“This town was built on stone, wood, and water.” So spoke the president of the Lincolnville Historical Society in a recent conversation I had with her. It has been around 253 years since Lydia and Nathan Knight built their cabin just up from what is now the Center, the first non-native settlers.

I offered an incredibly incomplete list of local businesses operating in Lincolnville over the last two columns. As I was writing them, I was thinking about businesses from my youth, and reached out for the memories of my readers. And this got me thinking about the history of “making do” in this town, to use an expression from Lincolnville’s Nancy Heald.

Stone: Both limestone and granite were a massive part of the town’s early industry. If you live in an old house, look at the foundation for granite slabs, likely quarried locally. This super hard stone held up a heck of a lot better than the foundations of fieldstones that made up earlier foundations.

Limestone was a major driver of industry throughout the Midcoast. Burned in kilns, which once dotted this town, powdered lime had myriad uses. Before it began being imported across the country, many a farmer had his own kiln, to produce lime for personal use. As I was perusing Staying Put In Lincolnville Maine: 1900-1950, by Diane Roesing O’Brien, I learned that a major use of lime, before wide scale importation, was to be mixed with horse hair, to create the plaster walls in many an old farmhouse, mine included.

Wood: I believe I have mentioned before how this town was once nearly treeless a century ago. Wood fired the lime kilns — most streams had a sawmill or two, maybe only running in the spring, to create lumber and shingles. Shipbuilding was also a major industry on our little stretch of Penobscot Bay.

Water: As a little place on the coast, water was integral to everything that went on here. It took the ships that sent our products to more lucrative markets, it ran the saw and gristmills (apparently, Corelyn Senn recently discovered a deed referencing a textile mill on the Ducktrap River). Until 1935 the Boston Boat, a daily steamship from that far away city, stopped in Lincolnville, dropping off summer residents, and bringing our goods south.

And of course, the fishing industry was, and remains, part of our community.

Before the Boston Boat stopped running, strawberries were a serious cash crop. The orchards remain, but were much more significant once upon a time. As a kid, I remember exploring abandoned orchards; most are long grown over now. Same with far too many wild blueberry fields.

And then there were the side hustles. Most farms sold their extra produce, often in the form of eggs and milk and butter, to their neighbors. This is a practice that continues today, folks “making do”.

Much like the one room school houses, in a time when transportation was not as easy and convenient (hitching up a horse to the wagon or sled takes a bit more effort than pressing a button to fire up my Honda), this town was dotted with small stores. The Center General occupies one of the oldest stores in town, but they were everywhere. 

As I believe I have written before, even in my youth I lived within walking distance of several small convenience stores, where one could pick up a gallon of milk and a loaf of bread. Rae’s Butcher Market, later the Hillside Market, especially comes to mind. Just up from the shore on Beach Road, it was especially well stocked, and I recall most of our groceries coming from Rae’s as a child. 

The Indian Tent, at Lincolnville Beach, which was set up every summer, between the post office and what is now the Spouter Inn. It sold beautiful baskets and moccasins, crafted by members of the Penobscot Nation in the early days of the business, as well as the kind of tchotchkes and souvenirs you’d expect from a seasonal store on the beach.

Jax, a jack in the box company was just up Atlantic Highway from Ducktrap. You want to see cool jack in the boxes? Check out the display at the Lincolnville Historical Society museum, where they have amassed an impressive collection- from creepy clowns, to dentists, to Puss in Boots- all were manufactured here, and still ready to jump out of the unassuming boxes and freak out some child… or middle aged man…

The Centre Lincolnville Telephone Company, established in 1904 when Lincolnville residents recognized that they were falling behind their neighbors in Camden and Belfast, and set up their own telephone system. It was still around when I was a kid, though it has since been bought by Tidewater Telecom, which continues to use their old building across from the UCC Church.

And in 2023? What are our industries?

Well, we remain diverse in the ways we “make do”. I think about how many of us work from home, taking advantage of the fiber internet  which Tidewater Telecom has finally spread through most of the town. Our workers are employed worldwide, and get to do it in a beautiful setting. I maintain a physical office in Camden, but when the snow flies, I can work from a quiet spot in this old farmhouse. I am conflicted about whether this is positive progress…

Still, we have farmers, we have contractors and plumbers and electricians. We have the people who make your pizza (and will put pineapple on it, never mind the haters) or will make you a cup of coffee with several shots of expresso. People who make sure you have a welcoming place to sleep when you come to visit.

We are a small place in a quiet corner of what is, ultimately, a tiny blue/green dot in the middle of a vast cosmos. Which is why I keep saying we need to take care of each other.

The Red Cottage

I am sure I overlooked a number of local businesses in my prior columns- and I do mean to do an article highlighting the inns and motels at a future date- but I was reminded by many of my readers that I completely neglected to mention The Red Cottage in Lincolnville Center. Between Drake’s and The Center General, The Red Cottage is the place for classy home goods. Open from Memorial Day weekend to Christmas, check them out at the end of May!

Lincolnville Community Library

Wednesday April 12 at 6:30, Rich Boulet will share his adventures at the library.

“‘Along the way, plenty of rain, rocks, sun, mud, oil changes, tire changes and bad meals. Good, friendly and indifferent people, too, against the backdrop of America. That’s how Rich Boulet spent and experienced his six-week sabbatical from the Blue Hill Public Library. The library’s director rode his trusty 2006 Suzuki DR650 traversing rock, water, ledge, red-dirt roads, hills, vales, dales and campaign signs from Maine to Vermont to Pennsylvania and through middle America to Port Orford, Ore., and back again.’(Ellsworth American)

Join Rich Boulet and fellow Lincolnville travel enthusiasts, adventurers, and the just plain curious to hear Rich tell his stories and share his photos of his six-week, 12,000-mile ride across the country.”

Easter Breakfast

King David’s Masonic Lodge will be serving up a public breakfast on Sunday, April 9, from 7-8:30 a.m. at the Community Building in Lincolnville Center. Eggs, pancakes, sausage/bacon, hash browns. count me in! Meal is by donation.

Easter Services

The Bayshore Baptist Church will hold a sunrise service Easter morning at 6 a.m. at Lincolnville Beach, followed by breakfast at the church. Sunday school is at 9:30, and morning worship will be at 11.

The Lincolnville UCC in the Center will hold its Easter Service at 9:30 a.m. April 9. The Sanctuary will also be open Good Friday afternoon, April 7, for silent prayer and reflection.

Condolences

Sympathy to the friends and family of Bob Payne, of Beach Road. A local carpenter with a love of the outdoors, I wish I’d known this neighbor… Something about reading an obituary, you learn so much about someone you will never meet.

And to Richard Craft, Jr. An incredibly kind man, who dedicated his life to taking care of youth who needed someone like him. I am lucky to have known him.

Okay, my little town. Keep on keeping on, and reach out to me at ceobrien246@gmail.com