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The Book Cover
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This is a 470 page, hardbound economic and photographic history about the
impact of the industrial revolution on York County, Maine. But it could be
about other places, because the identical forces of change have impacted
many other families and communities in the United States. It was written by
Madge Baker, an historian by academic training who practiced land use
planning and law in York County for 16 years before writing this book. The
book's designer is her husband, Robert Wilson, a life-long resident of York
County and the designer and printer of numerous photographic histories prior
to working on this book.
Another possible title for this book is Three Paths to the Present, because that is exactly what the book is about. Part I opens on the working farm of Gilman Lougee in Parsonsfield, Maine. In 1870 this father of 7 and tiller of 200 acres was the epitomy of the New England farmer- independent, hard-working, smart, determined, ingenious, and philosophical. The rest of Part I follows the decline and eventual collapse of the Lougee family's working farm, and Gilman's descendents' recent return to the land to preserve the buildings, the stone walls, and the landscape.
The second Path begins in 1867 when Thomas Goodall arrived in Sanford, Maine, with his wife and three sons to build a new woolen mill. This family of gifted entrepreneurs proceeded to transform the mill into one of the nation's most successful woolen and worsted manufacturing ventures. Part II describes the family members, documents the history of their enterprise in Sanford and its eventual demise in 1954, and summarizes the aftermath during which the Town struggled to rebuild its manufacturing economy.
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Cape Porpoise Harbor circa 1960
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The third Path follows the Goodalls to the shores of Cape Porpoise harbor in Kennebunkport. There fishing was the community's only reliable source of nourishment in 1870, but the Goodalls and other summer visitors quickly changed all that. One who responded to new opportunity was another independent, enterprising Mainer, Luman Fletcher. He built in the village a store that catered to visitors. Part III relates the story of Fletcher's store, including how in 1942 it came to be purchased by Frank Bradbury, and why today Bradbury Brothers' Market is bigger and busier than ever.
Each story is imbedded in the history of farming, textile manufacturing, and tourism in York County, and recounted through photographs, letters, newspaper articles, maps, and a wide varielty of documents. Utimately, the book describes how over time capitalism has not only clobbered the region's traditional farming, textile manufacturing, and fishing economies, but also replaced them with a plethora of service and retail businesses catering to suburban commuters and seasonal visitors. Out of this sea of change arises the question: are York County's rural and urban economies, sense of place, and cherished scenic beauty being lost, or saved?
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