Mechanic Falls, Maine

It was originally part of Bakerstown Plantation, granted in 1765 by the Massachusetts General Court to Captain Thomas Baker and other soldiers for their services in the 1690 Battle of Quebec. In 1795, Bakerstown Plantation was incorporated as Poland, from which Minot would be set off in 1802. The dividing line between the towns was the Little Androscoggin River, astride which developed the village of Mechanic Falls. The Poland section of Mechanic Falls was settled in 1830, the Minot in 1836 by Dean Andrews, who was drawn by its fine soil for farming and water power for mills at the falls. Named for the mechanics operating early industrial works here, Mechanic Falls developed into a small mill town, especially after the St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railroad arrived in the late 1840s. The railroad opened the village to business and trade on the direct line between Portland and Montreal.[3]

In 1850, the first paper mill was established. Organized in 1873, the Evans Rifle Manufacturing Company made repeating rifles, which were popular with frontiersmen such as Kit Carson and Buffalo Bill Cody. Other industries produced canned goods, bricks, novelties, confectionery, packed corn, carriages, tools, machines, steam engines and boilers.[4] In 1872, John Witham Penney began manufacturing steam engines, machinery and foundry articles in Mechanic Falls. Fourteen years later, in 1886, his two sons, A.R.and S.R. Penney became partners, formally establishing J.W. Penney and Sons which grew to become one of the greatest machine shops in Maine and was a great factor in the prosperity of Mechanic Falls.[5] On March 22, 1893, Mechanic Falls was set off and incorporated. In 1981, Marcal Paper closed the latter of two paper mills in the town, which now has a more diversified economy and tax base.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 11.16 square miles (28.90 km²), of which 11.00 square miles (28.49 km²) is land and 0.16 square miles (0.41 km²) is water.[1] Mechanic Falls is drained by the Little Androscoggin River.

The town is crossed by state routes 11, 26, 121 and 124. It is bordered by the towns of Poland to the south, Oxford to the northwest, and Minot to the northeast.

• Mechanic Falls Historical Society
• The Samuel Penney House c. 1902

Mechanic Falls is part of Regional School Unit #16. Kenneth Healey is the Superintendent of Schools.

Schools in this district include Elm Street School, Minot Consolidated School, Poland Community School, Bruce Whittier Middle School and Poland Regional High School.[9]

• Mike Bordick, shortstop with Major League Baseball
• Bill Dunlop, record-setting sailor, crossed Atlantic in 9 foot Winds Will[10]
• David Dunn, 18th governor of Maine
• Frank Haven Hall, inventor of the Hall Braille Writer and other Braille printing devices
• Marshall Kirk, librarian, writer
• Lewis L. Millett, Medal of Honor recipient, Korean War officer
• Freelan Oscar Stanley, inventor of the Stanley Steamer and builder of the Stanley Hotel, Maine native and Mechanic Falls schoolmaster, 1874–1881
• Flora E. Strout (1867–1962), teacher and social reformer
• "Edward L. Thayer", who supposedly played one game for the New York Mutuals baseball team in 1876; he was listed in The Official Encyclopedia of Baseball as having been born in Mechanic Falls. The player was actually George Fair, whose pseudonym coincidentally resembled the name of Ernest Lawrence Thayer, author of the classic baseball poem "Casey at the Bat"

• Grand Trunk Station (Mechanic Falls)

• Genealogy Web Project – Mechanic Falls, Maine

• Town of Mechanic Falls, Maine
• Mechanic Falls Public Library
• Maine.gov – Mechanic Falls, Maine
• Maine Genealogy: Mechanic Falls, Androscoggin County, Maine