Plaque 16: Sawmills and the Ticonic 4 Engine House   

Sawmills

Whitcomb, Haynes and Co. in 1913 was Ellsworth’s largest business.  They  owned mill properties, wharves, timberlands and interests in 35 vessels. The Falls village served as the industrial heart of Ellsworth. Logs were driven to the mills at the Falls and finished lumber carried by teams down State St. to the wharves along Water Street. Two mills at Ellsworth Falls produced barrel staves for the cement trade in Rondout on the Hudson River, making Ellsworth Falls the  “barrel stave capital of Maine” in 1900.

Ticonic Building

The 3,600-square-foot building, constructed around 1888, has served at various times as a fire station housing steam-powered fire engines, a polling place, a community building and a thrift shop.

The former Ticonic 4 Engine House was demolished April 26, 2019, seven months after Webber Group applied for permits to do so. A group of local citizens fought the plans, appealing to city officials who, they argue, mismanaged the sale of the building in 2005.

Plaque 17- Ellsworth Falls School and Agassiz Bedrock  

Agassiz Bedrock Outcrop

1.     Swiss scientist Louis Agassiz sought evidence that glaciers once covered Maine.

2.    In 1857, Swiss scientist Louis Agassiz examined an outcropping of schist of the Ellsworth Formation located beside the road in Ellsworth Falls.   This formation was on the grounds of the Ellsworth Falls School.

3.     Agassiz  concluded that the smooth surface with parallel scratches was evidence that glaciers had covered Maine and presented his findings on glaciation at Harvard University.

Ellsworth Falls School

·       The Ellsworth falls school was a beloved large school that was the 2nd school built on the property at the crags at Ellsworth Falls.

-          the first school was built in 1847.  

·       -in 1874 John Lymburner sold land to the City of Ellsworth for a new school to be built. 

·       The lovely structure was built to house and teach the children of the falls, and was in use until circa 1960, with the building of the new Charles C Knowlton School. 

·       The school was purchased by private landowners and used for storage, sadly the falls school came to burn and was demolished circa 1966. 

·       It is still a fond memory for so many who attended school there, and greatly missed in the Ellsworth Falls Community.

Plaque 18: Native American History

*Evidence from archaeology and oral/tribal histories tells us that the Union River watershed has been a homeland for Maine’s Native peoples since the end of the last ice age about 12,000 years ago.  This is due to a wealth of natural resources, including large seasonal salmon and alewife runs.

*The deep history and rich culture of the Union River watershed’s Wabanaki, the People of the Dawn, continues today through the vibrant Maine communities of the Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, Maliseet, and Micmac.

*Located just upstream at Ellsworth Falls is the archaeological site of a large village which was in continuous use for more than 5000 years.  Artifacts from this site are in the collections of the Abbe Museum in Bar Harbor.

Plaque 19: Birdsacre (Cordelia J. Stanwood homestead)

 -          Born August 1st, 1865- November 20, 1958

-          First Professional, female Ornithologist Photographer

-          Self-taught Ornithologist, starting second career at age of 40, recognized and highly respected by notable, leading ornithologists for detailed observations and information about bird habits

-          Dedicated teacher for 17 years

-          Unmarried, self-made entrepreneur, supporting herself with writing, rug making, basketry, intricate sewing and weaving, wood burning, selling cards and cosmetics into 1940’s, and over 75 years of age

-          Studied with Penobscot Tribe to learn native art of basketry

-          Catalogued genealogy of both sides of family – Generals, sea captains, British royal connections; maternal side owned Leonard Castle S.E. Sussex, England

-          Created trails at “Birdsacre,” her pen name for her family home, used in articles like “Tenants of Birdsacre” to daily monitor over 100 birds in Field Notebooks spanning 1905- 1955.

-          Self-taught photographer, developed her own glass plate negatives to enhance highly scientific and popular bird life stories, as well as local antique and architecture articles  (from Bluebird to House Beautiful) in over 20 magazine articles

-          Petitioned the government to ban the killing of birds for feather hats

-          Lectured to local schools (post teaching career) sharing information about birds

-          Received citation from US Department of Interior for Scientific investigation and Observations of Bird Life

-          Her portrait in the Deane Collection presented to the Library of Congress by the American Ornithological Union (AOU)

-          Her extensive research, and voluminous photographs were purchased, and incorporated into leading works by the Smithsonian Institution (A. Bent’s Life History of N. Amer. Birds) , and other massive tomes (3 volume E.H. Forbush Bird Life History)