As is often the case, we tend to wear blinders about the place we live and fail to see some of the amazing things around us. Presque Isle is no different. We have amazing history here — more than the average small town. We have the first state park in the state of Maine, the launch site of the first successful transatlantic balloon flight, the location of the first tree ever cut from private land and from east of the Mississippi to serve as the National Christmas Tree (1959), and more.
In addition to the numerous museums and “firsts,” Presque Isle is also home to some interesting historic sights that most of us forget, fail to see, or just don’t know about. Here are just a few of the interesting hidden history facts about our little city.
Directly behind the northwest corner of Flannel & Barrel on Main Street across the stream is the chassis of a Model A actually embedded in the stream bank. It is difficult to see it unless the water level is low and the foliage hasn’t bloomed out yet. No one is really sure when or how it got there.
The Mooseleuk Club was a men’s club whose purpose was “to conduct a social club and to maintain quarters where its members may gather for social enjoyment and to buy sell or exchange real estate as necessary to carry out the above purposes.” The members were local businessmen, farmers, and horsemen. This was the group that ultimately brought our beloved harness horse, John R. Braden, to town.
The club rooms were in the Marston building on Main Street. The rooms boasted a dining room, poolroom, bowling alley and a fireplace. The men who reset the bowling pins actually laid on their stomachs underneath Main Street.
Presque Isle was once served by three railroads, the Canadian & Pacific, the Bangor & Aroostook, and the Aroostook Valley Railroad. The Canadian & Pacific railroad lines are what now comprise, for the most part, our walking path. The railroad was only a “spur,” or end of the line. The depot sat where the Howard Park Apartments are today on the corner of Academy and Howard streets. Behind the depot was a roundhouse or turntable to reverse the direction of the locomotives. Although the roundhouse building no longer exists, the circular concrete foundation can still be seen in the ground.
Ice harvesting in the days before modern day refrigeration techniques was the norm. People used the large blocks of ice to keep food cold. In addition, before the invention of refrigerated trailers and cargo containers, ice was also used to transport frozen food. Here in Presque Isle, the ice was cut into large blocks approximately 18 inches thick by 24 by 20, weighing 325 to 350 pounds apiece. The blocks were transported by conveyer belt to an ice house along the banks of the Presque Isle Stream along the Chapman Road.
Aroostook State Park, the first in Maine, was established in 1938. During the Great Depression, President Franklin Roosevelt began a series of federal programs known as “The New Deal” to combat the effects of the depression. One program was known as the Works Progress Administration, which provided jobs and income to those unemployed during the Depression. It put millions of mostly unskilled men to work on public works projects such as public building, roads and bridges.
One project was to build a large ski jump off the north face of Quoggy Jo at the state park, which is where our ski trails were located at the time. Although the trees were cleared and the beginning of the jump was built, the project was abandoned because the slope was too severe and no one would survive the jump. If you look very carefully at the north slope, you can make out where the trees were cleared and the start of the jump.
Prior to the start of Social Security in the 1930s, many towns had a government-run facility to support and house dependent or needy people. These were known as poor farms or poor houses. Able-bodied residents were expected to help work the farms. Presque Isle was no different and had such a facility. The farm buildings still stand today on the Centerline Road.
During World War II, Presque Isle was the location of the first military “listening post” in the nation (the 136th Radio Detachment). Radio transmission security was a little understood subject in the Army Air Forcethen. With the realization of the weakness in radio communications, self-monitoring was established by a War Department directive. A field of antennas was set up on the curve along the Centerline Road as it turned towards Easton. This was a top secret facility and locals were warned to never take photographs of the site. Today, the land is an agricultural field.
There are several other forgotten or unknown historical sites around our town, such as the Nash Automobile Dealership, the nuclear missile launch pads, the launch site of a steamship and an existing ballroom and embalming room in a former furniture store downtown.
As we hopefully take the time to enjoy the beautiful summer days, it is a good time to perhaps slow down and learn about and appreciate the rich, local history we have.
Kimberly R. Smith is the secretary/treasurer of the Presque Isle Historical Society.
