When celebrity aviator Harry Atwood made the first aeroplane flight over Bangor in 1912, observers were astonished. It was a sign that the city had recovered from the great fire of 1911 that had destroyed its downtown the year before. While some events are well known, many stories from turn-of-the-century Bangor have been lost to time. In this collection, local author Wayne E. Reilly brings some of the most exciting and intriguing hidden Bangor tales to light--from a gas explosion that left a thirty-foot crater in the middle of downtown to the escape of a mayor's pet pig. Join Reilly as he reveals the hidden stories from Queen City history.
On April 30, 1911, a fire ignited in Frank Greens hay shed that changed the city of Bangor forever. From the ashes of the Great Fire, the logging and mill town emerged as a modernized metropolis. In this collection of retrospective articles, Wayne E. Reilly takes a look at the town of Bangor in the years before the fire, when illegal barrooms and brothels were as rampant as the outbreaks of typhoid and smallpox. He explores Bangor in its boomtown days, when ice harvesting and logging were thriving industries, steamboats ferried passengers between cities and a lively theatre scene drew audiences to see the little Broadway in the Great North Woods. One look through this vibrant window into the past will leave you with your nose pressed to the glass, nostalgic for the olden days of Maines Queen City.
In 1869, a group of ministers and religious faithful established a permanent Methodist camp meeting community on the North Jersey shore. A state charter was issued one year later, and the community of Ocean Grove was born. Following the example set by other camp meetings, Ocean Grove became a center for religious revivals. The town continued to flourish as railroad and steamship lines transported passengers eager to escape the nearby crowded cities. For more than one hundred years, Ocean Grove has provided a retreat to those wishing to return to a life of religious renewal and recreation. Ocean Grove is a detailed look at the growth of this unique seaside community. Home to the largest aggregate of Victorian and early-twentieth-century structures in America, Ocean Grove continues to provide its visitors with a glimpse into the past. Ocean Grove has maintained its custom of holding summer camp meetings for over one hundred-thirty years. These annual revivals have attracted such notable speakers and guests as William Jennings Bryan, Booker T. Washington, and Presidents Grant and Roosevelt to the Great Auditorium. Since its conception, Ocean Grove has been home to an uncommon history, making Ocean Grove a treasure.
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