In January of 1951, Owen Osborne, sports writer for the Bangor Daily News, wrote an article about new features being added by the Katahdin Outing Club to the ski & recreation area on Black Cat Mountain outside of Millinocket.  Osborne predicted that this ski area, with views of Mt. Katahdin would become one of the leading recreation areas in the state of Maine! A new 1200 foot Underwood ski tow (almost in the shadow of Mt. Katahdin and bordering Millinocket Lake) had recentl

In the old logging days of GNP, work horses played a major role. In John E. McLeod’s The Northern, he describes the importance of these horses and the work they did. In the beginning of GNP, horses hauled supplies to the log camps in winter on sleds from Greenville to the head of Moosehead Lake (40 miles) on iced-over trails marked by brush stuck in the snow. They all traveled the same marked path, following one another to build up a hard-packed surface. There might have been

Odds and Ends From The MUSEUM!        By Trudy Wyman, Curator, Millinocket Society Museum   A phonograph was first demonstrated by Thomas Edison in 1877. His device recorded sound vibrations onto a tin foil cylinder which could then be played back.  In the 1880’s, Emil Berliner improved on Edison’s design by producing the gramophone. This machine played flat discs rather than cylinders. These inventions allowed music to be in homes in a ways and individuals and families star

Garrett Schenck, one of the founders of Great Northern Paper Company and its first president, had a home built in Millinocket. Most of the company’s presidents and founders did not reside in Millinocket. The Schenck house at 4 Hill St. still stands although in recent years, it has housed some businesses. The house has an interesting story as told in the Dorothy Laverty book So You Live In Millinocket? The Schenck home was built in 1907 with its foundation made of pieces of m

The ABC’s of some 2025 donations to the museum…from the ordinary to the unusual! A- Arrowheads, Advertisement (Fuller Furniture), Airport/airplane photos 1960’s B- Braille typewriter, Bank (coin bank Millinocket Trust), Boy Scout badges C- Communications equipment from MFD 1960’s-2000’s, Core (section paper roll core) D- DVD 5 th St. John Pond & East Branch 1937, SHS debate League program 1939E- End of summer playground parade photo F- Flags (flown Katahdin, Hawaii & Alaska

Happy Holidays from the Millinocket Historical Society! The holidays have been celebrated in many ways in Millinocket and the Katahdin region over the years. The museum’s collection has some items representing Christmas in this area.             The oldest item, no date, is a handmade card the size of an index card with an embossed scalloped edging secured with a piece of cloth.  The cloth has delicate embroidery with stitches outlining various flowers and leaves.  If you lif

From its beginning, Millinocket has been a musical community…bands, choirs, soloists and more. The earliest schools presented musical events, there was a town band. There were musical stars and other music performances at the ballfield. Music was a large part of everything happening in the booming town and down through the years. In the early days, Millinocket was isolated and the first “music stars” were locals. In 1901, there were several people offering music lessons (voi

“A Thrilling Tale of the River Drivers of Ripogenus, as We Boys Heard It from the Duke of Argyle.”  This story is a bit of folklore often told by river drivers in early days. The story takes place on the drive in the river near where Rip Dam would be built and features the mythical Miramichi Indian whose exploits rivaled those of Paul Bunyan. The Lewiston Journal Illustrated Magazine, July 6, 1935, has the story as related by Willard Pond (a river driver known as the Duke of

Many musical groups have come and gone throughout Millinocket’s almost 125 year history. For many years, the Millinocket Band appeared in parades and played concerts at the bandstand. The Stearns High School band represented Maine at the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, DC in 1954. The elementary schools have had bands and many local individuals and small groups performed at different functions through the years. The local American Legion once had a drum and bugle corps

In 1942, Walt Disney Productions filmed and released the animated motion picture Bambi. It was based on the 1923 novel Bambi , a Life in the Woods. Disney   planned to base the Bambi character on a mule deer from California but was persuaded by illustrator Jake Day to make the movie Bambi a white-tailed deer, more common throughout the United States.             Millinocket had its own Bambi in 1947 as described in The Millinocket Herald Tribune. An August issue made the fron

Many know of or have visited the “Ghost Trains” in the north Maine woods. The Great Northern Paper Company also constructed other railroad facilities in its woodlands in the early days. A recent museum visitor sent us searching the collection for information on one that ran from Seboomook Lake north to St. John Pond, about eighteen miles. An old newspaper article gives the following information.             This railroad was designed and constructed to move pulpwood from the

Odds and Ends From The MUSEUM! By Trudy Wyman, Curator, Millinocket Historical  Society Museum               Since Katahdin Avenue, Penobscot Avenue and Central Street (downtown area) were the first active streets, it is understandable that those were the first areas to receive water, sewer and light services. These streets formed a triangle. Sewers were also added to Pine, Spruce and Poplar Streets, cross streets.             Millinocket Water Company was incorporated in 189

In 1931, Millinocket citizens began the process to build an airport. Prior to that time, an occasional small plane had landed in a field or at the ball park. An aviation field committee was formed and a site was selected on Medway Road. The site, at that time, contained the “town farm (poorhouse) which was located in the area where during epidemics (smallpox, typhoid, diptheria) patients were isolated. Those buildings were removed and a long piece of land was plowed and seede

The first stockholders meeting of the Millinocket Trust Company was held in 1906 after receiving its charter from the state. At first,...

From the early days, GNP mill workers had work designations such as boss machine tender, back tender, 3 rd . 4 th , 5 th  hand, swiper,...

On Sept. 9, 1938, the Millinocket Theater opened its doors to movie goers. Some folks thought this was a risk because the town already...

When this writer came to town to teach fourth grade at Katahdin Avenue School in 1966, I quickly learned the names of several prior...

The town of Millinocket was chartered on March 16, 1901. Shortly after, Pioneer Hose Company #1 was organized on May 2, 1901 after a...

Today, food carts are popular in any towns, but back in earlier days they were referred to as lunch carts. Millinocket had its share...

In conversation, people often mention the Rice Farm Road, but many do not know the origin of the name. An article in The Northern...