Yesterday

Makers of Brick, Catchers of Fish
By Mark Honey

Special to The Ellsworth American

Penobscot was one of the original townships in 1762,  designated Plantation No. 3. The original name used for the region encompassing Penobscot was Majorbigwaduce, a Wabenaki word that means either “a big tidal salt bay” or “at the bad shelter place.”

Penobscot had as many as seven brickyards, and until the late 1940s two remained active at the bay and cove. Today, the remains of bricks cover the cove shore.

The term was gradually shortened to Bagaduce and used to designate the river running through the community.

The word “Penobscot,” meaning “the rocky part” or the “descending ledge place” originally referred to the head of navigation at Bangor at a place known as Treat’s Falls, and perhaps to the stretch of the river from Treat’s Falls to the Great Falls at Old Town, the latter place being the principal habitation of the Wabenaki.

 The name was given to Plantation No. 3 on Feb. 23, 1778, when Penobscot was incorporated as Maine’s 49th town.

The town of Penobscot initially included the present communities of Castine, which separated from Penobscot on Feb. 8, 1796, and Brooksville, which was created from Penobscot and Sedgwick in 1817. The principal community of Penobscot, until 1796, was located at the Neck in what is now Castine Village, and after 1796 at what is now North Castine, centered around the vital ferry link at Lymburner’s Ferry.

 Settlement gradually expanded after 1800, with principal settlements forming at North Penobscot, Pierce’s Pond, the Bay, Winslow’s Cove, and to a lesser degree at West Penobscot.

The community’s principal industrial sites were located at Leach’s or Mill Stream and Winslow’s Stream. Leach’s Stream (a.k.a. Mill Creek) would include a grist mill by 1795, followed in later years by a tannery, a fulling mill, and a number of excellent sawmills.

By 1860, much of this activity had ceased, and Winslow’s Stream would be the site of at least two sawmills and a grist mill. A carriage factory, as well as a boot and shoe factory, were located on the banks of this stream.

Shipbuilding was an important part of Penobscot’s economy, with 51 vessels, being built between 1794 and 1872. This figure included 45 schooners, two brigs and four sloops. Shipyards were located at the mouth of Winslow’s Stream, and probably Mill Stream. Other yards were located along the shore at Northern Bay and at various places on the Bagaduce.

Fishing played a vital part in the economy, with generations of men and boys making the pilgrimage to the Grand Banks. Towards the latter part of the 19th Century, Penobscot’s fishermen would sail in the fishing fleets of Bucksport and Castine.

 The greatest maritime disaster occurred in 1858 when the schooner Ocean Wave was lost on a voyage to the Banks. Eight young men lost their lives, with the Leach family numbering five of this total. To date, 35 men and boys have been listed as losing their lives at sea.

Brick-making became a critical industry after the Civil War. Thirty-one individuals are listed as having operated a brickyard in the years between 1850 and 1940. There were three major yards at Winslow’s Cove and two at West Penobscot. The majority of the yards were located along the shore at Northern Bay, beginning at the Bay Village, extending westward. In 1884, perhaps at the peak of the industry, some four million bricks were manufactured in five different yards, employing 44 men, and using 1,543 cords of wood. Markets were found at Boston, Harrington, Rockland, Bar Harbor and St. John, N.B.

During the 1940s and 1950s, a canning factory was located at Winslow’s Cove, canning sweet corn, beans and blueberries.

Penobscot was a major supplier of firewood to the lime kilns of Rockland, with the supplemental industry of hoop poles and barrels. Hosea Wardwell records the manufacture of 5,000 fish barrels, in five shops, in 1880.

There was a brief mining craze in the 1880s, and granite quarrying in the 1890s. Most of the granite was cut for paving blocks. West Penobscot enjoyed a healthy weir fisheries, and salmon were caught and sold when in season.