This engraving depicts a nighttime scene in a nineteenth century smuggler’s headquarters near Calais. Based on a sketch by J. Becker, the engraving appeared in Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper (New York City) in 1873. “SMUGGLING NEAR CALAIS, 1873! Nineteenth century … Continue reading
Billboard on Water Street St. Stephen just before the bridge, Calais in background, 1940 When Canada declared war on Germany in September of 1939, it would be over two years before the United States joined the Allies in the conflict. … Continue reading
A Deadly Explosion. Calais, Maine, 29th. The boiler of a dredger burst in the harbour here today. The explosion killed seven persons and injured several others. The bodies of the killed were horribly mutilated. Newspapers in the 1800s were highly … Continue reading
Merry Christmas from the St. Croix Historical Society. The Christmas card above was probably sold at Ryan’s Book Store on Main Street in Calais about 100 years ago when it cost only a penny to mail and the postcard was … Continue reading
Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin The year 1927 lacked many important international events. U.S. Marines again invaded Nicaragua to protect vested U.S interests but this invasion raised hardly an eyebrow in the international community. Another event, the significance of which … Continue reading
There was a time when the St. Croix Valley was famous for racehorses and its many stock farms. One of these was the Eaton Stock farm which we believe was on the Eaton property near Forest City but was officially … Continue reading
We found a 1900 article from the Eastport Sentinel in our files the other day describing a confrontation between a streetcar and a horse on Hinckley Hill. The winner was – well, you know the answer already, and we’ll provide details later – but … Continue reading
We were asked this week to provide some information to Lura Jackson, editor of the Calais Advertiser, about immigrants to the St. Croix Valley in days past. She is writing an article for this week’s paper. While doing some research … Continue reading
In 1897, a Calais schooner went missing after leaving port in Calais as it headed toward Martha’s Vineyard. Five local men were aboard. While the vessel was eventually identified when it arrived in broken pieces, the men went missing – … Continue reading
Last week’s storms were cumulatively probably as much snow as we’ve had around here in one week for a good long time. The Historical Society has many photos of snowy winters over the years- back in the days before front … Continue reading