A Look Back at the Blizzard of '52

AJ:

The fierce storm, remembered as the Blizzard of
1952, belted greater Portland with 25.3 inches of snow driven by gale-force
winds. "We were snowbound for three days," Roger Knight of Smiling Hill Farm in
Westbrook said recently, recalling an 8-foot snowdrift in front of the farmhouse
on County Road."“The wind did howl."

- John C.L. Morgan

Former Standout Coach Passes Away

PPH:

Bill Folsom, the former Westbrook High basketball coach, was always impeccably
dressed with his navy blue sports jacket, powder blue and white striped tie,
perfectly creased slacks and polished loafers. His teams reflected his sartorial
style. The Blue Blazes may have been the first high school team in the state to
wear warmup jackets and pants. The players wore knee-length socks, which some
teams wore in those days. The Blazes always looked sharp in pregame drills and
it carried over to the game. Folsom wanted his teams, as his son, Mark, said,
"to be top shelf" in their appearance and their play. Folsom, one of the top
coaches in Maine history, died Sunday at 83 from the effects of a stroke in
North Fort Myers, Fla., where he lived for 23 years.

- John C.L. Morgan

Westbrook Historian Garners Postive Book Review

PPH:

Andrea M.P. Vasquez, who grew up in South Portland and graduated from Bowdoin
and the Stonecoast MFA Program, is a skilled journalist, writer and not a bad
researcher. Furthermore, she has chosen a reasonably good format in "American
Chronicles: A History Press Series," which has more text and less space than
other prefab titles.

-John C.L. Morgan

Related: Another Sparkling Review for 'Sisters from Hardscrabble Bay' (August 2, 2010)

From Canada, with Love

Rev. W.H. Gane of Amerherstburg, Canada had the following to say about the Paper City in the official program devoted to Westbrook's 1895 celebrations of July 4:

Westbrook is a manufacturing town and is devoid of
what we call aristocracy, although the noblest aristocrats I ever met I met in
this city. There is a wonderful sense of equality and a definitely expressed
commonality of thought and feeling. Splendid and comfortable homes are owned by
the workingmen, and great taste is displayed in interior and exterior adornment.
Every home in which I visited gave unmistakable evidences of culture. The books
and magazines of the day give mental stimulus to the [residents]. I saw no
drunkenness, no poverty, no want, no half-starved, ragged children in this
beautiful city; but thrift, health, and happiness.

- John C.L. Morgan

Related: Did You Know? (March 19, 2008)

Photograph of the Day

About 'Photograph of the Day'

Most of us have swell with enthusiasm when describing how great this summer has been, especially relative to last year. The pessimists among us, however, can always point to the fact that each day of sunshine and thick air represents but one more step in the inevitable trudge toward wintry scenes like the one captured above.

The caption that accompanied this undated photo indicated that it captured the first output of electric lights in Westbrook history, evidently in the 1880s. The photograph is part of the collection of the Westbrook Historical Society.

- John C.L. Morgan

Westbrook Vet Reflects on WWII Experiences

MPBN:

Dick Goodie was born in Bangor in 1923. At 19 he was drafted into the army and
found himself being shipped to Britain at the end of 1943 in preparation for the
planned invasion of Europe the following summer. That sea voyage, recalls
Goodie, was a precarious experience in which the threat of German U-Boats was
ever-present. "We shipped out of Fort Shanks New York on the Queen Mary. It took
us 5 days to cross the Ocean and the ship, its speed was thought to be its best
defence, but had it got torpedoed, I learnt 20 years after the war that the
Queen Mary, of course it could carry 15,000 soldiers across the Ocean, and we
found out afterwards that had it been torpedoed that it carried enough lifeboats
for about half that number."

- John C.L. Morgan

h/t: Reader Maine Ale

Q&A with Westbrook Historian Andrea Vasquez

AJ:

[S.D. Warren] was vital to the growth of Westbrook into the city it has
become. At some point, most likely in the early 1900s, residents began to
affectionately, and proudly, refer to Westbrook as "The Paper City," which
carried over into local newspaper articles, books, and public speeches. It was
the pride and affection clearly carried by the nickname that I was drawn to.

- John C.L. Morgan

Related: Local Author Publishes Book on Westbrook History (May 10, 2010)
Related: Did You Know? (January 23, 2008)

Local Author Publishes Book on Westbrook History

Westbrook writer Andrea M.P. Vasquez's book, Remembering Westbrook: The People of the Paper City, has been published by History Press.

Vasquez's book is a collection of the biographical vignettes that she's been writing for the American Journal since March 2009, as well as some other previously-unpublished content.

Copies of the book will be signed and sold at the Westbrook Historical Society on June 5, from 9a-3p.

- John C.L. Morgan

Related: Beverly Jensen's Web Site is Up, Book to Be Published June 28 (January 21, 2010)
Related: On Location: Westbrook Historical Society (June 24, 2008)

Old Westbrook, By Way of Old Lewiston

Check out archived newspaper articles about Westbrook dating back to the 1860s in this virtual vault of Lewiston newspapers. Plucked from a May 1961 Lewiston Evening Journal article was this gem:

The air over Westbrook is pine scented these days,
and it's no accident. The S.D. Warren Co. started pouring a pine concentrate into
its pulp digesters Monday. The idea is to offset a spoiled cabbage odor--a
result of the kraft pulp process--that had ired residents of the paper mill city
and surrounding communities.

Looks like the title of a certain blog is more prescient--or in this case, reminiscent--than even I could've hoped.

- John C.L. Morgan

h/t: The always interesting All Things Maine site.

Westbrook Rings In Its 196th Year

Westbrook formally incorporated as a town 196 years ago today. Below are three trivia questions related to the founding of Westbrook. (Editor's Note: Westbrook's first mayor wasn't actually elected until after Westbrook was incorporated as a city in 1892.)

What was the town's original name when it was incorporated on February 14, 1814? (Answer)

What is the symbolic relevance of the City's seal? (Answer)

Who was Westbrook's first mayor? (Answer)

- John C.L. Morgan

Related: Haven's Candies as Loyal Provincialists--Or Not (February 13, 2009)
Related: Quote, Unquote (February 13, 2008)

Westbrook Native Reminisces

ProJo:

I especially liked the stories about that four-lane
bowling alley in Westbrook, Maine, the town where you were born and spent your
early childhood. Four lanes and a pool table. It must seem a long, long way from
that sleek automated 60-lane bowling palace in East Providence, especially when
you consider how you paid for your bowling back then: "I was a pin boy. I worked
for two cents a string. When I’d made enough money, I'd bowl."

- John C.L. Morgan

Westbrook Company Has Popular Map App

Mainebiz:

Imagine standing on a busy street corner, hitting a
button on your iPhone, and seeing a map of that same corner 200 years ago,
complete with names of former landowners, yellowed photos of the buildings
around you and even information about your family's historic ties to the
area . . . Historic Map Works has sold more than 200 of the apps, called Historic
Earth, and seen the app join the ranks of Apple's top 25 reference category
iPhone apps.

If I didn't have an historic cellphone (look, ma, it takes pictures!), I'd totally get this.

- John C.L. Morgan

A Look at Efforts to Secure a Rudy Vallee Commemorative Stamp

Ventura County Star:

A key Citizens Stamp Advisory Committee, a mix of
celebrities and academic types that meets quarterly, last month rejected the
idea of putting Vallee on postage. The Vallee camp says it will appeal the
decision, which it can do next year.

As mentioned in the piece, Westbrook is hosting a re-dedication of Vallee Square on Saturday, July 25. Details of the event will be forthcoming.

- John C.L. Morgan

Related: Rudy Vallee: Modest Inspirer of Goose Flesh or National Menace? (January 22, 2009)
Related: Quote, Unquote: Brad Butler (October 8, 2008)
Related: Sign It (September 9, 2008)
Related: On Location: Movies at Riverbank (August 26, 2008)

Did You Know?

Did you know the decrepit building in the corner of Riverbank Park is the oldest existing polling place in Westbrook?

Estimated to be over 100 years old, the building avoided destruction in 2002.

- John C.L. Morgan

Remembering Westbrook's First Police Chief

PPH:

Westbrook Police Chief Pierre "Pete" Harnois rushed
to the side of the house. It would be the final, frantic sprint of a decidedly
fast-paced life: Hamlin shot the 32-year-old police chief through a cellar
window and killed him. That was the scene in Limerick 50 years ago today, when a
shocking murder, shootout and suicide left three dead and two injured. The
sensational event made headlines across the country and claimed the life of
Westbrook's first full-time police chief.

The paper has also dug into its archives to provide original articles describing the frenetic event (here and here).

(Update: The AJ has its own piece marking the anniversary of Harnois's death. Besides touching upon the slain chief's biography and the Limerick shootout, Ann Fisher focuses on how the event has factored into the training of today's law enforcement.)

- John C.L. Morgan

Down East Mines Westbrook History for Trivia

Quick, what exotic fabric was once produced in Maine?

- John C.L. Morgan

Related: Silky Smooth (January 13, 2009)
Related: Bite-Sized Review: American Silk (July 18, 2008)

The Presumpscots of Cumberland Mills

The Presumpscots of Cumberland Mills Explained

Nearly 119 years before the Boston Red Sox vanquished the Tampa Bay Rays in this afternoon's opening game, the Presumpscots of Cumberland Mills trekked to the Atlantic coast of Canada to take on the Frederictons of New Brunswick.

Consisting of just enough players to field a team (front row, l-r: Fred Files, J. Campbell, Arthur Smith, Chas. Elkins; back row, l-r: F.E. Bachelder, S. Clark Morton, Bill Webb, C.S. Clark, and Gene Harriman), the Presumpscots split a morning-afternoon doubleheader with the Frederictons on May 29, 1890.

- John C.L. Morgan

Did You Know?

Did you know the Westbrook Rotary Club is the oldest existing civic association in Westbrook?

Now known as the Westbrook-Gorham Rotary, the club was formed on December 24, 1925. The second-oldest existing association in the Paper City is the Westbrook Kiwanis, which was chartered on February 12, 1926.

- John C.L. Morgan