Waterville History
In 1791 the
citizens of Winslow voted to set off the territory on the west side of the
Kennebec River. Ten years later, with a
population of 800, this community voted to petition the General Court to
incorporate as a separate town. On June
23, 1802, Waterville was incorporated by an act of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
on June 23, 1802, with Elnathan Sherwin, Asa Soule and Ebenezer Bacon as the
first selectmen.
In 1792 Asa
Redington and Nehemiah Getchell built the first dam on the Kennebec River to
develop water rights and construct a large mill. Local farms were productive.
Several gristmills and sawmills operated successfully, with their
product transported to market on the river.
The fisheries were abundant, and this food became an important trade
item. Waterville grew as a regional
distribution center for cargoes, such as rum and molasses that came upriver.
Following the
war of 1812, a lively trade in lumber, farm products, and groceries, etc.
continued. The Maine Literary and
Theological Institute, now Colby College, was granted a charter by the General
Court of Massachusetts in 1813.
Employment and business expanded.
In 1814 the first bank was chartered and in 1823 the first newspaper, The
Waterville Intelligencer, was published.
The town grew rapidly, especially with the construction of the wooden
Ticonic toll bridge across the Kennebec.
Waterville Academy (later Coburn Classical Institute) was opened in
1829.
By the 1860s
minor industries were a thing of the past.
The Ticonic Water Power and Manufacturing Company, chartered by the
Maine Legislature, constructed the Lockwood Dam in 1868. Now, with a source of leased power, a
lumber mill, gristmill, iron foundry and the Hathaway Shirt Factory were
constructed or expanded their operation.
When the Lockwood Company built a cotton mill in 1873, with as many as
1300 workers, a second wave of French Canadians moved to the area.
Steamboat
traffic prospered until 1845 when Waterville became the terminus of the
Androscoggin & Kennebec Railroad.
Locomotives and some 3900 freight and passenger cars were repaired
annually in the Maine Central Railroad shops.
Employing some 250 people in 1901, these shops were rated the best in
the country.
In 1888 the
Town amended its charter to become a City, with the Hon. Reuben Foster elected
the first mayor. In 1892 the
Hollingsworth and Whitney Pulp and Paper Mill was established in Winslow and,
with some 675 employees, became a major part of the Waterville economy. Around the turn of the century the
Riverview Worsted Mills, later Wyandotte (300 employees), and Keyes Fibre
Company, later Chinet (with 900 workers), were added to the list of major
manufacturers. At the same time, Kiest
Business College, now Thomas College was established and offered courses in
stenography, commercial law and practice and all aspects of business
management.
With the rapid
growth in manufacturing, educational facilities and transportation, downtown
Waterville also grew as a center of small business and commerce with 150
stores. Prosperity was at an all time
high at the beginning of the twentieth century. Unfortunately, a series of uncontrollable events precipitated a
gradual slide in the Waterville economy.
The two world wars and the great depression began to this downward
trend. Although Main Street continued
to be a center of activity, Colby College moved from its cramped quarters just
north of the business district to Mayflower Hill in the late forties. In the mid-fifties the Lockwood Mills
closed. Large discount chains were
located outside the downtown area, and the traditional retail stores with
limited parking began to feel the competition. During the sixties, even with urban renewal projects creating
more parking in the downtown, shopping malls continued to draw customers away from
Main Street.
In the following decades, Waterville experienced a steady loss of manufacturing jobs. The Waterville Iron Works and the Wyandotte Worsted Mills closed, as did the Hollingsworth and Whitney Mill, which had become Scott Paper and later Kimberly Clark. Most recently, hundreds of local jobs were lost with the closing of the Hathaway Shirt Factory in 2002. Today, the only remaining large manufacturing plant is Huhtamaki (formerly Chinet). Waterville’s population has declined from a high of 18,695 in 1960 to the present 15,605 according to the 2000 census. The city’s three largest employers are currently MaineGeneral Health, LL Bean and Huhtamaki. Big-box development along the highway has recently expanded to include a Super Wal-Mart, Staples, Home Depot, Ruby Tuesday's, and several smaller chain entities. In the last two years, Main Street has begun to turn itself around with many new, small, specialty stores that offer products and service not available at the larger chains.
