January 24, 1936, was a bitter, cold day in the Northeast. Gale force winds lashed the coast, and the thermometer was near zero and going down. The newspapers reported the storm as “The wildest gale and highest sea known here … Continue reading
Laurence Trimble and Jean Laurence Trimble and his black and white border collie Jean were well-known actors in the early days of silent films. To be honest Jean was more of a star than her owner and she is said … Continue reading
The Holmestead Main Street Calais 1860s, home of the Historical Society Mystics, mediums, soothsayers and those who claimed to have paranormal powers have been around since the Fox sisters of Hydesville New York claimed in the late 1840ss that they could … Continue reading
S. M.Saxby, The Weather Prophet I had the pleasure of presenting a program last Sunday at the Eastport Arts Center on the Saxby Gale. For those not familiar with the Saxby Gale of 1869, the worst storm to ever strike … Continue reading
Abandoned Ships San Francisco Harbor Gold Rush There was no lack of shipping in San Francisco Harbor during the Gold Rush in the early 1850s. The harbor was crowded with sailing ships of all kinds but nearly all of them were … Continue reading
Sam McKnight, far right Sam McKnight, far right, was a true Milltowner. Born in 1872 he lived in Milltown nearly his entire life, a long life of 97 years during which he and his wife Mary had several children and … Continue reading
Water Street, St. Stephen, about 1900 The above postcard can be dated to about 1900, the streetcar tracks visible in the photo were laid in 1895 and there are no autos which would have been present after 1905. In those … Continue reading
Riots said to be instigated by the Irish in New York about 1850 In the late 1840s, the four towns, Calais, St. Stephen and the two Milltowns, were just beginning to become prosperous from shipbuilding and lumbering but remained basically … Continue reading
Google defines a fable as a traditional but unfounded story that gives the reason for a current custom or belief. This possibly describes the much publicized and uplifting account of our neighbors in St. Stephen providing the folks in Calais … Continue reading
I recently wrote a short history of earthquakes Downeast and discovered only one such event of any importance-the 1904 earthquake with an epicenter in the Calais-Eastport area. It was the only significant earthquake in Maine history striking a populated area … Continue reading