— THE LEWISTON CANALS, MILLS, AND WATERWAYS SYSTEM —

Mills Buildings

Residential Buildings

Gate Houses

A. Bates Mill: built 1850-1852 B. Continental Mills: built 1866C. Lewiston Mill: built 1860D. Cowan Mill or Aurora Mill: built 1850E. W.S. Libbey Mill or Lincoln Mill: built 1846F. Androscoggin Mills: built 1861-1872G. Cumberland Mill: built 1868H. Avon Mill: built 1862I. Hill Manufacturing Company: built 1854J. Continental Mill Blocks: built 1866. Accommodated the

Continental Mill workers. K. “Little Canada”: Accomodated Canadian Immigrants.L. Union Water Power Company Gate House: built 1851.

Controlled the flow of the Androscoggin River into the canal system.

M. Lewiston Water Works Gate House: built 1878. Dam controlled the flow of the Androscoggin River, supplying Lewiston’s water until 1899.

- Upper Canal: 60 ft. wide and 11-14 ft. deep. Approx. 4,435 ft. long- Lower Canal: 40 ft. wide and 10 ft. deep. Approx. 1,320 ft. long- Cross Canal 1: 10 ft. deep and approx. 1,267 ft. long- Cross Canal 2: 30 ft. wide and 898 ft. long- Cross Canal 3: 30 ft. wide and 581 ft. long- Gully Brook: approximately 1,003 ft. long with a varrying width

Bates Mill Power Generation Stations

Hill Generation Station

Androscoggin Generation Stations

Contninental Mill Generation Station

Sources: The Historic Preservation Review Board City of Lewiston Maine. Lewiston, ME. Lewiston Maine Government, Aug. 2001. Web. 01 Dec. 2013. * Credits: Bates Imagining Center, Google Map, Museum L/A.

— THE LEWISTON CANALS, MILLS, AND WATERWAYS SYSTEM —

THE GREAT FALLS

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Cross Canal 1

Upper Canal

Lower Canal

Cross Canal 2

Cross Canal 3

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Gully

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THE ANDROSCOGGIN RIVER

Mill Buildings

Residential Buildings

Gate Houses

Bates Mill Power Generation Stations

Hill Generation Stations

Contninental Mill Generation Stations

Predominantly led by Irish and French-Canadian workers, the image above is an illustration of men digging out silt that had flowed into the Oxford Street Canal. The canals of Lewiston had played a significant role in the creation of water power, formation of the mills, and the develop-ment of the Lewiston area. In 1848, Boston investor Benjamin E. Bates had largely financed the initial construction of both the canal systems and the mills. Canals are the energy provider in the process of creating water power. Canal construction had allowed for industrialist to utilize and capitalize on the powerful kinetic energy produced by the falls of the Androscoggin River. To successfully carry out a project of this magni-tude, investors had called on the employment of several unskilled immi-grant workers to complete the task.

A Research Project through the Bates College Environmental Studies Department in coordination with Museum L/A

Hadley Dawson, Tyler Grees, Adelaide Makwaia, Derek Murphy

A. Bates Mill: built 1850-1852 B. Continental Mills: built 1866C. Lewiston Mill: built 1860D. Cowan Mill or Aurora Mill: built 1850E. W.S. Libbey Mill or Lincoln Mill: built 1846F. Androscoggin Mills: built 1861-1872G. Cumberland Mill: built 1868H. Avon Mill: built 1862I. Hill Manufacturing Company: built 1854J. Continental Mill Blocks: built 1866. Accommodated the Continental Mill

workers. K. “Little Canada”: Accomodated Canadian Immigrants.L. Union Water Power Company Gate House: built 1851. Controlled the flow

of the Androscoggin River into the canal system.M. Lewiston Water Works Gate House: built 1878. Dam controlled the flow of

the Androscoggin River, supplying Lewiston’s water until 1899. - Upper Canal: 60 ft. wide and 11-14 ft. deep. Approx. 4,435 ft. long - Lower Canal: 40 ft. wide and 10 ft. deep. Approx. 1,320 ft. long - Cross Canal 1: 10 ft. deep and approx. 1,267 ft. long - Cross Canal 2: 30 ft. wide and 898 ft. long - Cross Canal 3: 30 ft. wide and 581 ft. long - Gully Brook: approximately 1,003 ft. long

Sources: Hayden L. V. Anderson, Canals and Inland Waterways (Portland: Maine Historical Society, 1982). Hodgkin, Douglas I. Lewiston Memories: A Bicentennial Pictorial. State College, PA: Jostens Printing & Pub., 1994. Print. The Historic Preservation Review Board City of Lewiston Maine. Lewiston, ME. Lewiston Maine Government, Aug. 2001. Web. 01 Dec. 2013. Sargent, David A. Remembering Lewiston-Auburn on the Mighty Androscoggin: River Views. Charleston, SC: His-tory, 2010. Print. Merrill, Georgia Drew. History of Androscoggin County, Maine. Boston: W.A. Fergusson &, 1891. Print. “Suffolk Mills Turbine Exhibit.” Lowell National Historical Park. http://www.nps.gov/lowe/planyourvisit/upload/suffolk.pdf. Pfeiffer, Mariah. Visions and the Valley: A Reconstructed History of the Androscoggin River and its Industrial Communities. 44-45. Muskie Archives. Ross, David. Energy from the Waves: The First-ever Book on a Revolution in Technology. Oxford: Pergamon, 1979. Print. Cupid, Michele, Annie McNamara, and Dan Peckham. “Construction of Waterways and Canals in Lewiston and Auburn.” The Androscoggin River- A Living History. N.p., May-June 2010. Web. Rous, Walter. “Hydropowered Mills and Waterwheels.” http://www.lampreyriver.org/outreach-middle-and-high-research-cultural. Skinner, Ralph. “Water Power Picture in 1900.” 1969. Notes from Ralph Skinner in James S. Leamon Collection of Muskie Research Material, Box 1. Muskie Archives.

Credits: Bates Imaging Center, Google Maps, Museum L/A.

The Androscoggin river system incorporated the canals, waterfalls, and mills to harness the river’s stored energy. These factors, along with the technology available to turn water into hydro-power, are responsible for Lewiston-Auburn’s rich industrial history. In 1809 water power was har-nessed with the construction of a timber dam in conjunction with a saw, grist, and fulling mill located at the present site of the Lincoln Mill. With the financial support of Bostonian entrepreneurs like Benjamin E. Bates and the employment of Irish immigrants, the canal system opened its gates to the mighty Androscoggin in 1852. In the following decades cot-ton mills like the Bates Mill, Hill Mill, and Androscoggin Mill were con-structed. Today the Bates Mill is still known nation wide for its famous bedspreads. The construction of the canal system and the opening of the numerous mills created many job opportunities, establishing Lewis-ton-Auburn as a developing industrial city.

To provide power for the mills in Lewiston, water from canals flowed through an opening in the basement of the mils. Rushing water flowed through the opening and into buckets, originally called breastwheels, which rotated as they became full of water. The weight of the water in the breastwheels propelled the waterwheel in circular motion. “Turning at a relatively constant rate, the water wheel was attached to a vertical shaft through two bevel gears arranged at a ninety degree angle to one anoth-er”. This allowed for the conversion of stored energy into usable, kinet-ic energy. Machines within the buildings were arranged in long lines so that harnessed power could travel the length of the building. Later, due to frequent malfunctions, a new design of a belt-and-pulley system was de-vised in 1828. A flywheel transferred power from the main shaft to small-er shafts and then to individual looms. This allowed for a smoother and more efficient hydropower system.

“If it is true that the discovery of new sources of power has been the basis for the progression of civilization… then the superseding of wind and water power must surely be celebrated”- John Reynolds.The Androscoggin River’s natural power played a great role in transform-ing the city’s economic capabilities. Dropping from 1,245 feet, the Great Falls were the steepest gradient of any Maine River that catered to power generation and ultimately to textile mills productivity. The whole idea of hydroelectric power was that the energy from the water falls would help generate power for each mill’s power generation stations. The Androscog-gin River’s “power machine” was found in the Great Falls, and this natu-ral energy helped further Lewiston’s textile industries.

“If it is asked what are the causes that have made Lewiston grow faster than any other city in Maine during the last thirty years, the answer is found in the magnificent water power with which Nature has endowed it, and its geographical location at the natural center of a large and populous section of the Pine Tree state. The water power of Lewiston is one of the finest to be found in New England.”

Androscoggin Generation Stations