Editing Hallowell, Maine (section)

==History==

The city is named for Benjamin [[Hallowell family|Hallowell]], a [[Boston]] merchant and one of the Kennebec Proprietors, holders of land originally granted to the [[Plymouth Company]] by the [[British monarchy]] in the 1620s.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ | title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States | publisher=Govt. Print. Off. | author=Gannett, Henry | year=1905 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n146 147]}}</ref>

The first settler of European descent was Deacon Pease Clark, who emigrated with his wife and son Peter from [[Attleborough, Massachusetts|Attleborough]], Massachusetts, in the spring of 1762. Legend has it that after disembarking on the west side of the [[Kennebec River|Kennebec]], near present-day Water Street, the Clarks took shelter in their overturned cart. On a riverfront lot measuring 50 [[rod (length)|rods]] (275 yards, about 250 meters), the Clark family raised corn, rye and other crops. The first land they cleared was occupied by the fire department in 1859.<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/n181 147]–148| url = https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_OcoMAAAAYAAJ| quote = coolidge mansfield history description new england 1859.  }}</ref>

In 1797, Harrington (later the city of [[Augusta, Maine|Augusta]]) split from Hallowell to be a separate town.<ref>[https://archives.mainegenealogy.net/2006/10/1790-census-hallowell-lincoln-county.html Maine Genealogy Archives – 1790 Census: Hallowell, Lincoln County.] Accessed 25 October 2020.</ref> The part of Hallowell that is the current city was then known as "The Hook".<ref name="MAGDE">{{cite book |last= Maine League of Historical Societies and Museums |editor=Doris A. Isaacson |title=Maine: A Guide 'Down East' |year=1970 |publisher=Courier-Gazette, Inc. |location=Rockland, Me | pages = 148–152 }}</ref> Today, the city's population (2,467) is only slightly smaller than it was in 1820, the year Maine was separated from Massachusetts and became a state. Around 1830, Hallowell's inhabitants enjoyed the services of 71 stores along Water Street (a greater number than [[Augusta, Maine|Augusta]], which had a population of 1,000 and just 20 merchants).<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.maine.gov/dacf/municipalplanning/comp_plans/Hallowell_2010.pdf |title=2010: HALLOWELL COMPREHENSIVE PLAN UPDATE |date=2010 |pages=111}}</ref>

Thriving industries included logging, trading, publishing and [[shipbuilding]]. Location on the navigable Kennebec River [[estuary]] allowed 50 ships launched from Hallowell's [[wharf|wharves]] to reach the Atlantic Ocean between 1783 and 1901. Two [[grist mill]]s, five [[sawmill]]s and two [[slaughterhouse]]s served the needs of residents near and far.<ref>{{Citation
  | last = Varney
  | first = George J.
  | title = Gazetteer of the state of Maine. Hallowell
  | place = Boston
  | publisher = Russell
  | year = 1886
  | url = http://history.rays-place.com/me/hallowell-me.htm }}
</ref>

In 1815, the first [[granite]] [[quarried]] near the [[Manchester, Maine|Manchester]] town line signaled the birth of an industry that would support Hallowell until 1908, when cement displaced stone as the construction material of choice. In 1826, the ice industry began in earnest, employing thousands over the next 75 years. Frozen blocks loaded onto Hallowell's [[schooners]] were delivered to [[Cuba]] and the [[West Indies]]. Other local products exported via the [[Kennebec River|Kennebec]] (and, after 1857, by train) from Hallowell included [[sandpaper]], textiles from cotton from the [[Deep South]], [[rope]], [[linseed oil]], [[oilcloth]], [[wire]], books and [[shoes]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://history.rays-place.com/me/hallowell.htm|title=Historical Sketch of HALLOWELL, Maine}}</ref>

[[File:Kennebec River from London Hill, Hallowell, ME.jpg|thumb|left|Hallowell {{circa|1905}}]]
The [[Kennebec River]] sustained the city from its inception, but the waterway also inspired fear. Spring floods regularly terrorized shopkeepers and sometimes brought commerce to a standstill. Worse still, citizens eager to cross the river in winter and unwary children [[Ice skating|skating]] and playing too far from the riverbank lost their lives when ice turned out to be thinner than it looked. During 1816, [[the Year Without a Summer]], numerous crops were damaged and/or destroyed throughout New England, including in Hallowell. Farmers were often forced to slaughter some of their livestock for food and, later, to sell remaining crops at nearly double normal prices.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Strickland |first=Ashley |date=2019-09-17 |title=Why a volcanic eruption caused a 'year without a summer' in 1816 |url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/17/world/tambora-eruption-year-without-summer-scn/index.html |access-date=2024-01-12 |website=CNN |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Perley |first=Sidney |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=twkAAAAAMAAJ |title=Historic Storms of New England: Its Gales, Hurricanes, Tornadoes, Showers with Thunder and Lightning, Great Snow Storms, Rains, Freshets, Floods, Droughts, Cold Winters, Hot Summers, Avalanches, Earthquakes, Dark Days, Comets, Aurora-borealis, Phenomena in the Heavens, Wrecks Along the Coast, with Incidents and Anecdotes, Amusing and Pathetic |date=1891 |publisher=Salem Press Publishing and Printing Company |pages=208, 211–213 |language=en |quote=At Hallowell, Me., the earth was frozen half an inch deep, and ice was observed to be a quarter of an inch thick. ... In the neighborhood of Hallowell, Me., on the twentieth [of September], frost killed the corn and injured potatoes in low grounds. ... In Maine, potatoes were seventy-five cents per bushel, the price in the spring of 1816 having been forty cents, which was the usual price.}}</ref>

In 1875, the state opened the [[Maine Industrial School for Girls]] in Hallowell. Operated until the 1970s, it was the state's first [[reform school]] for girls.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Historic Hallowell - Maine Industrial School for Girls |url=http://historichallowell.mainememory.net/page/1647/display.html |access-date=2023-09-13 |website=historichallowell.mainememory.net}}</ref>