Monday, January 7, 2008
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Sunday, December 2, 2007
The History of Strathglass Park
[Editor's Note: There is a movement afoot to restore Strathglass Park. Read about it here.]By Jennifer Stowell- Norris
In the late nineteenth century, Hugh J. Chisholm, entrepreneur and millionaire, climbed out of a coach at Rumford Falls to view the thundering falls of the Androscoggin River. It’s what he came to see because it was the greatest useable water drop on any river in New England. Rumford Falls would eventually provide electricity to the local community and turn the biggest wheels of industry. Chisholm was not only a savvy businessman but as it would turn out, he was also talented at community planning and development. Chisholm built a colossal paper mill and a large housing development for the blue-collar workers employed by his mill. Before Chisholm built Strathglass Park homes, he studied and visited industry housing developments in both the United States and abroad. Chisholm learned from the information gathered and built his housing development in a way that would attract and retain stable, loyal employees. It is apparent that Chisholm equated loyal employees with decent housing and pleasant surroundings. He genuinely appreciated his skilled workforce and provided for the employee and their families generously. This created respect and loyalty, which prevented employee strikes under his reign.
Chisholm visited American and European industry housing before he built Strathglass Park. He discovered that American industrialists were creating “slum housing” and Europeans were involved in progressive housing efforts that were cognizant of the environment, community, and industry. “During the early decades of the twentieth century, social workers, architects, city planning experts, industrialists, and civic leaders studied and visited progressive housing developments in Europe, devoted themselves to the task of exposing the evils of slum housing, and built model housing developments as a means of raising working-class housing standards.”(2) Housing reformers convinced some American industrialists that “grateful workers…revitalized by plentiful fresh air, modern sanitation, and other amenities, would reward their philanthropic employees with loyalty, hard work, and high profits.” (3)
Housing reformers created “garden suburbs” and “garden villages” to “house industrial workers in less costly yet attractive surroundings than traditionally found.”(4) American garden cities were also known as industrial housing estates or model company towns. (5) These attached subdivisions located in or near the city were situated near the local industry as well. “What distinguished [garden villages] from other small towns and suburbs was their pattern of development and their appearance. All the buildings were new, similar in architectural expression – style and construction – and subordinate to a master plan.”(6) Chisholm’s dream was to construct a twentieth century model town, which included a residential development component. He stated, “One of the ambitions of my life is to see Rumford Falls develop into one of the model towns of New England and a place that every resident living within its borders will be justly proud of.”(7) He would provide comfortable and economical modern homes for working people.
This adventure was considered exceptional for 1901. It indicated that Chisholm, no matter how preoccupied with plans for the development of industry, could find time for projects that would benefit the people in the community. (8) “By the second decade of the twentieth century, the garden-city movement had received international attention, and planned housing estates for industrial workers were influencing suburban construction both at home and abroad.”(9) Chisholm executed steps in a master plan, which personified his natural ability at community planning and development. “The industrial town (or section dominated by a single industry) provided a laboratory for the emerging profession of urban planning.”(10) Chisholm’s Strathglass Park housing development is a unique example of company built housing and it is one of the few such examples in this country. It was placed on the National Registry of Historic Places in 1974 for its unaltered architectural, landscaping, social/humanitarian, and urban planning significance.
The construction of Chisholm’s Oxford Paper Company brought an influx of workers into the small, remote, wilderness village of Rumford Falls. It transformed into a “boom town” almost over night and along with this sudden change came a significant problem – a housing shortage. The erection of dwelling houses has never kept pace with industrial development. Housing construction in Rumford was not able to keep up with the boundless energy behind the Chisholm industrial projects. While industrial construction in Rumford had begun in 1890, not a single home was constructed until 1892. Hence, operatives must have found it difficult to find a place to stay. With the continued industrial growth of the next decade, it would be some years before the situation would be eased. There is no real way of determining just how serious this housing shortage was. Many fine homes were eventually built in 1897 by the people who had moved to Rumford Falls, but “rents still continued to be high and in active demand.”(11)
History demonstrates in the early twentieth century that the newly risen corporate industrialist had not yet begun to be particularly concerned with the welfare or housing of their employees. Before Chisholm became actively involved in the development of housing in Rumford, the “skilled workers lived in boarding houses provided by the various local factories and the day laborers occupied sod huts and other primitive dwellings.” (12) Corporations in many boomtowns during that era coped with the housing situation by erecting company housing to provide shelter for their employees but in almost all cases, they were “flimsy, crowded wood frame buildings” and Rumford was no exception. (13) Chisholm, on the other hand, was a notable exception to this trend. Chisholm established the Rumford Realty Company for the sole purpose of constructing homes for his employees in response to the dramatic housing shortage. (14) He started with building “two large wood-framed boarding houses and a number of small wooden houses that were constructed to accommodate the construction workers who built his mill – many of whom were transients. As the mill neared completion in 1900, Chisholm realized that in order to attract the right type of workers to operate his mill, there would have to be a more suitable residential area.”(15) In an effort to attract a stable and qualified work force, he was determined to provide housing of high quality and a pleasant living environment. (16)
Chisholm’s idea of constructing homes on a large scale in Rumford was a result of this housing shortage. But, as opposed to making a profit off a commodity in such high demand, Chisholm realized that in order to attract industry, adequate housing for the laborers would be a requisite. “In order to attract workers to Rumford which was at the time a very, very small town, [it is] necessary to put up attractive buildings…there was no question that when [Chisholm] did something, he wanted to make it the best, and these buildings were erected without any profit motive.”(17) Chisholm personally witnessed poorly designed and constructed mill housing, temporary housing, and tenements in other parts of the United States and swore that he would not build poor quality buildings with small rooms. (18) Chisholm observed the negative effects of the stacked tenement approach of company housing in Manchester, New Hampshire and in Lawrence and Lowell, Massachusetts and he would have no part in the creation of an instant slum.
After more that a year’s application of thought and study from the minds of Chisholm and his associates, it was decided that the most modern homes for working people would be developed in a way that “combines comfort and economy with the middle cost of rental that is demanded by the average working man with a family.”(19) In a letter to his architect, Chisholm wrote, "We will build of brick and stone and slate, and we will provide not merely for a house, but for comfort, elegance and social gratification of those who will dwell here." (20) In the September 14, 1901 edition of the Rumford Falls Time, the following was noted in regards to Chisholm’s housing development efforts: “It is fortunate that at this time of stress for even a place to live in, this corporation does not rush ahead with the old style box tenements, huddled together, cramped and inconvenient.”(21) Even today, Strathglass Park homes are considered among the finest in Rumford and are much sought after whenever one is put up for sale – which is quite rarely.
Strathglass Park was designed and built on thirty acres of land in the center of town. Chisholm conceived the idea for a unique project; the establishment of a park-like area containing attractive red brick duplex homes surrounded by lawns with wide tree shaded streets. He devoted considerable effort and expense to this effort. Chisholm selected a convenient and desirable location across the river from the mill and laid out a roughly oval shape area intersected by four streets. It was necessary to move six existing frame buildings to clear the area for construction. (22) He retained the services of Cass H. Gilbert, a noted New York architect, who designed the buildings. “Within each style and each building, [Gilbert] designed delightfully subtle differences, thus rendering each park home an original work. The site was a beehive of activity with hundreds of people working from dawn 'til dark, sometimes even around the clock.”(23) The park was Chisholm's pride and joy, and he was on site nearly every day. Construction of the homes began in the fall of 1901 and was completed by the summer of 1902. (24) Ten months from the start of construction, the first "for rent" signs were hung. Strathglass Park was perhaps the most elegant and unique company housing project ever built in the country. People came from as far away as New York to see it. And it was constructed to house mill executives and line workers, who were the papermakers that Chisholm valued so highly. (25)
The final project was described as a landscaped setting that contained fifty-one duplex houses providing one hundred and two dwellings surrounded by an impressive, granite stonewall and a magnificent granite gateway. (26) To enhance the attractiveness of the park and to avoid the sterile sameness found in much nineteenth and twentieth century industrial housing, Gilbert designed seven different variations, while providing basically the same interior accommodations for all. “Thirteen feature the bold geometry of the Shingle Style translated into brick, while eleven have a double ferreted roof line, nine a single Dutch gable, eight a double Dutch gable, four a gable, three a combination of gable and Dutch gable, and two a double gable. Of the fifty-one double houses built, fifty remain in good condition with the atmosphere of their original environment intact. Only one has been lost, destroyed by fire in 1971.”(27) A Boston landscape engineer, W.W. Gay, prepared the plans for the planting of trees and shrubbery for the “ornamentation of the streets and lawns of the park.”(28) “The park's overall design included; steep roofs, granite sills and lintels, turrets, over-hung gable walls, ornate facades, and sculptured balusters. These were not the result, of Gilbert's architectural whimsy, but linked directly to Chisholm's life-long grasp on his Scottish Heritage. Though not distinctly Scottish, or even British, the place has the feel and charm of an old-world walled village.”(29) Chisholm named the housing development "Strathglass Park" after the birthplace of his ancestors, "Strathglass Carries," in Scotland. The four streets all bare the names of his favorite Scotch towns, which are: Urquhart Street, Lichness Road, Erchles Street and Clachan Place. (30)
Chisholm ensured that the quality of the construction was the best that it could be. He retained a number of skilled contractors for the various aspects of the project: the brickwork, plastering, painting, paperhanging, carpentry, and roofing. “Hollow walls improved insulation and multi-colored slate roofs provided expensive but permanent and maintenance-free protection.”(31) Local rough stones, blasted and dug from cellar holes, were used for the foundations. Bricks, eventually totaling five million, were made from clay alongside banks of Otter Creek in East Bethel and transported seventeen miles to the building site by ox cart. The journey included at least one river crossing by ferry. The rainbow slate roof arrived by train from Pennsylvania; granite came from New Hampshire; concrete steps, headers and balustrades were sand-cast on site. Lumber for the houses were produced at local sawmills. (32) The brick and slate not only offered lifetime protection but it added to the beauty and attractiveness of the homes. “Gilbert created distinctive exteriors from the current styles of domestic architecture and planned what must rank among the most generous interior in the history of American mill workers’ housing.” (33)
On June 14th, 1902, the Rumford Falls Times local newspaper read:
“…after considerable time and much care and study, these buildings and the park itself have been designed as the very latest and best of modern model homes. They are built of brick with hollow walls, insuring dryness and warmth, and the roofs are of slate. The cellars extend under the entire house and will be cemented throughout and contain a large warm-air furnace and laundry tubs. Every outside door will be entered through a vestibule, keeping out the cold winds in winter. On the first floor will be a large living room, closets, kitchen, dining and pantry. Some of these will have a separate dining room, and some of the houses will have the bathroom downstairs, some of them upstairs. The plumbing will be complete throughout the house with hot and cold water. There will be a range in every kitchen and a hot water tank. On the second floor some of the houses will have three large sleeping rooms and some of them four, and all of them have large light attics where two or more rooms can be furnished if needed. The entire first floor will be furnished with hardwood floors for using rugs instead of carpets, which is the general practice now being regarded by all people as more healthful, as well as more economical. It will not be necessary to buy a carpet for the entire floor; the rugs can be shaken and aired as often as necessary. The houses are to be well lighted with electricity. The houses have been designed for homes and for living in with a minimum of housework. One purpose of them has been to have a few larger rooms instead of many small ones, and in many of these houses the living rooms will be about 18 square feet. Less furniture is required too for furnishing such houses, and all the furniture you have can be used. There will be no room so small, when you get a table in the middle of it, but what the entire family can gather around the table, and no space is wasted in cold halls and stairways. These houses, we understand, may not rent for a less amount then other houses, but both inside and as to their surroundings they will be far superior to any other homes in the place. The rental will be fixed not on a basis of profitable investment, but they are built to require a minimum of repairs, and are to be furnished for a rental that will barely cover maintenance. (34)
This full-page spread featuring the magnificent interior design of Strathglass Park housing is note worthy for those times. The interior accommodations offered to the residents of this housing development were far superior then what was usually offered by industry.
Chisholm provided generously to the residents of Strathglass Park, who were only required to pay nine dollars a month for rent. The Oxford Paper Company provided many services including snow shoveling, grass mowing, painting, papering, rubbish removal, and taking care of all of the repairs. This ensured that the park always looked good. Coal was delivered and dumped in the coal bins at the companies cost. Electricity was generated by the Rumford Falls Power Company, which Chisholm also owned, and was provided at a cost of one dollar per month. This continued for the next forty-six years until the Rumford Reality Company ended its activities in 1948. The paper market gradually declined and it was no longer financially feasible to maintain the park. The houses were put up for sale and the park residents were given first offer to buy the houses at a very attractive price of $3,400 to $3,900. (35) Despite the paper market decline, Chisholm and his son continued to treat their employees well and their employees continued to remain loyal. There were no “employment strikes” in the history of the Oxford Paper Company under the Chisholm regime.
The Strathglass Park housing development was a successful endeavor on the part of Hugh Chisholm, not only in the short run but also in the long run. This project was highly significant in industrial America’s effort to house its workforce and prevent labor disputes. Chisholm not only studied the issue of labor housing in America during those times but he also visited various workforce housing developments in both American industrial cities and abroad. Chisholm learned that building quality housing in a planned environment would lead to contentment. After one hundred years, Strathglass Park housing is still in good shape and still providing homes for the citizens of Rumford.
Chisholm was aware of the situation that arose for George Pullman, who was president of the Pullman Palace Car Company in Pullman, Illinois. Pullman attempted to build a model industrial town but sought complete control over his workers. He constructed and owned over “fourteen hundred dwelling units – brick row houses of uniform size for the skilled mechanics and a few detached houses for the managers’ families – but all were rented at a profit…he also owned eighteen hundred ramshackle tenement apartments where the unskilled manual laborers lived.” (36) Uniform facades were characteristic of every industrial town. “Speculative builders used only one prototype for economic reasons; planners imposed limits on architectural variations for ideological reasons, contending that a limited number of styles yielded order and economy. Many company towns required that residents use the same materials for their facades and even the same colors of paint or varnish. To the industrialists, the uniformity of the residential environment was a symbol of modern industrial order: a balance between comfort for the residents and control for the employer. Control over workers and the visible expression of efficiency were two principal goals of company housing in industrial towns.” (37) Pullman was criticized for exhibiting “feudalistic” control and his model town was branded as a “slave pen” because he took advantage of the special plight of the laborers. “Then in 1894, in the wake of a nationwide depression, the vision of the paternalistic control and profitable philanthropy fell apart. Pullman workers called a strike to retaliate against Pullman’s cutbacks in wages, the exorbitant rents he charged (which he did not lower), and his dictatorial control.” (38) It was the most violent labor strike in the history of America.
After considering the lamentable end at Pullman, Chisholm saw that there are certain limitations for model towns, which prevent their ever reaching the goal sought for by philosophers and philanthropists. Chisholm commented that, “there is a point that shall be taken into consideration in the manufacturing growth of the town. Make the surroundings of the workmen pleasing. If this is done, they will be better satisfied to keep their positions, will take more interest in the town’s success, and make better citizens.” (39) Unlike Pullman, it was not Chisholm’s intentions to build housing as an attempt to control his employees. Instead, he was interested in making paper, making money, and investing in the welfare of his employees and their families, which would in turn prevent labor disputes and strikes. An article in the Portland Sunday Times of May 17, 1903, states that: “It has always been the aim of the Rumford Falls Power Company that there should be nothing savoring of the paternal in the management of their business or in whatever they should do for the up-building of the town and this same idea was carried out in the plan made for the building and management of the Strathglass Park. None of the employees in any of the mills is required to live in any of the company houses. They are as free and unrestricted as to where they should live now and how they should live as are the farmers in the small towns about.” (40)
Chisholm also learned from personally witnessing labor housing projects in Lowell, Massachusetts, and in Manchester, New Hampshire. These projects were unsuccessful because a stigma quickly attached to the dwellings. The “do-as-little-as-you-like” approach that characterized most company towns was coming under heavy criticism for many reasons. Housing reformers “predicted that the family relations, political views, and work efficiency of all the residents would suffer as a consequence of environmental problems.” (41) In addition, Chisholm felt that his employees were too good for tenement housing. He commented, “With the growth of the city it gradually came to be a sort of reproach with a man well able to live elsewhere that he retained a corporation tenement and the men best able to do so began to refuse the offered tenements, and to find homes for themselves, pleading generally better air, or a place for children to play, etc. rather than the true reason which was that they felt themselves too good to live in a corporation house.” (42)
There were a few concurrent examples of successful planning in America. The design of Chisholm’s Strathglass Park housing development had features similar to the successful examples of labor housing found in American industrial cities. Vandergrift, Pennsylvania, site of the Apollo Iron and Steel Company, perpetuated the belief that men and women in a “clean, healthy, beautiful town,” consisting of curvilinear streets, small parks, and pleasant, detached cottages, would become model citizens and contented workers. The N.O. Nelson Company, a producer of plumbing equipment in Leclaire, Illinois, provided housing, social, recreational, and educational facilities to counter unrest among employees. (43) Chisholm provided social, recreational, and educational facilities, as well, when he conceived, founded, and built the Mechanic’s Institute in 1911. The Mechanic’s Institute was a unique institution that provided a recreational and educational center for the people of the community. In 1906, Chisholm commented on Rumford’s future and stated, “…its leaders should realize the importance of conservative growth and careful investment, and they should not forget that the town’s growth and prosperity cannot be permanent unless the children and young people, who will soon be leaders in the community, are given every advantage, which those who live in older communities enjoy. The library should be built up, means of healthy recreation afforded and safe places of evening amusement furnished for the young people of the town.” (44) The Mechanic’s Institute was four stories high, 125 feet long and 80 feet deep. “It contained a spacious lounging room, a ladies parlor, card room, writing room, lecture room, classrooms, a fully equipped gymnasium, a billiard room, a library and reading room, a meeting room for the Board of Governors, and five bowling alleys in the basement.” (45) In 1911, it was one of the most modern recreational and educational centers in the State of Maine.
Industry housing failures and the successes of model towns were well publicized. Chisholm not only researched and studied the issues but he was also in a position to plan the lay out of the lots and streets in Rumford; he had purchased all of the farm and forestland around the falls that showed development potential. The development of Strathglass Park rental properties was one of Chisholm’s first big undertakings after the completion of his paper mill. “Managers reasoned that a stable work force would be more loyal and less likely to go out on strike, and would save the firm the expense of training new employees. Good housing would increase the proportions of married men, who were considered more stable and less volatile than roving single males. Advertisements for skilled workers stressed the benefits for a man’s wife and children in a model town with company-built housing. In exchange, the family would be dependent on the company for an improved way of life. Dependency was considered stronger if the company retained ownership of the houses, renting them below going private market rates” (46) Chisholm also exhibited the belief that improving the worker’s health was another goal of model-town planning. “Sanitary houses meant fewer days lost due to illness. Improved plumbing figured prominently in all descriptions of the towns, even if the facilities were only outhouses.” (47) Strathglass Park homes were designed to include all the modern improvements necessary to maintain a healthy lifestyle and keep housework at a minimum.
Chisholm’s Strathglass Park provided quality housing for the blue-collar workers employed by his mill. His considerable housing efforts and expense were duly noticed and appreciated. To what degree the Strathglass Park housing development was inspired by what is called “industrial paternalism” is difficult to say. “Even if a company provided housing for only one-third or one-half of its workers, the enterprise was enormous compared to nineteenth century standards. American industrialists insisted that the new industrial planning did not represent philanthropic schemes but rather sound business investments. Planners claimed that workmen in model towns would be between 25-33 percent more efficient on the job. Professional town planners and sociologists were meant to complement scientific management experts inside the factory to help increase production. Every feature in such a town is designed to have some constructive influence for specifically benefiting the workman for his work, and he gets nothing he does not pay for thus eliminating the element of paternalism.” (48) Chisholm’s employees were loyal, grateful, and well paid and because of his devotion to his employees, he retained a stable and qualified workforce for years to come. The Town of Rumford still looks back at Chisholm’s efforts and regards him as a true hero. Undoubtedly, Chisholm practically accomplished all that he could accomplish at Rumford Falls.
Strathglass Park housing was an innovative and philanthropic community planning and development attempt by the private market to remedy the housing shortages during those times. Chisholm wanted employees who were dedicated to his paper mill and he theorized that providing quality housing and community services would help him attain his business goals. Chisholm also built the Fire Station, Town Hall, Public Library, Public Parks, Public Schools, etc. One hundred years later, the good condition of all these structures attests to the attention to detail and quality of construction. Unfortunately, Rumford’s one-industry dependent local economy was negatively affected by a gradual decline in the paper market industry, job losses, business closures, pollution issues, real estate values, and a decrease in total population. The town as a whole is considered a blighted community and the nostalgic Strathglass Park is “an island of dignity in an otherwise unimpressive mill community.” Under new management, Chisholm’s paper mill continues to operate and Strathglass Park homes still provide affordable housing, home ownership opportunity, and a sense of community. Strathglass Park is an excellent example of today’s popular clustered housing developments promoted by the community planning and development experts who support the affordable housing agenda. The long-standing success of the paper mill and Strathglass Park housing is evidence that Chilsolm’s approach to community planning and development efforts was exceptional.
Notes
1. Shettleworth, Earle and Frank Beard, National Register of Historic Places Inventory – Nomination Form, 1974, 7.
2. Bauman, John, Roger Biles, and Kristin Szylvian, “The Roots of Federal Housing Policy,” From Tenements to the Taylor Homes, 2000, 19.
3. Bauman, John, “Introduction,” From Tenements to the Taylor Homes, 2000, 10.
4. Garner, John, “The Garden City and Planned Industrial Suburbs,” From Tenements to the Taylor Homes, 2000, 44.
5. Garner, John, “The Garden City and Planned Industrial Suburbs,” From Tenements to the Taylor Homes, 2000, 43.
6. Garner, John, “The Garden City and Planned Industrial Suburbs,” From Tenements to the Taylor Homes, 2000, 43.
7. McKenna, Peter, “My Dream is to Construct a Model Town,” Hugh J. Chisholms Magic Town, 1882-1912, 39.
8. Leane, John, “Community Developments,” A History of Rumford, Maine, 1774-1972, 1972, 53.
9. Garner, John, “The Garden City and Planned Industrial Suburbs,” From Tenements to the Taylor Homes, 2000, 43.
10. Wright, Gwendolyn, “Welfare Capitalism and the Company Town,” Building the Dream, 1981, 180.
11. McKenna, Peter, “My Dream is to Construct a Model Town,” Hugh J. Chisholms Magic Town, 1882-1912, 43-45.
12. Shettleworth, Earle and Frank Beard, National Register of Historic Places Inventory – Nomination Form, 1974, 6.
13. Shettleworth, Earle and Frank Beard, National Register of Historic Places Inventory – Nomination Form, 1974, 6.
14. McKenna, Peter, “My Dream is to Construct a Model Town,” Hugh J. Chisholms Magic Town, 1882-1912, 46.
15. Roberts, Lorraine, Strathglass Park, Rumford, Maine, 1902-1974, 1974, 2.
16. Shettleworth, Earle and Frank Beard, National Register of Historic Places Inventory – Nomination Form, 1974, 6.
17. McKenna, Peter, “My Dream is to Construct a Model Town,” Hugh J. Chisholms Magic Town, 1882-1912, 46.
18. http://valnet.mtvalleyhs.sad43.k12.me.us/MVHS/History%20Page/Amanda/chisholm.htm.
19. McKenna, Peter, “My Dream is to Construct a Model Town,” Hugh J. Chisholms Magic Town, 1882-1912, 47.
20. http://valnet.mtvalleyhs.sad43.k12.me.us/MVHS/History%20Page/Amanda/chisholm.htm.
21. McKenna, Peter, “My Dream is to Construct a Model Town,” Hugh J. Chisholms Magic Town, 1882-1912, 47-48.
22. Shettleworth, Earle and Frank Beard, National Register of Historic Places Inventory – Nomination Form, 1974, 6-7.
23. http://valnet.mtvalleyhs.sad43.k12.me.us/MVHS/History%20Page/Amanda/chisholm.htm.
24. Roberts, Lorraine, Strathglass Park, Rumford, Maine, 1902-1974, 1974, 4.
25. http://valnet.mtvalleyhs.sad43.k12.me.us/MVHS/History%20Page/Amanda/chisholm.htm.
26. http://valnet.mtvalleyhs.sad43.k12.me.us/MVHS/History%20Page/Amanda/chisholm.htm.
27. Shettleworth, Earle and Frank Beard, National Register of Historic Places Inventory – Nomination Form, 1974, 2.
28. Roberts, Lorraine, Strathglass Park, Rumford, Maine, 1902-1974, 1974, 4.
29. http://valnet.mtvalleyhs.sad43.k12.me.us/MVHS/History%20Page/Amanda/chisholm.htm.
30. http://valnet.mtvalleyhs.sad43.k12.me.us/MVHS/History%20Page/Amanda/chisholm.htm.
31. Shettleworth, Earle and Frank Beard, National Register of Historic Places Inventory – Nomination Form, 1974, 7.
32. http://valnet.mtvalleyhs.sad43.k12.me.us/MVHS/History%20Page/Amanda/chisholm.htm.
33. Shettleworth, Earle and Frank Beard, National Register of Historic Places Inventory – Nomination Form, 1974, 2.
34. McKenna, Peter, “My Dream is to Construct a Model Town,” Hugh J. Chisholms Magic Town, 1882-1912, 49.
35. http://valnet.mtvalleyhs.sad43.k12.me.us/MVHS/History%20Page/Amanda/strathglass.htm.
36. Wright, Gwendolyn, “Welfare Capitalism and the Company Town,” Building the Dream, 1981, 183.
37. Wright, Gwendolyn, “Welfare Capitalism and the Company Town,” Building the Dream, 1981, 191-192.
38. Wright, Gwendolyn, “Welfare Capitalism and the Company Town,” Building the Dream, 1981, 183
39. McKenna, Peter, “My Dream is to Construct a Model Town,” Hugh J. Chisholms Magic Town, 1882-1912, 55.
40. McKenna, Peter, “My Dream is to Construct a Model Town,” Hugh J. Chisholms Magic Town, 1882-1912, 51-52.
41. Wright, Gwendolyn, “Welfare Capitalism and the Company Town,” Building the Dream, 1981, 181.
42. McKenna, Peter, “My Dream is to Construct a Model Town,” Hugh J. Chisholms Magic Town, 1882-1912, 48.
43. Wright, Gwendolyn, “Welfare Capitalism and the Company Town,” Building the Dream, 1981, 183-184.
44. Leane, John, “Community Developments,” A History of Rumford, Maine, 1774-1972, 1972, 53.
45. Leane, John, “Community Developments,” A History of Rumford, Maine, 1774-1972, 1972, 54.
46. Wright, Gwendolyn, “Welfare Capitalism and the Company Town,” Building the Dream, 1981, 184-185.
47. Wright, Gwendolyn, “Welfare Capitalism and the Company Town,” Building the Dream, 1981, 185.
48. Wright, Gwendolyn, “Welfare Capitalism and the Company Town,” Building the Dream, 1981, 182.
In the late nineteenth century, Hugh J. Chisholm, entrepreneur and millionaire, climbed out of a coach at Rumford Falls to view the thundering falls of the Androscoggin River. It’s what he came to see because it was the greatest useable water drop on any river in New England. Rumford Falls would eventually provide electricity to the local community and turn the biggest wheels of industry. Chisholm was not only a savvy businessman but as it would turn out, he was also talented at community planning and development. Chisholm built a colossal paper mill and a large housing development for the blue-collar workers employed by his mill. Before Chisholm built Strathglass Park homes, he studied and visited industry housing developments in both the United States and abroad. Chisholm learned from the information gathered and built his housing development in a way that would attract and retain stable, loyal employees. It is apparent that Chisholm equated loyal employees with decent housing and pleasant surroundings. He genuinely appreciated his skilled workforce and provided for the employee and their families generously. This created respect and loyalty, which prevented employee strikes under his reign.
Chisholm visited American and European industry housing before he built Strathglass Park. He discovered that American industrialists were creating “slum housing” and Europeans were involved in progressive housing efforts that were cognizant of the environment, community, and industry. “During the early decades of the twentieth century, social workers, architects, city planning experts, industrialists, and civic leaders studied and visited progressive housing developments in Europe, devoted themselves to the task of exposing the evils of slum housing, and built model housing developments as a means of raising working-class housing standards.”(2) Housing reformers convinced some American industrialists that “grateful workers…revitalized by plentiful fresh air, modern sanitation, and other amenities, would reward their philanthropic employees with loyalty, hard work, and high profits.” (3)
Housing reformers created “garden suburbs” and “garden villages” to “house industrial workers in less costly yet attractive surroundings than traditionally found.”(4) American garden cities were also known as industrial housing estates or model company towns. (5) These attached subdivisions located in or near the city were situated near the local industry as well. “What distinguished [garden villages] from other small towns and suburbs was their pattern of development and their appearance. All the buildings were new, similar in architectural expression – style and construction – and subordinate to a master plan.”(6) Chisholm’s dream was to construct a twentieth century model town, which included a residential development component. He stated, “One of the ambitions of my life is to see Rumford Falls develop into one of the model towns of New England and a place that every resident living within its borders will be justly proud of.”(7) He would provide comfortable and economical modern homes for working people.
This adventure was considered exceptional for 1901. It indicated that Chisholm, no matter how preoccupied with plans for the development of industry, could find time for projects that would benefit the people in the community. (8) “By the second decade of the twentieth century, the garden-city movement had received international attention, and planned housing estates for industrial workers were influencing suburban construction both at home and abroad.”(9) Chisholm executed steps in a master plan, which personified his natural ability at community planning and development. “The industrial town (or section dominated by a single industry) provided a laboratory for the emerging profession of urban planning.”(10) Chisholm’s Strathglass Park housing development is a unique example of company built housing and it is one of the few such examples in this country. It was placed on the National Registry of Historic Places in 1974 for its unaltered architectural, landscaping, social/humanitarian, and urban planning significance.
The construction of Chisholm’s Oxford Paper Company brought an influx of workers into the small, remote, wilderness village of Rumford Falls. It transformed into a “boom town” almost over night and along with this sudden change came a significant problem – a housing shortage. The erection of dwelling houses has never kept pace with industrial development. Housing construction in Rumford was not able to keep up with the boundless energy behind the Chisholm industrial projects. While industrial construction in Rumford had begun in 1890, not a single home was constructed until 1892. Hence, operatives must have found it difficult to find a place to stay. With the continued industrial growth of the next decade, it would be some years before the situation would be eased. There is no real way of determining just how serious this housing shortage was. Many fine homes were eventually built in 1897 by the people who had moved to Rumford Falls, but “rents still continued to be high and in active demand.”(11)
History demonstrates in the early twentieth century that the newly risen corporate industrialist had not yet begun to be particularly concerned with the welfare or housing of their employees. Before Chisholm became actively involved in the development of housing in Rumford, the “skilled workers lived in boarding houses provided by the various local factories and the day laborers occupied sod huts and other primitive dwellings.” (12) Corporations in many boomtowns during that era coped with the housing situation by erecting company housing to provide shelter for their employees but in almost all cases, they were “flimsy, crowded wood frame buildings” and Rumford was no exception. (13) Chisholm, on the other hand, was a notable exception to this trend. Chisholm established the Rumford Realty Company for the sole purpose of constructing homes for his employees in response to the dramatic housing shortage. (14) He started with building “two large wood-framed boarding houses and a number of small wooden houses that were constructed to accommodate the construction workers who built his mill – many of whom were transients. As the mill neared completion in 1900, Chisholm realized that in order to attract the right type of workers to operate his mill, there would have to be a more suitable residential area.”(15) In an effort to attract a stable and qualified work force, he was determined to provide housing of high quality and a pleasant living environment. (16)
Chisholm’s idea of constructing homes on a large scale in Rumford was a result of this housing shortage. But, as opposed to making a profit off a commodity in such high demand, Chisholm realized that in order to attract industry, adequate housing for the laborers would be a requisite. “In order to attract workers to Rumford which was at the time a very, very small town, [it is] necessary to put up attractive buildings…there was no question that when [Chisholm] did something, he wanted to make it the best, and these buildings were erected without any profit motive.”(17) Chisholm personally witnessed poorly designed and constructed mill housing, temporary housing, and tenements in other parts of the United States and swore that he would not build poor quality buildings with small rooms. (18) Chisholm observed the negative effects of the stacked tenement approach of company housing in Manchester, New Hampshire and in Lawrence and Lowell, Massachusetts and he would have no part in the creation of an instant slum.
After more that a year’s application of thought and study from the minds of Chisholm and his associates, it was decided that the most modern homes for working people would be developed in a way that “combines comfort and economy with the middle cost of rental that is demanded by the average working man with a family.”(19) In a letter to his architect, Chisholm wrote, "We will build of brick and stone and slate, and we will provide not merely for a house, but for comfort, elegance and social gratification of those who will dwell here." (20) In the September 14, 1901 edition of the Rumford Falls Time, the following was noted in regards to Chisholm’s housing development efforts: “It is fortunate that at this time of stress for even a place to live in, this corporation does not rush ahead with the old style box tenements, huddled together, cramped and inconvenient.”(21) Even today, Strathglass Park homes are considered among the finest in Rumford and are much sought after whenever one is put up for sale – which is quite rarely.
Strathglass Park was designed and built on thirty acres of land in the center of town. Chisholm conceived the idea for a unique project; the establishment of a park-like area containing attractive red brick duplex homes surrounded by lawns with wide tree shaded streets. He devoted considerable effort and expense to this effort. Chisholm selected a convenient and desirable location across the river from the mill and laid out a roughly oval shape area intersected by four streets. It was necessary to move six existing frame buildings to clear the area for construction. (22) He retained the services of Cass H. Gilbert, a noted New York architect, who designed the buildings. “Within each style and each building, [Gilbert] designed delightfully subtle differences, thus rendering each park home an original work. The site was a beehive of activity with hundreds of people working from dawn 'til dark, sometimes even around the clock.”(23) The park was Chisholm's pride and joy, and he was on site nearly every day. Construction of the homes began in the fall of 1901 and was completed by the summer of 1902. (24) Ten months from the start of construction, the first "for rent" signs were hung. Strathglass Park was perhaps the most elegant and unique company housing project ever built in the country. People came from as far away as New York to see it. And it was constructed to house mill executives and line workers, who were the papermakers that Chisholm valued so highly. (25)
The final project was described as a landscaped setting that contained fifty-one duplex houses providing one hundred and two dwellings surrounded by an impressive, granite stonewall and a magnificent granite gateway. (26) To enhance the attractiveness of the park and to avoid the sterile sameness found in much nineteenth and twentieth century industrial housing, Gilbert designed seven different variations, while providing basically the same interior accommodations for all. “Thirteen feature the bold geometry of the Shingle Style translated into brick, while eleven have a double ferreted roof line, nine a single Dutch gable, eight a double Dutch gable, four a gable, three a combination of gable and Dutch gable, and two a double gable. Of the fifty-one double houses built, fifty remain in good condition with the atmosphere of their original environment intact. Only one has been lost, destroyed by fire in 1971.”(27) A Boston landscape engineer, W.W. Gay, prepared the plans for the planting of trees and shrubbery for the “ornamentation of the streets and lawns of the park.”(28) “The park's overall design included; steep roofs, granite sills and lintels, turrets, over-hung gable walls, ornate facades, and sculptured balusters. These were not the result, of Gilbert's architectural whimsy, but linked directly to Chisholm's life-long grasp on his Scottish Heritage. Though not distinctly Scottish, or even British, the place has the feel and charm of an old-world walled village.”(29) Chisholm named the housing development "Strathglass Park" after the birthplace of his ancestors, "Strathglass Carries," in Scotland. The four streets all bare the names of his favorite Scotch towns, which are: Urquhart Street, Lichness Road, Erchles Street and Clachan Place. (30)
Chisholm ensured that the quality of the construction was the best that it could be. He retained a number of skilled contractors for the various aspects of the project: the brickwork, plastering, painting, paperhanging, carpentry, and roofing. “Hollow walls improved insulation and multi-colored slate roofs provided expensive but permanent and maintenance-free protection.”(31) Local rough stones, blasted and dug from cellar holes, were used for the foundations. Bricks, eventually totaling five million, were made from clay alongside banks of Otter Creek in East Bethel and transported seventeen miles to the building site by ox cart. The journey included at least one river crossing by ferry. The rainbow slate roof arrived by train from Pennsylvania; granite came from New Hampshire; concrete steps, headers and balustrades were sand-cast on site. Lumber for the houses were produced at local sawmills. (32) The brick and slate not only offered lifetime protection but it added to the beauty and attractiveness of the homes. “Gilbert created distinctive exteriors from the current styles of domestic architecture and planned what must rank among the most generous interior in the history of American mill workers’ housing.” (33)
On June 14th, 1902, the Rumford Falls Times local newspaper read:
“…after considerable time and much care and study, these buildings and the park itself have been designed as the very latest and best of modern model homes. They are built of brick with hollow walls, insuring dryness and warmth, and the roofs are of slate. The cellars extend under the entire house and will be cemented throughout and contain a large warm-air furnace and laundry tubs. Every outside door will be entered through a vestibule, keeping out the cold winds in winter. On the first floor will be a large living room, closets, kitchen, dining and pantry. Some of these will have a separate dining room, and some of the houses will have the bathroom downstairs, some of them upstairs. The plumbing will be complete throughout the house with hot and cold water. There will be a range in every kitchen and a hot water tank. On the second floor some of the houses will have three large sleeping rooms and some of them four, and all of them have large light attics where two or more rooms can be furnished if needed. The entire first floor will be furnished with hardwood floors for using rugs instead of carpets, which is the general practice now being regarded by all people as more healthful, as well as more economical. It will not be necessary to buy a carpet for the entire floor; the rugs can be shaken and aired as often as necessary. The houses are to be well lighted with electricity. The houses have been designed for homes and for living in with a minimum of housework. One purpose of them has been to have a few larger rooms instead of many small ones, and in many of these houses the living rooms will be about 18 square feet. Less furniture is required too for furnishing such houses, and all the furniture you have can be used. There will be no room so small, when you get a table in the middle of it, but what the entire family can gather around the table, and no space is wasted in cold halls and stairways. These houses, we understand, may not rent for a less amount then other houses, but both inside and as to their surroundings they will be far superior to any other homes in the place. The rental will be fixed not on a basis of profitable investment, but they are built to require a minimum of repairs, and are to be furnished for a rental that will barely cover maintenance. (34)
This full-page spread featuring the magnificent interior design of Strathglass Park housing is note worthy for those times. The interior accommodations offered to the residents of this housing development were far superior then what was usually offered by industry.
Chisholm provided generously to the residents of Strathglass Park, who were only required to pay nine dollars a month for rent. The Oxford Paper Company provided many services including snow shoveling, grass mowing, painting, papering, rubbish removal, and taking care of all of the repairs. This ensured that the park always looked good. Coal was delivered and dumped in the coal bins at the companies cost. Electricity was generated by the Rumford Falls Power Company, which Chisholm also owned, and was provided at a cost of one dollar per month. This continued for the next forty-six years until the Rumford Reality Company ended its activities in 1948. The paper market gradually declined and it was no longer financially feasible to maintain the park. The houses were put up for sale and the park residents were given first offer to buy the houses at a very attractive price of $3,400 to $3,900. (35) Despite the paper market decline, Chisholm and his son continued to treat their employees well and their employees continued to remain loyal. There were no “employment strikes” in the history of the Oxford Paper Company under the Chisholm regime.
The Strathglass Park housing development was a successful endeavor on the part of Hugh Chisholm, not only in the short run but also in the long run. This project was highly significant in industrial America’s effort to house its workforce and prevent labor disputes. Chisholm not only studied the issue of labor housing in America during those times but he also visited various workforce housing developments in both American industrial cities and abroad. Chisholm learned that building quality housing in a planned environment would lead to contentment. After one hundred years, Strathglass Park housing is still in good shape and still providing homes for the citizens of Rumford.
Chisholm was aware of the situation that arose for George Pullman, who was president of the Pullman Palace Car Company in Pullman, Illinois. Pullman attempted to build a model industrial town but sought complete control over his workers. He constructed and owned over “fourteen hundred dwelling units – brick row houses of uniform size for the skilled mechanics and a few detached houses for the managers’ families – but all were rented at a profit…he also owned eighteen hundred ramshackle tenement apartments where the unskilled manual laborers lived.” (36) Uniform facades were characteristic of every industrial town. “Speculative builders used only one prototype for economic reasons; planners imposed limits on architectural variations for ideological reasons, contending that a limited number of styles yielded order and economy. Many company towns required that residents use the same materials for their facades and even the same colors of paint or varnish. To the industrialists, the uniformity of the residential environment was a symbol of modern industrial order: a balance between comfort for the residents and control for the employer. Control over workers and the visible expression of efficiency were two principal goals of company housing in industrial towns.” (37) Pullman was criticized for exhibiting “feudalistic” control and his model town was branded as a “slave pen” because he took advantage of the special plight of the laborers. “Then in 1894, in the wake of a nationwide depression, the vision of the paternalistic control and profitable philanthropy fell apart. Pullman workers called a strike to retaliate against Pullman’s cutbacks in wages, the exorbitant rents he charged (which he did not lower), and his dictatorial control.” (38) It was the most violent labor strike in the history of America.
After considering the lamentable end at Pullman, Chisholm saw that there are certain limitations for model towns, which prevent their ever reaching the goal sought for by philosophers and philanthropists. Chisholm commented that, “there is a point that shall be taken into consideration in the manufacturing growth of the town. Make the surroundings of the workmen pleasing. If this is done, they will be better satisfied to keep their positions, will take more interest in the town’s success, and make better citizens.” (39) Unlike Pullman, it was not Chisholm’s intentions to build housing as an attempt to control his employees. Instead, he was interested in making paper, making money, and investing in the welfare of his employees and their families, which would in turn prevent labor disputes and strikes. An article in the Portland Sunday Times of May 17, 1903, states that: “It has always been the aim of the Rumford Falls Power Company that there should be nothing savoring of the paternal in the management of their business or in whatever they should do for the up-building of the town and this same idea was carried out in the plan made for the building and management of the Strathglass Park. None of the employees in any of the mills is required to live in any of the company houses. They are as free and unrestricted as to where they should live now and how they should live as are the farmers in the small towns about.” (40)
Chisholm also learned from personally witnessing labor housing projects in Lowell, Massachusetts, and in Manchester, New Hampshire. These projects were unsuccessful because a stigma quickly attached to the dwellings. The “do-as-little-as-you-like” approach that characterized most company towns was coming under heavy criticism for many reasons. Housing reformers “predicted that the family relations, political views, and work efficiency of all the residents would suffer as a consequence of environmental problems.” (41) In addition, Chisholm felt that his employees were too good for tenement housing. He commented, “With the growth of the city it gradually came to be a sort of reproach with a man well able to live elsewhere that he retained a corporation tenement and the men best able to do so began to refuse the offered tenements, and to find homes for themselves, pleading generally better air, or a place for children to play, etc. rather than the true reason which was that they felt themselves too good to live in a corporation house.” (42)
There were a few concurrent examples of successful planning in America. The design of Chisholm’s Strathglass Park housing development had features similar to the successful examples of labor housing found in American industrial cities. Vandergrift, Pennsylvania, site of the Apollo Iron and Steel Company, perpetuated the belief that men and women in a “clean, healthy, beautiful town,” consisting of curvilinear streets, small parks, and pleasant, detached cottages, would become model citizens and contented workers. The N.O. Nelson Company, a producer of plumbing equipment in Leclaire, Illinois, provided housing, social, recreational, and educational facilities to counter unrest among employees. (43) Chisholm provided social, recreational, and educational facilities, as well, when he conceived, founded, and built the Mechanic’s Institute in 1911. The Mechanic’s Institute was a unique institution that provided a recreational and educational center for the people of the community. In 1906, Chisholm commented on Rumford’s future and stated, “…its leaders should realize the importance of conservative growth and careful investment, and they should not forget that the town’s growth and prosperity cannot be permanent unless the children and young people, who will soon be leaders in the community, are given every advantage, which those who live in older communities enjoy. The library should be built up, means of healthy recreation afforded and safe places of evening amusement furnished for the young people of the town.” (44) The Mechanic’s Institute was four stories high, 125 feet long and 80 feet deep. “It contained a spacious lounging room, a ladies parlor, card room, writing room, lecture room, classrooms, a fully equipped gymnasium, a billiard room, a library and reading room, a meeting room for the Board of Governors, and five bowling alleys in the basement.” (45) In 1911, it was one of the most modern recreational and educational centers in the State of Maine.
Industry housing failures and the successes of model towns were well publicized. Chisholm not only researched and studied the issues but he was also in a position to plan the lay out of the lots and streets in Rumford; he had purchased all of the farm and forestland around the falls that showed development potential. The development of Strathglass Park rental properties was one of Chisholm’s first big undertakings after the completion of his paper mill. “Managers reasoned that a stable work force would be more loyal and less likely to go out on strike, and would save the firm the expense of training new employees. Good housing would increase the proportions of married men, who were considered more stable and less volatile than roving single males. Advertisements for skilled workers stressed the benefits for a man’s wife and children in a model town with company-built housing. In exchange, the family would be dependent on the company for an improved way of life. Dependency was considered stronger if the company retained ownership of the houses, renting them below going private market rates” (46) Chisholm also exhibited the belief that improving the worker’s health was another goal of model-town planning. “Sanitary houses meant fewer days lost due to illness. Improved plumbing figured prominently in all descriptions of the towns, even if the facilities were only outhouses.” (47) Strathglass Park homes were designed to include all the modern improvements necessary to maintain a healthy lifestyle and keep housework at a minimum.
Chisholm’s Strathglass Park provided quality housing for the blue-collar workers employed by his mill. His considerable housing efforts and expense were duly noticed and appreciated. To what degree the Strathglass Park housing development was inspired by what is called “industrial paternalism” is difficult to say. “Even if a company provided housing for only one-third or one-half of its workers, the enterprise was enormous compared to nineteenth century standards. American industrialists insisted that the new industrial planning did not represent philanthropic schemes but rather sound business investments. Planners claimed that workmen in model towns would be between 25-33 percent more efficient on the job. Professional town planners and sociologists were meant to complement scientific management experts inside the factory to help increase production. Every feature in such a town is designed to have some constructive influence for specifically benefiting the workman for his work, and he gets nothing he does not pay for thus eliminating the element of paternalism.” (48) Chisholm’s employees were loyal, grateful, and well paid and because of his devotion to his employees, he retained a stable and qualified workforce for years to come. The Town of Rumford still looks back at Chisholm’s efforts and regards him as a true hero. Undoubtedly, Chisholm practically accomplished all that he could accomplish at Rumford Falls.
Strathglass Park housing was an innovative and philanthropic community planning and development attempt by the private market to remedy the housing shortages during those times. Chisholm wanted employees who were dedicated to his paper mill and he theorized that providing quality housing and community services would help him attain his business goals. Chisholm also built the Fire Station, Town Hall, Public Library, Public Parks, Public Schools, etc. One hundred years later, the good condition of all these structures attests to the attention to detail and quality of construction. Unfortunately, Rumford’s one-industry dependent local economy was negatively affected by a gradual decline in the paper market industry, job losses, business closures, pollution issues, real estate values, and a decrease in total population. The town as a whole is considered a blighted community and the nostalgic Strathglass Park is “an island of dignity in an otherwise unimpressive mill community.” Under new management, Chisholm’s paper mill continues to operate and Strathglass Park homes still provide affordable housing, home ownership opportunity, and a sense of community. Strathglass Park is an excellent example of today’s popular clustered housing developments promoted by the community planning and development experts who support the affordable housing agenda. The long-standing success of the paper mill and Strathglass Park housing is evidence that Chilsolm’s approach to community planning and development efforts was exceptional.
Notes
1. Shettleworth, Earle and Frank Beard, National Register of Historic Places Inventory – Nomination Form, 1974, 7.
2. Bauman, John, Roger Biles, and Kristin Szylvian, “The Roots of Federal Housing Policy,” From Tenements to the Taylor Homes, 2000, 19.
3. Bauman, John, “Introduction,” From Tenements to the Taylor Homes, 2000, 10.
4. Garner, John, “The Garden City and Planned Industrial Suburbs,” From Tenements to the Taylor Homes, 2000, 44.
5. Garner, John, “The Garden City and Planned Industrial Suburbs,” From Tenements to the Taylor Homes, 2000, 43.
6. Garner, John, “The Garden City and Planned Industrial Suburbs,” From Tenements to the Taylor Homes, 2000, 43.
7. McKenna, Peter, “My Dream is to Construct a Model Town,” Hugh J. Chisholms Magic Town, 1882-1912, 39.
8. Leane, John, “Community Developments,” A History of Rumford, Maine, 1774-1972, 1972, 53.
9. Garner, John, “The Garden City and Planned Industrial Suburbs,” From Tenements to the Taylor Homes, 2000, 43.
10. Wright, Gwendolyn, “Welfare Capitalism and the Company Town,” Building the Dream, 1981, 180.
11. McKenna, Peter, “My Dream is to Construct a Model Town,” Hugh J. Chisholms Magic Town, 1882-1912, 43-45.
12. Shettleworth, Earle and Frank Beard, National Register of Historic Places Inventory – Nomination Form, 1974, 6.
13. Shettleworth, Earle and Frank Beard, National Register of Historic Places Inventory – Nomination Form, 1974, 6.
14. McKenna, Peter, “My Dream is to Construct a Model Town,” Hugh J. Chisholms Magic Town, 1882-1912, 46.
15. Roberts, Lorraine, Strathglass Park, Rumford, Maine, 1902-1974, 1974, 2.
16. Shettleworth, Earle and Frank Beard, National Register of Historic Places Inventory – Nomination Form, 1974, 6.
17. McKenna, Peter, “My Dream is to Construct a Model Town,” Hugh J. Chisholms Magic Town, 1882-1912, 46.
18. http://valnet.mtvalleyhs.sad43.k12.me.us/MVHS/History%20Page/Amanda/chisholm.htm.
19. McKenna, Peter, “My Dream is to Construct a Model Town,” Hugh J. Chisholms Magic Town, 1882-1912, 47.
20. http://valnet.mtvalleyhs.sad43.k12.me.us/MVHS/History%20Page/Amanda/chisholm.htm.
21. McKenna, Peter, “My Dream is to Construct a Model Town,” Hugh J. Chisholms Magic Town, 1882-1912, 47-48.
22. Shettleworth, Earle and Frank Beard, National Register of Historic Places Inventory – Nomination Form, 1974, 6-7.
23. http://valnet.mtvalleyhs.sad43.k12.me.us/MVHS/History%20Page/Amanda/chisholm.htm.
24. Roberts, Lorraine, Strathglass Park, Rumford, Maine, 1902-1974, 1974, 4.
25. http://valnet.mtvalleyhs.sad43.k12.me.us/MVHS/History%20Page/Amanda/chisholm.htm.
26. http://valnet.mtvalleyhs.sad43.k12.me.us/MVHS/History%20Page/Amanda/chisholm.htm.
27. Shettleworth, Earle and Frank Beard, National Register of Historic Places Inventory – Nomination Form, 1974, 2.
28. Roberts, Lorraine, Strathglass Park, Rumford, Maine, 1902-1974, 1974, 4.
29. http://valnet.mtvalleyhs.sad43.k12.me.us/MVHS/History%20Page/Amanda/chisholm.htm.
30. http://valnet.mtvalleyhs.sad43.k12.me.us/MVHS/History%20Page/Amanda/chisholm.htm.
31. Shettleworth, Earle and Frank Beard, National Register of Historic Places Inventory – Nomination Form, 1974, 7.
32. http://valnet.mtvalleyhs.sad43.k12.me.us/MVHS/History%20Page/Amanda/chisholm.htm.
33. Shettleworth, Earle and Frank Beard, National Register of Historic Places Inventory – Nomination Form, 1974, 2.
34. McKenna, Peter, “My Dream is to Construct a Model Town,” Hugh J. Chisholms Magic Town, 1882-1912, 49.
35. http://valnet.mtvalleyhs.sad43.k12.me.us/MVHS/History%20Page/Amanda/strathglass.htm.
36. Wright, Gwendolyn, “Welfare Capitalism and the Company Town,” Building the Dream, 1981, 183.
37. Wright, Gwendolyn, “Welfare Capitalism and the Company Town,” Building the Dream, 1981, 191-192.
38. Wright, Gwendolyn, “Welfare Capitalism and the Company Town,” Building the Dream, 1981, 183
39. McKenna, Peter, “My Dream is to Construct a Model Town,” Hugh J. Chisholms Magic Town, 1882-1912, 55.
40. McKenna, Peter, “My Dream is to Construct a Model Town,” Hugh J. Chisholms Magic Town, 1882-1912, 51-52.
41. Wright, Gwendolyn, “Welfare Capitalism and the Company Town,” Building the Dream, 1981, 181.
42. McKenna, Peter, “My Dream is to Construct a Model Town,” Hugh J. Chisholms Magic Town, 1882-1912, 48.
43. Wright, Gwendolyn, “Welfare Capitalism and the Company Town,” Building the Dream, 1981, 183-184.
44. Leane, John, “Community Developments,” A History of Rumford, Maine, 1774-1972, 1972, 53.
45. Leane, John, “Community Developments,” A History of Rumford, Maine, 1774-1972, 1972, 54.
46. Wright, Gwendolyn, “Welfare Capitalism and the Company Town,” Building the Dream, 1981, 184-185.
47. Wright, Gwendolyn, “Welfare Capitalism and the Company Town,” Building the Dream, 1981, 185.
48. Wright, Gwendolyn, “Welfare Capitalism and the Company Town,” Building the Dream, 1981, 182.
Rumford Library
[From the Rumford Public Library Web Site]
The Rumford Public Library was established in 1903 with a grant from philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. A large addition was completed in 1969. Today, the library building is on the National Register of Historic Places and serves as the town's center for children's activities, cultural pursuits, reading and research.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Visions for Strathglas Park
Story provided by GrowRumford.Com
Photo courtesy of Jennifer Stowell-Norris
On the hillside above the river valley in Rumford lies a century old, 100-unit housing development that was put on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 due to its unique character. Consisting of duplexes made of brick in a mostly wood-built region, Stratglas Park is an architectural and historical treasure. It is also a great bargain for real estate investors, with half-duplex units generally selling for under $40,000. But with sidewalks in disrepair, buildings not maintained and many buildings now used for low-income rentals, the Park has challenges that the town has promised but so far failed to address. The Park may be the best real estate deal in New England, but only if an effort is made to clean it up, protect and rehabilitate the park and investors may have to take an active role.
Town in 2005 said it would help revive Strathglas but the effort stalled.
The town of Rumford has something found in few other New England communities: an historic, architecturally-significant, century-old neighborhood. Add that it's on the National Register of Historic Places. Add that homeowners can buy into the neighborhood for under $40,000. Add it all up and Strathglas Park, a section of approximately 100 units on four streets, is clearly one of the primary assets of the community.
But it is a neglected asset, in decline. Streets and sidewalks are not maintained, buildings are in disrepair and many of the properties have been used for low income rentals, creating what might be politely referred to as "social issues", from disruptive adolescents to litter to unleashed dogs.
The paradox presents a challenge to investors and homeowners. It is possible to buy into the "Park" cheaply, but getting a reasonable return on the investment will probably require any investor to get involved not only financially, but in the community as well.
Strathglass Park was one of the first planned communities in Maine. It was built by the entrepreneur Hugh J. Chisholm as laid out in his 1891 “Plan for Rumford Falls.” Around the turn of the 19th century hundreds of immigrants were streaming into Rumford to work in the paper mills. Chisholm established the Rumford Real Estate Company in 1901 in order to build housing for many of the employees. In 1902 construction of Strathglass Park began. The park was named after Chisholm’s country estate in upstate New York, and designed by New York City architect Cass Gilbert. Gilbert and Chisholm traveled to Scotland together, and following their visit Gilbert designed fifty-one duplex houses, four single-family dwellings, and nine apartment houses, all constructed of brick.
For many years Strathglass Park was home to mill employees, many of whom were managers. However, following World War II, Strathglass Park began to fall into decline. Several factors can be attributed to this deterioration, including the sale of the Oxford Paper Mill in 1967 to the Ethyl Corporation. Prior to the sale, the Oxford Paper Mill paid for the Strathglass Park maintenance program. Today, with that subsidy long gone, the ornate brick facades and slate tiled roofs are in disrepair, and many original architectural features are missing.
Because of Strathglass Park’s historical significance and unique architecture, it was listed as a historic district in the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. At present, there is no preservation master plan, design guidelines or maintenance program in place for the Park.
In 2005, a local community activitist, Len Greaney, prodded the town to take action on Strathglas Park. With the cooperation of then town manager Steve Eldredge, a meeting of property owners and renters was held, and a survey was taken of their concerns, to try to identify how the town government might help the area recover.
The meeting and subsequent survey identified specific goals for the local government and Strathglas residents. These included creating a residents' association for Strathglas Park and having the town address infrastructure including broken sidewalks and signage, and enforcement issues including parking, leash laws and better control over neighborhood adolescents. After the meetings and the survey, however, no further action was taken. This month, Greaney is again trying to interest the town government in fulfilling its obligation to the Strathglas neighborhood and has recently contacted the current town manager to follow up on the 2005 survey results.
For investors and property owners, there is an appeal in an architecturally significant and beautiful half-duplex that can be purchased for the price of a mid-priced new car. Whether such an appealing investment can turn into a profitable one may involve the investors and owners spending not only their money, but also the time and effort needed to help Strathglas take the steps necessary to revitalization.
Photo courtesy of Jennifer Stowell-Norris
On the hillside above the river valley in Rumford lies a century old, 100-unit housing development that was put on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 due to its unique character. Consisting of duplexes made of brick in a mostly wood-built region, Stratglas Park is an architectural and historical treasure. It is also a great bargain for real estate investors, with half-duplex units generally selling for under $40,000. But with sidewalks in disrepair, buildings not maintained and many buildings now used for low-income rentals, the Park has challenges that the town has promised but so far failed to address. The Park may be the best real estate deal in New England, but only if an effort is made to clean it up, protect and rehabilitate the park and investors may have to take an active role.
Town in 2005 said it would help revive Strathglas but the effort stalled.
The town of Rumford has something found in few other New England communities: an historic, architecturally-significant, century-old neighborhood. Add that it's on the National Register of Historic Places. Add that homeowners can buy into the neighborhood for under $40,000. Add it all up and Strathglas Park, a section of approximately 100 units on four streets, is clearly one of the primary assets of the community.
But it is a neglected asset, in decline. Streets and sidewalks are not maintained, buildings are in disrepair and many of the properties have been used for low income rentals, creating what might be politely referred to as "social issues", from disruptive adolescents to litter to unleashed dogs.
The paradox presents a challenge to investors and homeowners. It is possible to buy into the "Park" cheaply, but getting a reasonable return on the investment will probably require any investor to get involved not only financially, but in the community as well.
Strathglass Park was one of the first planned communities in Maine. It was built by the entrepreneur Hugh J. Chisholm as laid out in his 1891 “Plan for Rumford Falls.” Around the turn of the 19th century hundreds of immigrants were streaming into Rumford to work in the paper mills. Chisholm established the Rumford Real Estate Company in 1901 in order to build housing for many of the employees. In 1902 construction of Strathglass Park began. The park was named after Chisholm’s country estate in upstate New York, and designed by New York City architect Cass Gilbert. Gilbert and Chisholm traveled to Scotland together, and following their visit Gilbert designed fifty-one duplex houses, four single-family dwellings, and nine apartment houses, all constructed of brick.
For many years Strathglass Park was home to mill employees, many of whom were managers. However, following World War II, Strathglass Park began to fall into decline. Several factors can be attributed to this deterioration, including the sale of the Oxford Paper Mill in 1967 to the Ethyl Corporation. Prior to the sale, the Oxford Paper Mill paid for the Strathglass Park maintenance program. Today, with that subsidy long gone, the ornate brick facades and slate tiled roofs are in disrepair, and many original architectural features are missing.
Because of Strathglass Park’s historical significance and unique architecture, it was listed as a historic district in the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. At present, there is no preservation master plan, design guidelines or maintenance program in place for the Park.
In 2005, a local community activitist, Len Greaney, prodded the town to take action on Strathglas Park. With the cooperation of then town manager Steve Eldredge, a meeting of property owners and renters was held, and a survey was taken of their concerns, to try to identify how the town government might help the area recover.
The meeting and subsequent survey identified specific goals for the local government and Strathglas residents. These included creating a residents' association for Strathglas Park and having the town address infrastructure including broken sidewalks and signage, and enforcement issues including parking, leash laws and better control over neighborhood adolescents. After the meetings and the survey, however, no further action was taken. This month, Greaney is again trying to interest the town government in fulfilling its obligation to the Strathglas neighborhood and has recently contacted the current town manager to follow up on the 2005 survey results.
For investors and property owners, there is an appeal in an architecturally significant and beautiful half-duplex that can be purchased for the price of a mid-priced new car. Whether such an appealing investment can turn into a profitable one may involve the investors and owners spending not only their money, but also the time and effort needed to help Strathglas take the steps necessary to revitalization.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Chummy Broomhall
[From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]
Wendall "Chummy" Broomhall (born December 3, 1919) was an American cross country skier who competed in the 1948 and 1952 Winter Olympics. He finished 65th in the 18 km event at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, and finished 57th in the same event at the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo.[1] He was a member of the United States Ski Team from 1947 to 1954.[2]
Broomhall was born in Mexico, Maine, and became a member of the Chisholm Ski Club in the 1930s. During World War II, he served in the 10th Mountain Division.[3][4]
Broomhall was the designer for the cross country trails for both the 1960 Winter Olympics at Squaw Valley, California and the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid, New York, and also served as chief of competition both times. In 1960, Broomhall was the first to use mechanized equipment to groom the trails, a job previously performed by feet and handheld rakes. This was made necessary because of the icy conditions caused by afternoon sun melting the snow followed by cold nights.[2][5]
Broomhall has donated 300 acres of land to the Chisholm Ski Club, used to create skiing facilities in the Rumford area after returning from World War II. These efforts culminated in the formation of Black Mountain of Maine, which opened in 1962. He designed the cross-country trails there as well, now named Broomhall Stadium. The site has since hosted numerous national cross-country skiing championships, and Broomhall remains involved.[6][2][3]
Chummy Broomhall was inducted into the National Ski Hall of Fame in 1981, and was an inaugural member of the Maine Ski Hall of Fame when it was founded in 2003.[3] In 2007, Black Mountain started a new annual tournament for Maine collegiate skiers, named the Chummy Broomhall Cup in his honor.
References
^ Olympic cross country results: 1948-52. Retrieved on 2007-05-12.
^ a b c Aalberg, John (January 2, 2004). Black Mountain of Maine – Ready for the 2004 National Championship. fasterskier.com. Retrieved on 2007-05-12.
^ a b c Burke, Heather (December 23, 2003). Maine’s Ski Hall of Fame Part II. Maine Sunday Telegram. Retrieved on 2007-05-12.
^ Burke, Heather (December 16, 2001). Remembering The 10th - A Look Back At Ski Warriors. Maine Sunday Telegram. Retrieved on 2007-05-12.
^ Wolterbeek, Mike (April 21, 2000). Olympic Trails to be restored on Tahoe's West Shore. Trivune News Service. Retrieved on 2007-05-12.
^ Wendall "Chummy" Broomhall Biography (PDF). Retrieved on 2007-05-12.
Wendall "Chummy" Broomhall (born December 3, 1919) was an American cross country skier who competed in the 1948 and 1952 Winter Olympics. He finished 65th in the 18 km event at the 1948 Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, and finished 57th in the same event at the 1952 Winter Olympics in Oslo.[1] He was a member of the United States Ski Team from 1947 to 1954.[2]
Broomhall was born in Mexico, Maine, and became a member of the Chisholm Ski Club in the 1930s. During World War II, he served in the 10th Mountain Division.[3][4]
Broomhall was the designer for the cross country trails for both the 1960 Winter Olympics at Squaw Valley, California and the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid, New York, and also served as chief of competition both times. In 1960, Broomhall was the first to use mechanized equipment to groom the trails, a job previously performed by feet and handheld rakes. This was made necessary because of the icy conditions caused by afternoon sun melting the snow followed by cold nights.[2][5]
Broomhall has donated 300 acres of land to the Chisholm Ski Club, used to create skiing facilities in the Rumford area after returning from World War II. These efforts culminated in the formation of Black Mountain of Maine, which opened in 1962. He designed the cross-country trails there as well, now named Broomhall Stadium. The site has since hosted numerous national cross-country skiing championships, and Broomhall remains involved.[6][2][3]
Chummy Broomhall was inducted into the National Ski Hall of Fame in 1981, and was an inaugural member of the Maine Ski Hall of Fame when it was founded in 2003.[3] In 2007, Black Mountain started a new annual tournament for Maine collegiate skiers, named the Chummy Broomhall Cup in his honor.
References
^ Olympic cross country results: 1948-52. Retrieved on 2007-05-12.
^ a b c Aalberg, John (January 2, 2004). Black Mountain of Maine – Ready for the 2004 National Championship. fasterskier.com. Retrieved on 2007-05-12.
^ a b c Burke, Heather (December 23, 2003). Maine’s Ski Hall of Fame Part II. Maine Sunday Telegram. Retrieved on 2007-05-12.
^ Burke, Heather (December 16, 2001). Remembering The 10th - A Look Back At Ski Warriors. Maine Sunday Telegram. Retrieved on 2007-05-12.
^ Wolterbeek, Mike (April 21, 2000). Olympic Trails to be restored on Tahoe's West Shore. Trivune News Service. Retrieved on 2007-05-12.
^ Wendall "Chummy" Broomhall Biography (PDF). Retrieved on 2007-05-12.
Birthplace of Edmund Sixtus Muskie
A former governor of Maine, Muskie was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1958 and served until 1980. In the presidential election of 1968 he was the vice-presidential candidate for the Democrats, and in 1972 he ran for president against the Republican incumbent, Richard Nixon. He withdrew from the 1972 race early on, after it was perceived that he had wept while defending his wife. He served as Secretary of State under President Jimmy Carter, from 1980-81.
Friday, November 23, 2007
Purpose
The goal of this website is to highlight the beautiful and abundant historic architecture of the Rumford Falls area and to bring greater attention to the opportunities for participating in the preservation of its buildings and history. We hope to provide a forum where people can both find information on the history of the area - its buildings and its people - and contribute to the growth of this knowlege by submitting their photos, ideas and stories.Please help this site to grow by submitting your photos, ideas and stories!We also hope to facilitate a low-commitment network of those interested in preserving the architectural legacy of Rumford Falls. The central purpose will be to highlight and spread the vision of the unique legacy found here, bringing neighbors together socially and as a local political/community influence while reaching as many people as possible who may be able to purchase and preserve the many historic properties available in Rumford Falls.Why Rumford Falls as opposed to other parts of Rumford and the River Valley?Emphasizing Rumford Falls has several advantages. First, it allows for a focus regarding the concerns and reasons for preservation specific to the area historically known as Rumford Falls. Although there are many buildings and homes eminently worthy of preservation in greater Rumford and the River Valley area, Rumford Falls has many qualities that make it unique and worthy of a separate focus.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Preservation Easements
There are many older residents with strong roots in and memories of this historic community who will want to see as much of that as possible saved for future generations. Many firmly committed to preservation will be transferring their homes as they retire or as part of their estates. The idea should be widely promoted that they can leave a legacy of preservation of their own home and the memories it holds and give a gift to the community it is an integral part of by transferring it with preservation easements. This legal device can be flexible depending on the wishes of the owner but the restrictions we would promote would prevent subsequent owners from making exterior changes inconsistent with the historic character of the building and the community. New construction inconsistent with the historical character of the building and community would be prohibited.
In addition to simply promoting this idea as widely as possible, the RFALS can act as a consultant on the potential legal and tax consequences and advantages of making this gift. After the gift is made it may also fill the necessary role as the non-profit easement holder who enforces the easement and monitors and provides consultation regarding any proposed exterior changes.
In addition to simply promoting this idea as widely as possible, the RFALS can act as a consultant on the potential legal and tax consequences and advantages of making this gift. After the gift is made it may also fill the necessary role as the non-profit easement holder who enforces the easement and monitors and provides consultation regarding any proposed exterior changes.
Fire Station Conversion
The Fire Department, for many reasons, appears intent on getting a new fire station built. This presents a few separate issues that are worthy of developing consensus. The first is whether it is worthwhile fighting this in order to maintain the ideal of an operating department in a beautiful historic building (as Seth Carey has worked to promote through letters to the Rumford Falls Times) or if it would be better to just attempt to influence what is built and what happens to the old station.
In the event of new construction: The current idea appears to be building a new fire station at the river end of Waldo Street. If a new station is to be built and this site is chosen, efforts should be made to emphasize the importance of a design that harmonizes with the historic architectural legacy. Another option would be to explore alternative buildings that could be adaptively reused. Perhaps some building already in existence along Waldo street or otherwise could be converted and be able to accommodate the fire equipment. This would provide a positive neighborhood anchor there and help preserve a historic building in an otherwise less desirable area in anticipation of when the area may be desirable riverside property again. This will be even more important if the mill closes and the Waldo Street area will suddenly be freed up from the aesthetic issues presented by its proximity to the mill and benefit from its proximity to a scenic view of the river and falls.
Adaptive re-use of old Fire Station: Combination Historical Society/Firefighting museum. This beautiful building can be a local area draw and active part of pulling people specifically to the Congress Street Area. It would also be a natural complement to the River Walk currently being developed by the town.
Several pieces of historic firefighting equipment are currently being stored behind the Rumford Historical Society Lufkin Museum. These pieces could form a nucleus for a Firefighting museum on the ground floor. Also, private individuals often lovingly restore old fire trucks as well and may be willing to donate or semi-permanently store these vehicles at the museum, thus providing a strong visual draw (which may be especially strong with children).
This situation would also be a good fit with a combined Rumford Historical Society Museum. While a museum already exists at the Lufkin School in Rumford Center, it is overflowing with artifacts. It also does not have space for the Society archives. The upper floor of the fire house could be used as a museum that focused on displays and artifacts more specific to Rumford Falls, Congress Street and the history of the Paper Mill. (The Lufkin School can then focus on the agricultural, educational and generally pre-mill history of the town. This arbitrary division, of course, would be flexible.) The children and adults coming to the Firefighting/Rumford Falls Historical museum could see the pictures and presentations on the area and then immediately walk out onto Congress Street and see what has changed and how much of the history is still preserved. The basement would also be a proper permanent space for the Rumford Historical Society archives. It would have the potential to be more accessible in terms of days and hours. (The current location on the top floor of the Town Hall is only accessible during the limited hours when the building is open.)
The combination of the two museums would be synergistic in several ways. Firefighting has a wide appeal. Travelers interested in Fire Fighting but not Rumford history and vice versa could be easily diverted onto the island from Route 2 and Route 108 by promotional signs. In addition to increasing tourist traffic, this type of regional museum would be an appropriate destination for elementary school field trips, planting seeds which promise to increase Rumford?s exposure and reputation.
Staffing would be simplified by a combined museum. Active and retired firefighters and family members might be expected to be interested in volunteering to staff such a museum. It might be more likely, however that the Historical Society would have a more ready supply of volunteers, since it pulls most of its membership from the ranks of the retired. The more potential volunteers, the more hours it would be available and likely the higher the quality of the displays and presentations.
In the event of new construction: The current idea appears to be building a new fire station at the river end of Waldo Street. If a new station is to be built and this site is chosen, efforts should be made to emphasize the importance of a design that harmonizes with the historic architectural legacy. Another option would be to explore alternative buildings that could be adaptively reused. Perhaps some building already in existence along Waldo street or otherwise could be converted and be able to accommodate the fire equipment. This would provide a positive neighborhood anchor there and help preserve a historic building in an otherwise less desirable area in anticipation of when the area may be desirable riverside property again. This will be even more important if the mill closes and the Waldo Street area will suddenly be freed up from the aesthetic issues presented by its proximity to the mill and benefit from its proximity to a scenic view of the river and falls.
Adaptive re-use of old Fire Station: Combination Historical Society/Firefighting museum. This beautiful building can be a local area draw and active part of pulling people specifically to the Congress Street Area. It would also be a natural complement to the River Walk currently being developed by the town.
Several pieces of historic firefighting equipment are currently being stored behind the Rumford Historical Society Lufkin Museum. These pieces could form a nucleus for a Firefighting museum on the ground floor. Also, private individuals often lovingly restore old fire trucks as well and may be willing to donate or semi-permanently store these vehicles at the museum, thus providing a strong visual draw (which may be especially strong with children).
This situation would also be a good fit with a combined Rumford Historical Society Museum. While a museum already exists at the Lufkin School in Rumford Center, it is overflowing with artifacts. It also does not have space for the Society archives. The upper floor of the fire house could be used as a museum that focused on displays and artifacts more specific to Rumford Falls, Congress Street and the history of the Paper Mill. (The Lufkin School can then focus on the agricultural, educational and generally pre-mill history of the town. This arbitrary division, of course, would be flexible.) The children and adults coming to the Firefighting/Rumford Falls Historical museum could see the pictures and presentations on the area and then immediately walk out onto Congress Street and see what has changed and how much of the history is still preserved. The basement would also be a proper permanent space for the Rumford Historical Society archives. It would have the potential to be more accessible in terms of days and hours. (The current location on the top floor of the Town Hall is only accessible during the limited hours when the building is open.)
The combination of the two museums would be synergistic in several ways. Firefighting has a wide appeal. Travelers interested in Fire Fighting but not Rumford history and vice versa could be easily diverted onto the island from Route 2 and Route 108 by promotional signs. In addition to increasing tourist traffic, this type of regional museum would be an appropriate destination for elementary school field trips, planting seeds which promise to increase Rumford?s exposure and reputation.
Staffing would be simplified by a combined museum. Active and retired firefighters and family members might be expected to be interested in volunteering to staff such a museum. It might be more likely, however that the Historical Society would have a more ready supply of volunteers, since it pulls most of its membership from the ranks of the retired. The more potential volunteers, the more hours it would be available and likely the higher the quality of the displays and presentations.
Create Visibility by Participating in Public Events and Getting the Word Out
Many widely attended events occur year round in Rumford which provide opportunities for contact with potential preservationists and contributors to our community. People come from all over the state for our yearly 4th of July celebrations, the reputation of Black Mountain is growing by leaps and bounds and has hosted the National Championships for two years in a row and the area hosts the Maine Forest Rally each year which brings thousands of spectators and international competitors.
Serve as Resource for Real Estate Information
While several historically significant properties have been routinely on the market, there are several buildings that can and are worthy of being saved that, though not currently listed, may be available if the owners were approached with the right offer. Part of the emphasis of the RFALS and its friends should not only be to promote the currently marketed properties but to identify and gather information on other properties, acting as a catalyst to bring owners and potential preservation minded buyers together.
Rumford Falls Walking Tour Book
The information booth currently distributes a large fold-out map of the Rumford Falls and Virginia areas to be used in self-guided walking tours. This was a great project and we would like to build on it by creating a booklet that has both the map on a smaller scale useable while walking and separate pages for the individual homes and buildings listed on the map. Each page could provide detailed information on the history and significance of each property and show past and present pictures of the buildings to provide context and make identification easier.
This should further promote community pride and outsider interest in the preservation of Rumford Falls. The information provided for each of the featured buildings may also provide a nucleus of information and photos to jump start the interactive website previously discussed.
This should further promote community pride and outsider interest in the preservation of Rumford Falls. The information provided for each of the featured buildings may also provide a nucleus of information and photos to jump start the interactive website previously discussed.
Website
Although a basic informational website should be created early, the ideal mature website would be a "Virtual Rumford Falls" which would include a map of the town with individual buildings shown which could themselves be clicked on to link to pages on each individual property. (Other links to more general ideas, projects and events would also exist)
The pages would be designed to accept submissions that could grow organically with submissions by any interested contributors. For instance, clicking on a specific house on the overview map will show a page with a picture of the house and basic information available through town records (date built, names of owners, assessed value (with owner's permission), etc.). People visiting each page are invited to submit current/historical photos, stories and any other interesting information that relates to that property. The information will grow as the owners or other interested individuals continue to contribute. This project would have the potential to grow as large as the interest it generates and, aside from the initial design and set-up, would require minimal ongoing maintenance and monitoring.
The site would be linked to as many other Web Pages as possible (i.e. Town of Rumford, Chamber of Commerce, Local Real Estate Offices, National Trust for Historic Preservation, Maine Trust, Polar Bears, Black Mountain, RAPPA, etc. - any reasonable website that will let us post a link.)
This website would be a resource both for those already in the community and for those who may be exploring the possibility of joining.
The pages would be designed to accept submissions that could grow organically with submissions by any interested contributors. For instance, clicking on a specific house on the overview map will show a page with a picture of the house and basic information available through town records (date built, names of owners, assessed value (with owner's permission), etc.). People visiting each page are invited to submit current/historical photos, stories and any other interesting information that relates to that property. The information will grow as the owners or other interested individuals continue to contribute. This project would have the potential to grow as large as the interest it generates and, aside from the initial design and set-up, would require minimal ongoing maintenance and monitoring.
The site would be linked to as many other Web Pages as possible (i.e. Town of Rumford, Chamber of Commerce, Local Real Estate Offices, National Trust for Historic Preservation, Maine Trust, Polar Bears, Black Mountain, RAPPA, etc. - any reasonable website that will let us post a link.)
This website would be a resource both for those already in the community and for those who may be exploring the possibility of joining.
Work with Local Merchants/Government to Promote Historic Signage
Rumford Falls, especially the Island, would benefit from playing up its historical assets by increasingly using historic themed signs and storefronts. I would suggest a low pressure effort to encourage local merchants to phase-in signs and storefront fa硤es that promote a historic atmosphere. A more pleasing and attractive area can be created with some coordinated effort to use signs and storefronts whose style and fonts increasingly fit the period of Rumford Falls? economic boom, c1890s to 1920s. This coordination could be expected to draw both tourists and locals to the area.
Many signs in Rumford Falls already fit within this ideal. However, without being pushy or
offensive it is possible that many merchants might be persuaded to eliminate and replace back-lighted signs, signs with prominent product advertisements (i.e. ads for Pepsi larger than the business name on the same sign), and more modern style signs with those whose fonts and appearance will contribute to a consistent historic atmosphere.
Local interested merchants can contact us for examples of both simple and more elaborate sign styles that would fit within this ideal and contribute to a coordinated transformation to a more historic atmosphere.
Merchants may receive encouragement and exposure in the form of small articles submitted to the local paper/s showing the new sign/s or change and discussing how the business in participating in a community minded effort to highlight Rumford Falls? historic legacy and promote Rumford Falls pride.
While some merchants might be convinced to convert signage fairly early, we will also encourage those not willing to do so immediately to keep the concept in mind when they replace signs as they wear out.
This effort regarding merchants would likely be an ongoing campaign of suggestion which we hope will gradually accumulate significant change. Society members and sympathizers can contribute to the effort by appropriately letting the businesses they patronize know that they believe this simple idea is a good one which could have a positive impact on both their individual businesses and the community as a whole. They can also make themselves available on a practical level with suggestions regarding fonts and sign styles which can be historically harmonious.
This effort should also be taken to the town government to encourage them to commission and phase in signs which harmonize as much as possible with the historic theme. They should also be encouraged to carry the theme through to the signs along Route 2 and Route 108 and at the information booth directing traffic to the island and the historic areas of town.
Depending on whether a consensus supports the idea, local government can encourage the idea, through this signage and various other means, of once again referring to this immediate area as Rumford Falls or the Rumford Falls Historic District. This will differentiate it from other parts of Rumford as well as promote and strengthen the area?s historical significance.
Many signs in Rumford Falls already fit within this ideal. However, without being pushy or
offensive it is possible that many merchants might be persuaded to eliminate and replace back-lighted signs, signs with prominent product advertisements (i.e. ads for Pepsi larger than the business name on the same sign), and more modern style signs with those whose fonts and appearance will contribute to a consistent historic atmosphere.
Local interested merchants can contact us for examples of both simple and more elaborate sign styles that would fit within this ideal and contribute to a coordinated transformation to a more historic atmosphere.
Merchants may receive encouragement and exposure in the form of small articles submitted to the local paper/s showing the new sign/s or change and discussing how the business in participating in a community minded effort to highlight Rumford Falls? historic legacy and promote Rumford Falls pride.
While some merchants might be convinced to convert signage fairly early, we will also encourage those not willing to do so immediately to keep the concept in mind when they replace signs as they wear out.
This effort regarding merchants would likely be an ongoing campaign of suggestion which we hope will gradually accumulate significant change. Society members and sympathizers can contribute to the effort by appropriately letting the businesses they patronize know that they believe this simple idea is a good one which could have a positive impact on both their individual businesses and the community as a whole. They can also make themselves available on a practical level with suggestions regarding fonts and sign styles which can be historically harmonious.
This effort should also be taken to the town government to encourage them to commission and phase in signs which harmonize as much as possible with the historic theme. They should also be encouraged to carry the theme through to the signs along Route 2 and Route 108 and at the information booth directing traffic to the island and the historic areas of town.
Depending on whether a consensus supports the idea, local government can encourage the idea, through this signage and various other means, of once again referring to this immediate area as Rumford Falls or the Rumford Falls Historic District. This will differentiate it from other parts of Rumford as well as promote and strengthen the area?s historical significance.
Elimination of Overhead Power Lines
As has been done in other historic communities, RFALS could look into the feasibility of removing power lines and installing underground lines or lines that pass through back yards rather than along the street. Those who have brought about this change in other cities and towns should be contacted to develop information about the details involved.
Once the cost of such a project and the potential downsides and benefits are more fully understood, and if it is feasible, RFALS members should work on promoting concept of historic neighborhoods without power lines. This can be done with touched up photos and helping people to envision what an unexpectedly significant difference this change would make. Work on creating funding sources (private owners, local business, public funds or combinations).
Once the cost of such a project and the potential downsides and benefits are more fully understood, and if it is feasible, RFALS members should work on promoting concept of historic neighborhoods without power lines. This can be done with touched up photos and helping people to envision what an unexpectedly significant difference this change would make. Work on creating funding sources (private owners, local business, public funds or combinations).
Elimination of Boarded-Up Windows on The Island.
While they may recede into the background after having lived here for some time, the prevalence of boarded-up windows on the island is very noticeable to people visiting for the first time and will likely contribute to their perception of the future prospects of Rumford Falls. Funding and/or volunteer/private interest may be generated for either replacing boarded up windows or painting decorative panels as has been done with other historic buildings. (i.e. a local artist or artists may be commissioned to paint imitation windows with flower pots or with period costumed characters looking out.)
Mill Closing Contingency Plans
Since its creation, the Paper Mill has formed the economic backbone of this community. But the future of heavy industry in Maine is by no means certain. Plans should be created and consensus built regarding how preservation will be affected if the Mill closes so that timely action can positively shape the transition. Failure to act quickly and intelligently may result in huge lost opportunities.
Attracting alternative clean industries would be a positive way to preserve and stabilize the economic base and allow long time residents to keep their families in Rumford Falls. More thought and communication with those already concerned with this problem would have to occur in order to determine what industries would benefit from the existing labor pool and site/electricity available and contribute to attracting these industries.
Open Space. If the mill closed and no clean industry could be attracted, we would be faced with living in the shadow of a useless eyesore. Flat open space is at a premium in this area of densely wooded mountainous terrain. We should obtain or have in place funding to dismantle the mill structures and clean-up residual environmental issues, thereby creating a large, useable, park-like space. Efforts should be made through community and government pressure to prevent new construction on the site. Other inexpensive sites for businesses/industry are abundant in the area, so defending this large site as an open space would not likely prevent valuable businesses from coming to the area. It would be imperative, if possible, for the community to secure the site. This spacious location, situated at a scenic bend of the Androscoggin river, near the beautiful falls and immediately adjacent to our vision of a preserved historic Rumford Falls would provide an extremely healthy resource for community life and vehicle for promotion of the area.
If preserved as part of the program to create and defend open space the site could serve many purposes which would strengthen the community, aside from the obvious beautification of the area.
Different seasons could suggest different community uses and contribute to building Rumford?s reputation as a desirable destination:
Festival site: The site would be ideal for fairs and festivals of all types. Agricultural fairs such as Common Ground. Antique fairs such as Brimfield. It would work well for events that would involve some overnight camping (scout camporees, Motorcycle and antique car rallies, rainbow gatherings). Music Festivals for all music types (Jazz, Country, Cajun, etc. i.e. Rockland Music Festival or the National Folk Festival). Creative brainstorming chould come up with dozens of ideas for events that could be facilitated to attract people and inject money and life into the local economy and community. While the Maine coast may have it?s charm, imagine a wonderful music festival with thousands of visitors in the middle of a beautiful valley exploding with fall color.
Recreational focus: The site and Rumford Falls, by extension, would be a convenient and scenic location for starting out or ending canoe trips or for stopping on a longer trip along the increasingly rehabilitated Androscoggin River.
Contributing to Rumford?s growing reputation as a winter sports destination, the site could be promoted as a hub for Snowmobile traffic. A spur could easily be built to the nearby Maine Interconnected Trail System which is already widely enjoyed and increasing in popularity every year. The site would be a good location for camping or finding a hotel before continuing on the trail or as a gathering point for the many large spontaneous snowmobile enthusiast convergences that occur each year. The proximity to area businesses would be good for both the snowmobilers and the businesses.
At this point this may seem too remote a possibility or filled with too many potential problems. Converting the closed mill site to open space would almost undoubtedly have to involve state or federal grants or some combination of same with funding from Mead. A conversion may be hard for some people to handle since there will likely remain hope that the mill might reopen or that another major industry may yet be persuaded to occupy the space. Mead may not want to sell the property. There may also be contamination issues that would have to be understood and overcome. Despite these potential problems, it would be a worthy goal of the Society to keep abreast of developments and serve as a forum for ideas on dealing with the problems and opportunities that may arise if the mill closes.
Preservation issues related to any mill closing
In addition to attempting to influence the development of the mill site, the closing of the mill would be a critical time for nearby real estate. The displacement created will put many properties on the market in a short time, creating a temporary buyer?s market. Preservation-minded individuals in the Rumford Falls area should go into high gear to ensure that as many properties as possible end up in the hands of people dedicated to Rumford Falls historic preservation and, at the same time, make sure that those forced to go elsewhere for opportunities are able to get competitive prices for their homes. Media promotion, especially through historic preservation organizations should be stepped up with a positive emphasis on the mill closing as a limited-time major opportunity to get in on the ground floor/renaissance of a beautiful historic community (away from the congestion and ugliness of city life) in the beautiful Western Maine Mountains. The mill closing would undoubtedly be a tragedy for many families and create daunting challenges to the community but in some ways, some aspects of historic preservation might be accelerated. Many who would otherwise jump at the chance to preserve and live or work in a historic community may have reservations due to negative perceptions of the odor, appearance and potential health problems associated with the mill. These will likely see the closing as a positive opportunity and, while this feeling will not be shared by many of the current residents, it would be better to have buyers ready and willing to purchase homes at reasonable prices than to be faced with the mill closing and a depressed real estate market. Preservation promotion should serve as one of the means to soften the blow and provide a positive vision for the future if Rumford ever faces this situation.
Rumford Falls will have appeal for retirees and young people with families who want to pick up an inexpensive home and put their money into renovating it to fit their ideal historic vision. Stained glass hobbyists or fine woodworkers will find many properties that are effectively excellent stages on which to properly display and inspire their art. Many of these people, who might be more affluent or whose incomes may not be location dependent (i.e. they can afford a second home, their jobs allow them to work from home, they may be able to fill an economic niche here, etc.) may have seen historic homes in beautiful New England communities and wished they could have purchased a home there before prices went through the roof and other transitional opportunities had receded. The more promotion that is conducted, the more of these and other interested persons we will be able to reach during the critical window immediately following any mill closure.
Attracting alternative clean industries would be a positive way to preserve and stabilize the economic base and allow long time residents to keep their families in Rumford Falls. More thought and communication with those already concerned with this problem would have to occur in order to determine what industries would benefit from the existing labor pool and site/electricity available and contribute to attracting these industries.
Open Space. If the mill closed and no clean industry could be attracted, we would be faced with living in the shadow of a useless eyesore. Flat open space is at a premium in this area of densely wooded mountainous terrain. We should obtain or have in place funding to dismantle the mill structures and clean-up residual environmental issues, thereby creating a large, useable, park-like space. Efforts should be made through community and government pressure to prevent new construction on the site. Other inexpensive sites for businesses/industry are abundant in the area, so defending this large site as an open space would not likely prevent valuable businesses from coming to the area. It would be imperative, if possible, for the community to secure the site. This spacious location, situated at a scenic bend of the Androscoggin river, near the beautiful falls and immediately adjacent to our vision of a preserved historic Rumford Falls would provide an extremely healthy resource for community life and vehicle for promotion of the area.
If preserved as part of the program to create and defend open space the site could serve many purposes which would strengthen the community, aside from the obvious beautification of the area.
Different seasons could suggest different community uses and contribute to building Rumford?s reputation as a desirable destination:
Festival site: The site would be ideal for fairs and festivals of all types. Agricultural fairs such as Common Ground. Antique fairs such as Brimfield. It would work well for events that would involve some overnight camping (scout camporees, Motorcycle and antique car rallies, rainbow gatherings). Music Festivals for all music types (Jazz, Country, Cajun, etc. i.e. Rockland Music Festival or the National Folk Festival). Creative brainstorming chould come up with dozens of ideas for events that could be facilitated to attract people and inject money and life into the local economy and community. While the Maine coast may have it?s charm, imagine a wonderful music festival with thousands of visitors in the middle of a beautiful valley exploding with fall color.
Recreational focus: The site and Rumford Falls, by extension, would be a convenient and scenic location for starting out or ending canoe trips or for stopping on a longer trip along the increasingly rehabilitated Androscoggin River.
Contributing to Rumford?s growing reputation as a winter sports destination, the site could be promoted as a hub for Snowmobile traffic. A spur could easily be built to the nearby Maine Interconnected Trail System which is already widely enjoyed and increasing in popularity every year. The site would be a good location for camping or finding a hotel before continuing on the trail or as a gathering point for the many large spontaneous snowmobile enthusiast convergences that occur each year. The proximity to area businesses would be good for both the snowmobilers and the businesses.
At this point this may seem too remote a possibility or filled with too many potential problems. Converting the closed mill site to open space would almost undoubtedly have to involve state or federal grants or some combination of same with funding from Mead. A conversion may be hard for some people to handle since there will likely remain hope that the mill might reopen or that another major industry may yet be persuaded to occupy the space. Mead may not want to sell the property. There may also be contamination issues that would have to be understood and overcome. Despite these potential problems, it would be a worthy goal of the Society to keep abreast of developments and serve as a forum for ideas on dealing with the problems and opportunities that may arise if the mill closes.
Preservation issues related to any mill closing
In addition to attempting to influence the development of the mill site, the closing of the mill would be a critical time for nearby real estate. The displacement created will put many properties on the market in a short time, creating a temporary buyer?s market. Preservation-minded individuals in the Rumford Falls area should go into high gear to ensure that as many properties as possible end up in the hands of people dedicated to Rumford Falls historic preservation and, at the same time, make sure that those forced to go elsewhere for opportunities are able to get competitive prices for their homes. Media promotion, especially through historic preservation organizations should be stepped up with a positive emphasis on the mill closing as a limited-time major opportunity to get in on the ground floor/renaissance of a beautiful historic community (away from the congestion and ugliness of city life) in the beautiful Western Maine Mountains. The mill closing would undoubtedly be a tragedy for many families and create daunting challenges to the community but in some ways, some aspects of historic preservation might be accelerated. Many who would otherwise jump at the chance to preserve and live or work in a historic community may have reservations due to negative perceptions of the odor, appearance and potential health problems associated with the mill. These will likely see the closing as a positive opportunity and, while this feeling will not be shared by many of the current residents, it would be better to have buyers ready and willing to purchase homes at reasonable prices than to be faced with the mill closing and a depressed real estate market. Preservation promotion should serve as one of the means to soften the blow and provide a positive vision for the future if Rumford ever faces this situation.
Rumford Falls will have appeal for retirees and young people with families who want to pick up an inexpensive home and put their money into renovating it to fit their ideal historic vision. Stained glass hobbyists or fine woodworkers will find many properties that are effectively excellent stages on which to properly display and inspire their art. Many of these people, who might be more affluent or whose incomes may not be location dependent (i.e. they can afford a second home, their jobs allow them to work from home, they may be able to fill an economic niche here, etc.) may have seen historic homes in beautiful New England communities and wished they could have purchased a home there before prices went through the roof and other transitional opportunities had receded. The more promotion that is conducted, the more of these and other interested persons we will be able to reach during the critical window immediately following any mill closure.
Friday, March 23, 2007
Historic Preservation
What Concepts Regarding the Preservation of Rumford Falls Architecture are we Hoping to Promote? We ultimately want to promote not just the preservation of the many beautiful individual buildings but also the idea of preserving Rumford Falls - the entire historic neighborhood - as a consistent architectural entity. We aim to promote the idea of preserving the area in as intact a form as possible, where residents and visitors with a little imagination can get the feel for a turn-of-the-last-century Maine mill town. We want to promote an understanding of the historic economic circumstances which created this consistent architectural legacy (discussed above) and provide a vision of how the preservation renaissance and promotion of a voluntary, but coordinated, historic theme will benefit members of the community and the local economy going into the future. We want to spread the idea that there is something special here. It is rare to have a town with such an abundance of historic architecture, let alone an abundance from a consistent time period, with complimentary but diverse styles and with very little newer construction. While we have met many here who love Rumford and have long appreciated its unique historic character, we have also been surprised to find many who do not seem to understand what we have here. We want to encourage any long-time residents who may consider much of Rumford Falls to be just old buildings - having developed their ideas while the area was in slow decline - to envision the architectural legacy in Rumford Falls with a new eye. Although it might be easy to see some of the unpainted and poorly maintained buildings and to assume that each of these is on its way out, we believe that these properties really can be opportunities for those who have the foresight to invest in a vision of Rumford Falls' future. Most of the beautiful historic communities in Maine and beyond have gone through cycles of boom and recession before being recognized and restored to a vision that capitalizes on their historic past. Time has a way of taking what was once seen as old and passed over and restoring it with new life that grows from new found appreciation for historic styles. Anyone who has lived long enough in Maine can, undoubtedly, point to towns that once were neglected and run down - with low real estate prices and a questionable future - and can testify to the change that occurred as more and more people looked past the temporary outward appearances and saw a historic vision that appealed to them. We believe that the historic preservation of Rumford Falls is inevitable. There are too many historic homes and buildings that have survived through the dangerous stage when they are just considered "old" and have reached a historic status where they can always expect to be valued and maintained. But the shape that this preservation takes on a community wide level is still to be determined. Many beautiful historic buildings are still in danger of being lost. Also, the future form of any new construction and development and maintenance of open spaces remain to be influenced. In addition to promoting the renovation of historic buildings, we hope to promote the adaptive reuse of buildings and exterior facades. We want to encourage the creation and defense of new open spaces in place of buildings which are no longer capable of preservation and promote preservation and maintenance of existing open spaces. Because space in proximity to the mill at the time of the building boom was at a premium, yards tended to be small and intentionally planned parks were rare. Creating and maintaining open space will prevent blight, maintain the consistent architectural image and produce a higher quality living environment for residents by creating local parks that will beautify the community and may serve as sites for formal and informal neighborhood gatherings. We hope to identify endangered properties (with the assistance of other preservation-minded individuals) and work with owners to encourage improvement and preservation of the property, or find a buyer interested in preservation or conversion to open space. We hope to prevent/retard/persuade against any new construction that is not consistent with a historic theme. We hope to promote the economic self interest of adding historically consistent facades and elements to existing buildings currently outside the historic theme. This will contribute to and enhance the overall historic character of Rumford Falls, increase the value of these properties for their owners and generally make Rumford Falls a nicer place to live in and visit. In addition to trying to widen the circle of local believers, we plan to promote Rumford Falls to those "from away" as an opportunity to get in on the ground floor of a preservation renaissance by purchasing and preserving their own historic properties while being part of a larger preservation program from which the entire community is benefitting. We hope to help both current residents and those from away to understand the synergy of preservation. To facilitate reaching our goals, we hope to identify allies and opponents of our ideas. We will work to support and network allies and to persuade our opponents while helping people see how the community will benefit from a coordinated effort of preservation. (Shared momentum will promote speedier change, appearances will improve, community-conscious neighbors will be more likely to remain, new community-conscious neighbors will join the effort, those who wish to sell their homes will find ready buyers at reasonable prices, those who stay will have a higher quality town of which they can be proud, etc.). We hope to provide a social network/outlet for like-minded individuals so that they can be updated on preservation successes, partake in ongoing efforts by their neighbors to preserve their properties and, most importantly, inspire as many people as possible to spread the good word concerning Rumford Falls' revitalization through historic preservation. Finally, through this website, we hope to preserve the story of this town and its people. As this project matures, more and more properties will be available for viewing on the online "Tour of Rumford Falls" and people will have a place to collect and share their stories of these buildings and its occupants. Not everyone is interested in historic preservation, but many are and we hope to provide a valuable resource for those who see a future for Rumford Falls that builds on the strength of its historic past.
What is Special About Rumford Falls?
While Rumford was incorporated in 1800, it spent most of its first century as a small agricultural community. But with the coming of the paper mill at the end ofthecentury and the corresponding influx of people and money, Rumford changed dramatically in a very short time. The few farms and buildings that existed around the falls area were filled, seemingly overnight, with many beautiful homes and buildings typical of this era in Maine history.
Congress Street ca. 1892
Congress Street ca. 1920
This initial building boom, however, was followed by a slow but steady decline in population. With ample housing and commercial space already available, there was little incentive throughout the century for any new construction. This resulted in an unusual situation where the original group of turn-of-the-century commercial buildings and homes remained largely intact to the present day, albeit with intermittent and generally superficial cosmetic changes such as enclosed porches, metal porch rails or vinyl siding.
In contrast, other cities and towns, whose economic fortunes remained steady or fluctuated, tended to have older buildings periodically torn down and replaced with architecture of other historic periods and styles before the older buildings had a chance to be valued as architecturally significant. While the most expensive or more interesting buildings may have been preserved, this usually resulted in cities which, at best, have a patchwork of a few quality but non-complementary historic structures. This is definitely not the case in the Rumford Falls area.
Nearly every building in Rumford Falls is not only beautiful because of its individual historic character but also because it is part of a complete historic neighborhood. Walking through Strathglass Park or down Franklin, Knox, Prospect and many of the other streets in the Rumford Falls area, it does not take very much imagination to envision it nearly as it was almost 100 years ago. The potential to experience this complete a level of preservation on a such a large scale is extremely rare and should not be taken for granted by those who grew up here. This is the Architectural Legacy that we believe is worth fighting for. Though the age and beauty of many of the individual buildings will ensure their preservation, many properties that still can be preserved and are worth saving are still at risk.
Rumford Falls is at a critical point. While the loss of a few structures, for various reasons, would not be a tragedy and some should ideally be converted to open space rather than continue their inevitable decay, each worthy and salvageable historic building lost will subtract from the larger architectural legacy that makes Rumford Falls the unique and incalculably valuable Maine treasure it is. Understanding the architecture of the Rumford Falls area within its economic history, it is possible to see how the current situation has come to be and how the existing legacy, having survived intact to the present, ensures that Rumford Falls' future -- as a beautiful, historically important community -- is inevitable. Only the pace at which this transformation happens (and how many at-risk buildings are lost in the meantime) remains to be seen. Our goal is to spread this understanding of Rumford Falls' architectural legacy and provide a forum and resource for those who see the same vision and want to speed the critical transition to Rumford Falls' secure preservation.
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