B A C K   T H E N

Main Street, Thomaston

Photographs of Thomaston taken in the 1870s show an almost rigidly squared-away town of white-painted houses with nary a tree. During the American centennial year of 1876 it was decided to plant elm trees along the town’s streets, and here—looking down Main Street (now US Route 1)—we see the delightful canopied result, one that was repeated in countless cities and towns across Maine and the nation before the Dutch elm disease denuded them again.

The two best pals are crossing the tracks of the Rockland, Thomaston, and Camden Street Railway. This image also demonstrates photography’s ability to deceive and distort, for the overhead wire from which the streetcars received their electrical power is nowhere to be seen, although it is there.

The hayrack filled with empty lime casks represents the millions more, hove together in little cooper shops on countless hinterland farms, which traveled down this road. For decades the production and shipping of lime—along with the building and sailing of ships—was a cornerstone of the local economy. Most of the lime was shipped to New York to be used in plaster and mortar. In 1900 Thomaston still had over twenty operating lime kilns, but the industry had entered its final descent. Thomaston limestone is now used for making cement.

Text by William H. Bunting from Maine On Glass. Published by Tilbury House Publishers, 12 Starr St., Thomaston, Maine. 800-582-1899.

Maine On Glass and prints of the photographs are available through the Penobscot Marine Museum: PenobscotMarineMuseum.org.