Samuel Collins, who arrived in the Caribou area in 1844, started the S.W. Collins Company and, along with his brothers David, Harvey and James, played a significant role in settling the village that today is the city of Caribou.
“I wanted to put this sign up for anyone walking by,” said William Tasker, executive director of the Caribou Chamber of Commerce, “ so they can understand part of the fabric of this community.”
Family members, son Gregg, mother Pat, son Sam, and father Don Collins were in attendance for Saturday’s ceremony.
“Not only is S.W. Collins Company a five-generation business, but the family has long given back immeasurably to the community,” said Tasker. “The original S.W. Collins served in the state legislature, Don was a state senator and his daughter, Susan, is our U.S. Senator from Maine.”
The informational sign explains how the “S.W. Collins House was built in 1859” and later renovated by Herschel Collins and re-developed in 1980 by Philip and Vivian Willey. The Willey family still owns the house, and it is now serves as a facility for the elderly and disabled.
“Every building needs a foundation,” concluded Tasker, “and to me, the Collins family is Caribou’s foundation. Without a strong foundation, any house will come down.”
