Earl H. Smith

writer, historian, retired Dean of the College at Colby College; author of fiction as well as nonfiction books about Maine’s history

Prologue

The land where the great Kennebec River drops to greet two of her tributaries was the perfect place to build a village. The native people had known it for 10,000 years, before the English came and took it over. In but a century, the invaders harnessed the feeder stream called Messalonskee and lined its banks with mills of every kind. The natives had named the place Teconnet for the big river falls nearby, but the English called it Kingsfield, then Winslow, and when the time came to create a separate west bank village, they quite sensibly named it for the water itself.

The story of Waterville and its surrounds is one of astonishingly rapid growth and prosperity. The city flourished on the wave of the Second Industrial Revolution. Its ever-multiplying mills drew workers from around the world, and its streets were filled with merchants of every kind.

The boom, of course, could not last, and before the end of the 20th century Waterville had barely anything to do with the water at all. The once-thriving industries were all gone, and the proud river city, like so many others in the north, began a long struggle to reinvent itself and discover its missing pride.

from Water Village: The Story of Waterville, Maine by Earl H. Smith (North Country Press)