Editing Lovell, Maine (section)

==History==
[[Image:Main Street, Center Lovell, ME.jpg|thumb|left|Main Street in 1907]]
In 1774, the [[Massachusetts General Court]] granted New Suncook Plantation to the officers and soldiers (or their heirs) who fought on May 8, 1725, during [[Father Rale's War]] against the Sokokis [[Abenaki]] [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Indians]] at Pequawket (now [[Fryeburg, Maine|Fryeburg]]). First settled in 1777, the community had 85 inhabitants by 1790. New Suncook Plantation would be incorporated as a town on November 15, 1800, renamed after [[John Lovewell (Junior)|Captain John Lovewell]], the fallen expedition leader.<ref name=Coolidge>{{Cite book  | last = Coolidge  | first = Austin J.|author2=John B. Mansfield   | title = A History and Description of New England| year = 1859| location = Boston, Massachusetts| pages = 198–199| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=OcoMAAAAYAAJ&q=coolidge%20mansfield%20history%20description%20new%20england%201859&pg=PA198}}</ref>

The Kezar River provided [[water power]] for industry. In the 19th century, mills produced [[bobbin|spool]]s, long [[lumber]], shooks, [[axe|axe handle]]s, [[ox goad]]s, [[carriage]]s, [[sleigh]]s, [[wiktionary:harness|harness]], cabinet work and [[coffin]]s, and boots and [[shoemaking|shoes]]. Good soil helped farms prosper. Following the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], the [[Portland and Ogdensburg Railroad]] connected to Fryeburg, and tourists discovered the beauty of Kezar Lake. Inns and hotels opened, and the town remains a summer resort.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://history.rays-place.com/me/lowell-me.htm |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120709053718/http://history.rays-place.com/me/lowell-me.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 9, 2012 |title=George J. Varney, "History of Lovell, Maine" (1886) |access-date=March 29, 2008 }}</ref>

In 2015 an estimated 100 year old wild [[American Chestnut|American chestnut]] tree was found <ref>https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/12/17/459203467/in-the-maine-woods-a-towering-giant-could-help-save-chesnuts</ref> in a reserved forest in Lovell, on land bequeathed to the University of Maine Foundation. The tree stood 117' tall and a skinny 16.1" in diameter. It is thought to be the largest American Chestnut in the United States.