Editing Lewiston, Maine (section)

===Industrial development and Benjamin Bates===

[[File:Benjamin E Bates founder of Bates College.jpg|thumb|Rail and textile tycoon [[Benjamin E. Bates|Benjamin Bates]]|238x238px]]
Lewiston was a slow but steadily growing farm town throughout its early history. By the early-to-mid-19th century, however, as [[water power]] was being honed, Lewiston's location on the Androscoggin River would prove to make it a perfect location for emerging industry.<ref name="Coolidge" /> In 1809, Michael Little built a large wooden sawmill next to the falls. Burned in 1814 by an [[arson]]ist, it was later rebuilt. In 1836, local entrepreneurs—predominantly the Little family and friends—formed the Androscoggin Falls [[Dam]], [[canal lock|Lock]] & [[Canal]] Company:<blockquote>...for the purpose of erecting and constructing dams, locks, canals, mills, works, machines, and buildings on their own lands and also manufacturing cotton, wool, iron, steel, and paper in the towns of Lewiston, [[Minot, Maine|Minot]], and Danville.<ref>Elder, Janus G. ''A History of Lewiston, Maine with a Genealogical Register of Early Families'' page 52.</ref></blockquote>

The sales of stock attracted [[Boston]] investors—including Thomas J. Hill, Lyman Nichols, George L. Ward and [[Alexander De Witt]]. De Witt convinced textile and rail [[Business magnate|tycoon]] [[Benjamin Bates IV|Benjamin Bates]], then-President of the [[Union Pacific Railroad]], to come to Lewiston and fund the emerging Lewiston Water Power Company. Soon after Bates arrived, the company created the first [[canal]] in the city. In the spring of 1850, some 400 Irish men recruited in and around Boston by construction contractor Patrick O'Donnell arrived in Lewiston and began work on the canal system.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Hard Times, Hard Men: Maine and the Irish 1830-1860|last=Mundy|first=James H.|publisher=Harp Publications|year=1990|isbn=0-9626389-0-0|location=Auburn Public Library|pages=59}}</ref> Impressed with the labor force and "working spirit" of the Lewistonions, Bates founded the [[Bates Mill|Bates Manufacturing Company]], leading to the construction of 5 [[Mill (grinding)|mills]] starting with [[Bates Mill|Bates Mill No. 1]]. In August 1850, Maine Governor [[John Hubbard (Maine politician)|John Hubbard]] signed the incorporation act and the mill was completed 1852. Bates positioned the mill in Lewiston due to the location of the Lewiston Falls which provided the mill with power. Under Bates' supervision, during the Civil War, the mill produced textiles for the [[Union Army]]. His mills generated employment for thousands of Irish, Canadians, and immigrants from Europe. The mill was Maine's largest employer for three decades.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Maine_Emigration_and_Immigration|title=Maine Emigration and Immigration {{!}} Learn {{!}} FamilySearch.org|website=familysearch.org|access-date=January 11, 2016|archive-date=March 1, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160301034654/https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Maine_Emigration_and_Immigration|url-status=live}}</ref>

This company began Lewiston's transformation from a small [[farming]] town into a textile manufacturing center on the model of [[Lowell, Massachusetts]].<ref name="Coolidge" /> The creation of the Bates manufacturing trusts saw rapid economic growth, positioning the city as the wealthiest city in Maine,<ref name=":13">{{Cite book|title=The Life of Benjamin E. Bates|last=Johnson|first=Chase|publisher=Adams Media|year=1980}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title=Bates College was named after Mansfield Man|last=Chase|first=Harry|publisher=National Resources Trust of Mansfield|location=Edmund Muskie Archives|page=5}}</ref> and created budding [[Wealth|affluent]] districts such as the [[Main Street–Frye Street Historic District]]. Although the odd-majority of the population was [[working class]], a distinctive [[upper class]] emerged at this time. The [[Bates Mill]] remained the largest employer in Lewiston from the 1850s to the mid-late 20th century.

[[File:SaintPeterPaulBasilicaLewiston.jpg|thumb|right|Saints Peter and Paul Basilica, one of only a few basilicas in New England, and the only one in Maine, on Ash Street]]

Railroad construction was key to the development of both Lewiston and its neighbor, Auburn. In 1849, the Androscoggin & Kennebec railroad, running through Lewiston and Auburn, connected these towns to Waterville and the St. Lawrence & Atlantic Railway line between Portland, Maine, and Montreal, Quebec. The Androscoggin & Kennebec Railroad was constructed by Irish laborers, many of whom joined the Lewiston canal construction crews in 1850. The Irish laborers and their families lived in shanty-town neighborhoods called "patches".<ref>{{Cite book|title=Hard Times, Hard Men|last=Mundy|first=James H.|publisher=Harp Publications|year=1990|isbn=0-9626389-0-0|location=Auburn Public Library|pages=60}}</ref> By 1854, one quarter of Lewiston's population was Irish, the highest concentration in any settlement in Maine.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Hard Times, Hard Men|last=Mundy|first=James H.|publisher=Harp Publications|year=1990|isbn=0-9626389-0-0|location=Auburn Public Library|pages=59}}</ref> Subsequently, trains connected [[Quebec]] with Lewiston on a daily schedule. During the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], the high demand for textiles helped Lewiston develop a strong industrial base through the Bates Enterprise. However, the concentration of wealth in [[Benjamin Bates IV|Benjamin Bates]] sparked the [[Benjamin Bates IV#1861 Lewiston cotton riots|1861 Lewiston cotton riots]] which prompted him to give thousands of dollars back to the city and expand the employment opportunities at his mills. In 1861, a flood of [[French-Canadian]] immigration into Maine began, spawned by industrial work opportunities in Maine cities with [[water power]] from waterfalls.<ref>{{Citation| last = Varney| first = George J.| title = Gazetteer of the state of Maine. Lewiston| place = Boston| publisher = Russell| year = 1886| url = http://history.rays-place.com/me/lewiston-me.htm| archive-url = https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20170505170556/http://history.rays-place.com/me/lewiston-me.htm| url-status = dead| archive-date = May 5, 2017| access-date = January 13, 2011}}</ref> This brought a significant influx of [[French-speaking Quebecer|Québécois]] millworkers who worked alongside Irish immigrants and Yankee mill girls. Lewiston's population boomed between 1840 and 1890 from 1,801 to 21,701. [[Canadiens]] settled in an area downtown that became known as Little Canada, and Lewiston's character has remained largely [[French American|Franco-American]] ever since. In 1855, a Maine preacher traveled from [[Parsonsfield, Maine|Parsonsfield]] to Lewiston to establish an institution of [[Higher education|higher learning]] in the city. In 1855, the [[Maine Legislature|Maine State Legislature]] was petitioned by Lewiston locals to found the [[Bates College|Maine State Seminary]]. The school opened in 1855, and educated the working class of Maine while also providing education for blacks and women at a time when other universities barred their entrance. At its founding, it became the first coeducational college in New England and one of the earliest proponents of [[abolitionism]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bates.edu/150-years/months/september/maine-state-seminary-opens/|title=September 1857: The Maine State Seminary opens {{!}} 150 Years {{!}} Bates College|website=www.bates.edu|date=March 22, 2010|access-date=2016-02-21|archive-date=August 24, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170824220605/http://www.bates.edu/150-years/months/september/maine-state-seminary-opens/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bates.edu/bates-history.xml |title=Bates College: A Brief History |access-date=2010-01-12 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100528124020/http://www.bates.edu/bates-history.xml |archive-date=May 28, 2010 }}</ref><ref>Mary Caroline Crawford,[https://archive.org/details/collegegirlamer03crawgoog/page/n404 <!-- pg=284 quote=first woman college new england bates. --> The College Girl of America and the Institutions which make her what she is], (LC Page, Boston: 1904), pg. 284</ref>

During this time, in 1863, Lewiston was incorporated as a city. In 1872, St. Peter's church was built in Lewiston. This was the first French-Canadian national church in Maine. In 1864, the Maine State Seminary was renamed [[Bates College]] in honor of [[Benjamin Bates IV|Benjamin Bates]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bates.edu/150-years/history/|title=A Brief History {{!}} 150 Years {{!}} Bates College|website=www.bates.edu|date=March 22, 2010|access-date=2017-05-10|archive-date=August 20, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170820080301/http://www.bates.edu/150-years/history/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1880, ''[[Le Messager (Maine)|Le Messager]]'', a French-language newspaper, began printing in Lewiston to serve its predominant ethnic population. The local [[Shriners|Kora Shrine]] was organized in 1891 and held its first meetings in a [[freemasonry|Masonic temple]] on Lisbon Street. This group would from 1908 to 1910 build the [[Kora Temple]] on Sabattus Street, the largest home of a [[Fraternal and service organisations|fraternal organization]] in the state. Architect [[George M. Coombs]] designed this [[Moors|Moorish]]-style structure.

City leaders decided to build a cathedral to which the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland]] could relocate. Construction of the [[Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul (Lewiston, Maine)|Church of Saints Peter and Paul]] began in 1905 and ended in 1938, funded mostly through thousands of small donations from Lewiston residents. It is the largest Roman Catholic Church in Maine, and Lewiston's most prominent landmark. While the Diocese of Portland did not relocate to Lewiston, the church nevertheless became a [[basilica]] in 2004. It is one of the few American basilicas outside of a major metropolitan area.
{{wide image|Lewiston ME c1910 LOC pan 6a05744.jpg|1000px|Black and white photo of Lewiston factories {{circa|1910}}|alt=Lewiston factories c. 1910}}