Historic Hallowell

Josh Crockett, Cole Leighton & John Wallace

The Vaughan Stream was an important part of the history of Hallowell. The dams were an integral part of early industry along the Vaughan Stream, powering some of the mills.

The Vaughan Stream, located in Hallowell, Maine, was owned by the Vaughan Family. In 1840, Sarah Hallowell Vaughan sold the Vaughan Stream water rights because of loss of family funds. In 1930, the Vaughans regained the rights to the stream after another economic fall during The Great Depression. After this, large industrial companies, such as mills, began to set up shop along the shores of the Vaughan Stream.

The Vaughan Stream was hard to navigate because of its small size. But one way that people used the Vaughan Stream was for power. When the stream wasn’t dried up, factories used a series of pipes to generate power. The way this worked was water behind a dam went into a pipe and a tube called a Penstock. While it was in this tube, the water was so heavy that it turned a turbine which turned a set of gears which generated power.

There were three dams that were on the Vaughan Stream. One of the dams was the Wire Mill dam, located a few feet above the now arch bridge. The arch bridge was completed in 1930, replacing the wooden bridge that was mounted on the wire mill dam. Another dam that was on the Vaughan Stream was the Stickney & Page Dam. The Stickney & Page dam was constructed in 1871. It replaced a earthen dam that was built in 1849. The Stickney & Pages dam was a reserve reservoir for three dams below it. When the stream was dried up, the factories were then powered by steam engines. As a result, the Vaughan Stream had many uses.

In the early settlement of Hallowell, the area around Bombahook and Vaughan Stream was a scene of considerable activity. One of the earliest industries was the Linseed Oil factory. In 1879, the Knickerbocker Ice Company had several ice houses, and the ice was cut from the river in an area about one mile up and shipped to big cities like Boston and New York. Sometime ice was shipped to Cuba and the West Indies. Another industry along the Bombahook, the Kennebec Light and Heat Company, was the first supplier of an electric current to Hallowell.

There were multiple mills on the Vaughan Brook. Some were powered by dams like the Wire Mill Dam. The dams worked like this. First, the water behind the dam flew through a pipe connected to a Penstock which had a turbine at the bottom. The force of the water spun the turbine which turned a shaft with gears attached to it sending power to the mill. Dams were more advanced by generating power instead of just turning gears. Now, factories are powered by electricity which opens jobs at power plants, making life easier for everyone.

Logs would float down the Kennebec River to the steam-powered Milliken Sawmill that operated in the late 1800’s and the early 1900‘s. The sawmill would cut the trees up into planks. After that, the planks were sent to the lumber company to be sold to anyone who needing to build houses, sheds, and porches, etc. The mill was powered by steam which turned a shaft while a conveyer belt took the trees up to the sawmill.

The logs were scaled to a specific length on the way or upon arrival to the saw mill. Then the logs were de-barked. After that, the head-saw broke the logs into cants, unfinished logs to be further processed. Edging took the trim off the logs. Finally, the logs were dried, planed, and shipped to the market.