Ellsworth history · History of Ellsworth
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History of Ellsworth
History of Ellsworth
According to the history of the Passamaquoddy Indians, the Ellsworth area was originally inhabited by members of the Passamaquoddy and/or Penobscot tribes.
In 1773 the first schooner was built at Ellsworth. This was the 'Susan and Abigail,' named after the daughters of the two most prominent citizens and original 1763 settlers from southern Maine, Benjamin Milliken and Benjamin Joy. The vessel carried pine shingles and oak staves in annual voyages to the West Indies. In the years that followed, up to the beginning of the 20th century, a great many schooners of various sizes were built in Ellsworth shipyards along the Union River.
Historian Albert Davis records that in the latter part of the 18th century, Ellsworth was known as the 'Union River Settlement' and was adjacent to the settlements of Surry (to the east) and Trenton (to the south). In 1798 the local inhabitants petitioned to be formally incorporated under the name 'Sumner.' That name having been already taken by a settlement in Oxford County, Maine, the town was finally incorporated by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1800 as Ellsworth, named for Oliver Ellsworth, 3rd Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court and thought to be the person who first suggested the name "United States of America" for the newly formed country.
Davis also reports that in the late 1770s there were British raids on the Union River Settlement, with attempts to appropriate the local cattle. However, there were no formal battles in the Ellsworth area during the Revolutionary War.
In 1838 Ellsworth became the county seat of Hancock County, replacing Castine in that role. The original 1838 county buildings still stand, west of the Union River, on Bridge Hill.
Between 1860 and 1865 Ellsworth sent 653 soldiers to fight in the Civil War, according to historian Albert Davis. This was at a time when there were only 847 (male) voters in the area. Military training was held in front of the old county buildings on Bridge Hill, west of the Union River, at the triangular park site of the present Civil War Monument.
In 1869 Ellsworth was incorporated as a city by the Maine Legislature. The first City Hall was Hancock Hall, which stood at the corner of Main Street and School Street. It was destroyed by the Great Ellsworth Fire of 1933.
Work on the famous Ellsworth hydro-electric dam was begun in 1907, at the site of one of the original Benjamin Milliken Union River dams at the 'lower falls.' This led to the creation of the present Leonard's Lake just to the north of the city.
Ellsworth's first great disaster of the 20th century was the Great Flood of 1923. A spring freshet rushed over the dam and carried off the metal Union River Bridge, along with many buildings located along the river, such as the well-known Dirigo Theater, the Foundry and many wharves and warehouses. This event marked the end of Ellsworth's prominence as a shipping center. The present concrete bridge was finished in 1924.
The Great Fire of 1933 destroyed most of Ellsworth's Downtown commercial district, on the east side of the Union River. New buildings were re-built in brick, mainly in the Art Deco style. The unique Ellsworth City Hall dates from this period. Fortunately, many of the old houses outside the business district survived the conflagration.
The 1960s and 70s saw the development of a new Ellsworth business district on High Street, which is the direct route to and from Bar Harbor (town), Maine and Acadia National Park. This area is now the largest shopping district in Hancock County, with several shopping centers and many large stores, stretching nearly to the Ellsworth-Trenton boundary. Congested traffic during the summer months has led to attempts in recent years to change the road network, especially at the busy intersection of Route 1 and Route 3, known as "The Triangle."
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Ellsworth Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.