Lewiston, in Androscoggin County, is the second-largest city in the
U.S. state of Maine. The estimated 2007 population was 37,734.
It is one of two principal cities of and included within the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine Metropolitan New England City and Town Area and the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine Metropolitan Statistical Area (which is part of the Portland-Lewiston-South Portland, Maine Combined Statistical Area).
A former industrial center, it is located in southwest Maine, at the falls of the Androscoggin River, across from Auburn. Lewiston and Auburn
are often thought of as a single entity and referred to as Lewiston-Auburn, which is colloquially abbreviated as
L-A or L/A, and have a combined population of roughly 59,000 people. Lewiston is home to Bates College, the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, the University of Southern Maine's Lewiston-Auburn College, and two significant regional
general hospitals: Central Maine Medical Center and Saint Mary's Regional Medical Center.
History
Industrial Development
Lewiston factories circa 1910
Lewiston was settled in 1770 and officially incorporated in 1795. At least four houses that have survived since 1795 are
currently listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
In 1809, Michael Little built a large wooden sawmill next to the falls. Burned in 1814 by an arsonist, it was later rebuilt. In 1836, local entrepreneurs — predominantly the Little family and friends —
formed the Androscoggin Falls, Dam, Lock and
Canal Company:
"...for the purpose of erecting and constructing dams, locks, canals, mills, works, machines, and buildings on their own lands
and also manufacturing cotton, wool, iron, steel, and paper in the towns of Lewiston, Minot, and Danville." [1]
Later reorganized as the Lewiston Water Power Company the new sales of stock attracted Boston investors — including
Thomas J. Hill, Lyman Nichols, George L.
Ward, Alexander De Witt, and Benjamin E.
Bates (Namesake of Bates College) – who financed a canal system and several textile mills on the
Androscoggin river, beginning Lewiston's transformation from a small community into a hub of textile production.
Lewiston's population boomed during these years. During the Civil War, high demand
for textiles provided Lewiston with a strong industrial base. Starting in the 1870s, railroad connections to Canada brought an influx of French-Canadian millworkers, and the city's population has been largely Franco-American since.
Lewiston from Auburn in 2004, showing the James B. Longley Bridge
The local Kora Shrine was organized in 1891
and held its first meetings in a masonic temple on Lisbon street. This group would from 1908
to 1910 build the Kora Temple on Sabattus street, the largest home of a fraternal organization in the state. Architect George M.
Coombs would design its Moorish style structure.
City leaders decided to build a church to which the Roman Catholic
Diocese of Portland would relocate. Construction of the Church of Saints Peter and Paul began in 1905 and ended in 1938,
mostly funded through thousands of small donations from Lewiston residents.
While the Diocese of Portland did not relocate to Lewiston, the church is a prominent landmark and source of pride, and became
a basilica in 2004. It is one of the few American basilicas located outside of a major
metropolitan area.
Industrial decline
Starting in the late 1950s, lower production costs elsewhere led to the closure of many of Lewiston's textile mills, which
were the city's economic base and once produced a quarter of American textiles. Today, health care is Lewiston's largest
industry. Other industries include paper manufacturing, shoe manufacturing and tourism. Central Maine
Medical Center is the city's largest employer.
Somali Migration
In 2001, approximately 1,100 Somalis began immigrating to Lewiston from Somalia and the
greater Atlanta area.
In October 2002, then-Mayor Laurier T. Raymond, the son of immigrants himself, wrote an open letter addressed to leaders of
the Somali community, predicting a negative impact on the city's social services and requesting that Somali leaders discourage
further Somali relocation to Lewiston. The letter angered some persons and prompted some community leaders and residents to speak
out against the mayor, drawing national attention. Demonstrations were held in Lewiston, both by those who supported the Somalis'
presence and those who opposed it.
In January 2003, a small group from the white supremacist Creativity Movement demonstrated in Lewiston against the Somali population, prompting a simultaneous
counter-demonstration of about 4,000 people [1] at Bates College and the organization of the "Many and One
Coalition." Widespread publicity was given to the fact that the mayor chose to be out of state "on vacation" on the day of the
rallies, while the governor and other dignitaries attended.
In 2006, it was estimated that well over 50% of Somali immigrant adults were still unemployed, even after 5 years from their
arrival in Lewiston as reported by William Finnegan of New Yorker Magazine.
"Unemployment in the Somali community is estimated at fifty per cent. Alex Nicolaou, an employment counsellor for Catholic
Charities in Maine, who works mainly with Somalis."
Heritage initiative
In May 2004, the City of Lewiston announced an ambitious plan for urban renewal near
its downtown area. The plan, still in its formative stages, is to demolish several blocks of nineteenth-century millworker
housing, lay new streets with updated infrastructure, construct more owner-occupied, lower-density housing, and build a boulevard
through the neighborhood, using federal Community Development Block
Grant funds provided over a period of ten years. Many residents of the affected neighborhoods felt that the plan was
initially announced with very little input from them. They formed a neighborhood group called "The Visible Community," which has
been actively involved in the planning process.
Mills and canal in c. 1915
|
|
|
Hospital Square in c. 1910
|
Notable residents
- Benjamin E. Bates, industrialist
- Edward Burgess Butler, businessman
- Tom Caron, sportscaster
- Bill Carrigan, baseball manager
- Ernie Coombs, children's television entertainer
- Patrick Dempsey, actor
- Thomas A. Desjardin, historian
- Thomas Edward Downey, baseball player
- William P. Frye, senator
- Joey Gamache, boxer
- Alonzo Garcelon, governor
- Dominic Giampaolo, software designer
- Marsden Hartley, artist
- Edward C. Hayes, sociologist
- Luscious Lance Levesque, professional wrestler
- James B. Longley, governor
- James B. Longley, Jr., politician
- Cynthia McFadden, newscaster
- Daniel J. McGillicuddy, congressman
- Frederick G. Payne, governor
- Orland Smith, railroad executive & soldier
- Walter Thornton, baseball player
Geography
Lewiston is located at 44°5′51″N, 70°11′33″W (44.097473,
-70.192416)1.According to the
United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 91.1
km² (35.2 mi²). 88.3 km² (34.1 mi²) of it is land
and 2.8 km² (1.1 mi²) of it (3.13%) is water. Lewiston is drained by the Androscoggin
River.
Climate
| Month |
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
Year |
| Avg high temperature °F (°C) |
29
(-2) |
32
(0) |
41
(5) |
53
(12) |
66
(19) |
75
(24) |
81
(27) |
79
(26) |
70
(21) |
59
(15) |
46
(8) |
33
(1) |
55
(13)
|
| Avg low temperature °F (°C) |
11
(-12) |
13
(-11) |
24
(-4) |
34
(1) |
45
(7) |
55
(13) |
61
(16) |
60
(16) |
51
(11) |
41
(5) |
31
(-1) |
18
(-8) |
37
(3)
|
| Precipitation in. (cm) |
3.5
(9) |
3.4
(9) |
4.0
(10) |
4.1
(10) |
3.7
(9) |
3.7
(9) |
3.4
(9) |
3.2
(8) |
3.0
(8) |
3.9
(10) |
5.0
(13) |
4.5
(11) |
45.3
(115)
|
| Source: Weatherbase |
Demographics
As of the census2 of 2000, there were 35,690 people, 15,290 households, and 8,654 families
residing in the city. The population density was 404.2/km² (1,047.0/mi²). There were
16,470 housing units at an average density of 186.5/km² (483.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 95.75% White, 1.07% African American, 0.28% Native American, 0.84% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.36% from other races, and 1.66% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.26% of the population. There were 15,290
households out of which 25.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.9% were married
couples living together, 11.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.4% were non-families. 35.9% of all
households were made up of individuals and 13.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household
size was 2.17 and the average family size was 2.81. 72.51% of residents spoke only English at home, while 25.77% spoke French [2].
In the city the population was spread out with 20.7% under the age of 18, 12.6% from 18 to 24, 26.9% from 25 to 44, 22.0% from
45 to 64, and 17.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 90.9 males.
For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.8 males. The median income for a household in the city was $29,191, and the
median income for a family was $40,061. Males had a median income of $30,095 versus $21,810 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,905. About 10.0% of families and 15.5% of the population were
below the poverty line, including 20.9% of those under age 18 and 12.5% of those age
65 or over.
Facts and figures
Places of interest
- Railroad Park, a large park in downtown Lewiston. Also the launching point of the largest balloon festival in New England,
the Great Falls Balloon Festival.
- Grand Trunk Rail Station, an historical look at the railroad running through downtown Lewiston.
- Thorncrag Bird Sanctuary, just off of Highland Spring Road, it is the largest bird sanctuary in New England.
- The Public Theatre, a nationally recognized theatre for their artistic excellence, The Public Theatre is a professional
Equity theatre located in the heart of downtown Lewiston.
- The Lewiston Skate Park, on Park Street. It includes a nine foot pool coaping-bowl, snake-run, pole-jam, stair-set,
hand-rail, and ledges. The entire park is surfaced with concrete.
- Mount David, often referred to as "Mount Davis" or "Davis Mountain." A small mountain with several trails, located on the
campus of Bates College.
References
- History of Lewiston,
Maine
- History of Lewiston, Maine (municipal
site)
- Elder, Janus G., "A History of Lewiston, Maine with a Genealogical Register of Early Families." Heritage Books, Inc.,
1989
- Hodgkin, Douglas I., "Lewiston Memories: A Bicentennial Pictorial." Jostens Printing & Publishing, 1994
- Finnegan, William, "Letter from Maine: New in Town, the Somalis of Lewiston." The New Yorker, December 11th, 2006
External links
Somali immigration related
Coordinates:
44.097473° N 70.192416°
W
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