Text by a Reeds Brook Middle School student
Walking Tour of Historic Summer Street
No neighborhood is more reminiscent of Hampden’s 19th century past than that of Summer Street, bordered on the east by the Penobscot River and on the west by the Main Road (Rout 1A). Hampden’s development between 1800 and 1920 is dramatically represented by the architectural diversity of the surviving buildings which line the tree-shaded slope from the “Lower Light” to the western bank of the Penobscot River.
The residences of Summer Street reflect Hampden’s 19th century wealth, for Hampden was a place of increasing industrialization. Within its boundaries were numerous gristmills, paper mills, three silver mines, and a foundry. Farmland dominated the rural area to the village’s west. The combination of agriculture and industry permitted Hampden to thrive. Early in the 19th century, it even competed with Bangor, its neighbor to the north, for economic dominance in Penobscot County.
As you take your walk down Summer Street today, imagine how it used to look before the street was paved, before the advent of automobiles, and before Bangor became the commercial hub of our region. Summer Street was the heart of Hampden life in the late 19th century. There were trolley cars running back and forth to Bangor, and steam-powered vessels departing regularly from the wharf on the Penobscot to Boston. A ticket was only $6.00! Horse-drawn wagons were often lined up all the way from the river to the Main Road waiting their turn to off- or on-load goods. Hampden merchants maintained wharves, warehouses, and retail stores on Summer Street, all necessary related to the buying and selling of goods, including molasses, sugar, and rum from the West Indies.
Artisans were attracted to Summer Street’s wealth. Painters, carpenters, smiths, and masons all were busy here between 1800 and 1920, building new residences and adding on to the old ones. As you study the various architectural styles chosen by Summer Street residents, you will certainly sense the vitality and curiosity of those who lived and worked here during the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Credits
The Hampen Historic Preservation commission, Sara Martin, and the Explorer Class of the Reeds Brook Middle School.
This project was made possible by a grant from The New Century Community Program and The Maine Humanities Council
