Editing Millinocket, Maine (section)

==History==
Millinocket is an [[Abenaki]] word that means land of many islands. For more than 10,000 years the area now known as Millinocket was inhabited by the [[Penobscot]] (their name for themselves is ''Pαnawάhpskewi)'', an Indigenous people from the [[Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands|Northeastern Woodlands]] region whose name means the people of where the white rocks extend out.

The area was settled in 1829 by Betsy and Thomas Fowler and their family, who cleared land for a farm near Shad Pond. Other families followed in 1837. In 1846, [[Henry David Thoreau]] hired members of the Fowler family as guides on a trip to [[Mount Katahdin]], which he wrote about in ''The Maine Woods''. When the [[Bangor and Aroostook Railroad]] extended service to [[Houlton, Maine|Houlton]] in 1894, the line ran through the area, opening it to development.

Charles W. Mullen,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Charles W. Mullen, Mayor of Bangor|url=https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/spec_photos/2457|website=DigitalCommons@UMaine|language=en|access-date=May 16, 2020}}</ref> an [[engineering]] graduate from the [[University of Maine]], proposed a [[hydroelectric dam]] on the [[Penobscot River]]. He recognized the [[waterfall|falls]] as an ideal [[water power]] source to operate a large [[pulp and paper]] mill. Mullen contacted Garret Schenck, vice president of the [[International Paper]] mill at [[Rumford, Maine|Rumford Falls]] and an expert in the industry, about building a pulp and paper mill near the dam. Schenck agreed, and set about obtaining the necessary financial backing.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.penobscotcountymegen.info/millinocket.htm |title=History of Millinocket, Maine |access-date=December 16, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721230736/http://www.penobscotcountymegen.info/millinocket.htm |archive-date=July 21, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

After securing land rights, the chosen site was at the junction of the [[West Branch Penobscot River|West Branch of the Penobscot River]] and Millinocket Stream, where it stands today. Things moved quickly, and on May 15, 1899, construction began on the new [[Great Northern Paper Company]] [[paper mill]]. As the location was not near existing towns, it became necessary to build one. Millinocket, meaning "the land of many islands" after all the islands in the Penobscot River, was incorporated on March 16, 1901.<ref name="millinockethistoricalsociety.org">[http://millinockethistoricalsociety.org/ "Brief History of Millinocket, Maine," Millinocket Historical Society]</ref>

Schenck contracted [[bonded labor]], especially stonemasons from Italy. The term "bonded" in this case referred to the fact that the Italians owed for the passage to the U.S. and were in debt as soon as they set foot in this country. Italian masons were largely responsible for constructing the Millinocket mill.<ref name="millinockethistoricalsociety.org"/> Immigrants from Poland, Finland, Lithuania, and Hungary, as well as French Canadians, also came to work on the mill. 

Throughout the 20th century, the community prospered. It developed a reputation as a small but successful rural town, mostly due to the paper industry, but also to its proximity to Katahdin, Maine's tallest mountain, and [[Moosehead Lake]], Maine's largest lake.

In early 2003, Great Northern Paper announced it had filed for [[bankruptcy protection]] for its Millinocket and [[East Millinocket, Maine|East Millinocket]] mills. Since then, the [[mill town]] has struggled to reshape its economy, while receiving significant help from the state government and local economic development efforts. Shortly after closing the mills in 2008, a Canadian corporation purchased the bankrupt paper mills in both Millinocket and East Millinocket. In addition to the traditional [[forest product]]s industry, Millinocket has been growing a [[service economy]], and has grown into a major four-season tourist attraction. The region is served by the [[Millinocket Municipal Airport]], which sells both 100LL [[avgas]] and [[jet fuel]].<ref>[http://www.katahdinmaine.com/area-history.html "Area History", Katahdin Area Chamber of Commerce] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101221232309/http://www.katahdinmaine.com/area-history.html |date=December 21, 2010 }}</ref>
<gallery mode=packed heights=140px>
File:Great Northern Hotel in Millinocket, ME.jpg|Great Northern Hotel in Millinocket (1906)
File:Great Northern Paper Company Mill, Millinocket, ME.jpg|[[Great Northern Paper Company]] Mill in Millinocket (1907)
File:Log Pile of the Great Northern Paper Co., Millinocket, ME.jpg|Log pile in Millinocket (1908)
</gallery>