Editing Gray, Maine (section)

==History==
The area was granted on March 27, 1736, by the [[Massachusetts General Court]] to a group from [[Boston]]. In 1737, the township was laid out and roads cleared, with the first settlers arriving in the spring of 1738. But during the ongoing [[French and Indian Wars]], the settlement was attacked in the spring of 1745 by [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Indians]], who killed [[cattle]] and burned the meetinghouse and all dwellings. Inhabitants fled to other towns. In 1751, the village was resettled, but wiped out again in May 1755.<ref name=Coolidge>{{Cite book  | last = Coolidge  | first = Austin J.|author2=John B. Mansfield  | title = A History and Description of New England| publisher = A.J. Coolidge  | year = 1859| location = Boston, Massachusetts| pages = [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_OcoMAAAAYAAJ/page/n177 143]–144| url = https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_OcoMAAAAYAAJ| quote = coolidge mansfield history description new england 1859.  }}</ref>

Consequently, Fort Gray was built in 1755. It featured a [[blockhouse]] measuring {{convert|50|ft|m}} long by {{convert|25|ft|m}} wide, set within a garrison [[palisade]] {{convert|100|ft|m}} long by {{convert|75|ft|m}} wide. The town had been without a name until about 1756, when it began to be called, Boston, then New Boston and eventually, New Town. On June 19, 1778, New Boston Plantation would be incorporated as Gray after Thomas Gray, a proprietor.<ref name="Coolidge"/>

Gray had many farms and some quarries. Other industries included a [[gristmill]], 12 [[sawmill]]s, a [[Tanning (leather)|tannery]], [[granite]] and [[marble]] works, [[carriage]] and [[sleigh]] manufacturer, and [[shuttle (weaving)|shuttle]] maker.<ref>[https://archive.today/20120708170508/http://history.rays-place.com/me/gray-me.htm George J. Varney, "History of Gray, Maine" (1886)]</ref> Along Collyer Brook, Samuel Mayall established in 1791 the first successful [[water power|water-powered]] [[woolen]] [[Watermill|mill]] in [[North America]]. [[United Kingdom|British]] woolen [[guild]]s had prohibited the production of goods in the colonies and tried to prevent British technology from being put to use in competition against them. Mayall smuggled out of England plans for machinery hidden in [[:wikt:bale#Etymology 3|bale]]s of cloth meant for trade with the [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Indians]]. When the guilds learned of his deception, they tried at least twice to kill him. They sent him a hat in which were hidden pins laced with poison, and then a box with loaded pistols rigged to fire when opened. Suspicious of the packages, Mayall avoided an untimely death. His daughters Mary and Phanela took over the mills when he died in 1831, and built the Lower Mill in 1834. The Mayalls retained ownership until about 1879. The business closed in 1902. The ruins of the mill and associated structures are still visible to this day and are open to the public.<ref>[http://www.maine.gov/doc/parks/programs/history/mayallmill/index.htm History of Mayall Mills]</ref>

In the 1970s, Gray was chosen as the site of one of ten [[WGU-20|Decision Information Distribution System]] radio stations, designed to alert the public of an enemy attack. The system was never implemented and the station was not built.

==="The Stranger"===
[[File:Stranger grave Gray Maine.jpg|left|thumb|Tombstone of "The Stranger" in Gray, Maine]] During the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], a [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] soldier's body was accidentally sent to Gray. Instead of sending the body away, the "Ladies of Gray" gave the rebel soldier a proper burial and funded a gravestone marked simply, "Stranger". A statue dedicated to the "Unknown Soldier" was later erected in Gray Village Center, and every [[Memorial Day]], the Unknown Soldier is respected with a [[Flags of the Confederate States of America|Confederate flag]] marking the grave. (The Civil War was especially painful for the small town, as they had proportionately sent more men to conflict than any other town in Maine.) Today, there are more than 178 [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] soldiers—and one Confederate—buried in the Gray Village Cemetery.<ref>[http://20thmainevolunteers.com/stranger.html The Stranger]</ref>
{{further|Unknown Confederate Soldier of Gray, Maine}}