveling stock companies, minstrels, drama and melodrama.

Lewiston and Auburn constructed a railroad spur from Lewiston to the Montreal-Portland railroad line. The Grand Trunk Station, also known as "The Depot”, on Lincoln Street became the arrival point in the 1870's and after for the migration of thousands of French Canadians to Lewiston. They settled in the area between Lisbon Street and the river, many in blocks built by the mills or in an area called "Little Canada." The rapid in-migration helped to raise the population to 19,083 by 1880. In forty years, the city had grown tenfold.

Under the direction of the Grey Nuns, St. Mary's, the first hospital was dedicated in 1889, which moved to the new building on Sabattus Street in 1902. The original Central Maine General Hospital was established in 1891 with thirty beds in two houses on Main Street.

Lewiston Parks and Recreation

The Lewiston Department of Recreation organizes all sports activities for the City of Lewiston with its Youth Programs. Lewiston Department of Recreation offers swimming, baseball, soccer, and many other sports and facilities.

Railroad Park
Railroad Park is a large park in downtown Lewiston. This site is also the launching point of the largest balloon festival in New England, the Great Falls Balloon Festival.

Lewiston Skate Park
Lewiston Skate Park includes a nine foot pool coaping-bowl, snake-run, pole-jam, stair-set, hand-rail, and ledges. The entire park is surfaced with concrete and is one of the largest skate parks north of Boston.

Lewiston Falls
Lewiston Falls on the Androscoggin River separates downtown Lewiston and Auburn. The falls, also known as the "Great Falls", were once a fishing destination for Native Americans. The river has since become polluted and is no longer advised as a fishing spot.

For more information about the parks in the Lewiston area, please visit:
http://www.ci.lewiston.me.us/recreation/index.htm

Lewiston Events

Lewiston offers many spectacular events that take place throughout the year. Bring your family and friends out to enjoy one of the many festivals taking place in Lewiston and enjoy the entertainment and fun!

Great Balloon Festival
The Great Balloon Festival is held annually, fills the Lewiston sky with hot air balloons for a festival weekend in August. Starting out of Railroad park, this is the largest balloon festival in New England.

Festival FrancoFun
Formerly known as Festival de Joie, Festival FrancoFun is held annually at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee and is a celebration of the city's Franco-American heritage. The festival features performances from French-Canadian musicians as well as native French-Canadian food.

Liberty Festival
Held on July 4th of each year, the festival is the name given to the fireworks event over the Great Falls of the Androscoggin River in between the twin cities.

Lewiston Attractions

Lewiston’s attractions bring visitors from miles away wanting to experience all that Lewiston has to offer. Bring your family to the Thorncrag Nature Sanctuary to enjoy the beautiful outdoors or spend a day at the Bates College Museum of Art. Whatever you choose, you certainly won’t want to forget your camera!

Bates College Museum of Art
Bates College Museum of Art provides original exhibitions, programming and a growing collection the museum with expanding traditional notions of art history and identifying specific artists and artistic trends that address local and global issues in context. Bates “make(s) daring and provocative forays into new artistic territory, presenting the work of artists from a striking variety of backgrounds and perspectives. The Museum of Art is taking a leadership role in redefining the Academic art museum for the 21st century. …The museum represents a new cultural space where diversity is championed and the local is as significant as the global.”

Thorncrag Nature Sanctuary
Thorncrag Nature Sanctuary in Lewiston has been the primary focus of that activity through the years. At an elevation of 510 feet, the highest point in the city, this sanctuary sits as a green capstone, a forested oasis surrounded on three sides by urban and suburban development. The "Crag", belonging to the family Thorne in the 1800's, is a familiar and well loved landmark in Lewiston. The human use of this land over the decades has been as varied as the habitats and wildlife it has always protected. Uses have included: recreation and scientific research by Bates College, a sheep and dairy farm, tuberculosis sanitorium, homestead for the reclusive Elder Thorne, and facility for Highland Spring Bottled Water Company.

For a complete list of attractions in the area click here

For more information on Lewiston ME visit the official website by clicking here

For the Lewiston/Auburn It’s Happening Here website click here