Lewiston Historical Commission Publications

These seven publications are offered here as a courtesy of the Lewiston Historical Commission. These files are in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. You will need the FREE Adobe Acrobat Reader to view them. Please allow at least few minutes for these files to download, you may experience a blank screen during the time the file is actually downloading to your computer.

Bound copies of many of these titles are available for sale at the Lewiston Library and Museum L/A.

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Historic Lewiston: Franco-American Origins (1974)

By Charlotte Michaud Assisted by Adelard Janelle

The Lewiston Historical Commission's very first in a series of publications. This one emphasizes Lewiston, Maine's Franco-American Heritage, it's origins and early history. It covers a multitude of cultural aspects concerning communication, education, employment, family life, schools and churches, newspaper, politics, housing, the mills, and details on the area called "Little Canada" where many of Lewiston's Franco-Americans resided.

(Download - 47 PDF Pages - 5.64 MB)

Historic Lewiston: a Textile City in Transition (1976)

By James S Leamon

This publication is the second in a series Lewiston Historical Commission publications and it relates the changes in Lewiston from it's beginnings as an agricultural community, to a company mill town through it's local and regional industrial development, and finally to it's recent transition to a diversified economy.

(Download - 65 PDF Pages - 11.21 MB)

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Historic Lewiston: Its Government (1982)

By Geneva Kirk and Gridley Barrows A.I.A.

This is the third in series of publications by the Lewiston Historical Commission. It describes Lewiston Maine's early Town and early City Governments, the City Charter and the attempts to revise it. It also covers the construction of Lewiston's two City Halls and culminates with the short biographies of every Mayor for the City of Lewiston, Maine through 1982.

(Download - 59 PDF Pages - 9.90 MB)

Historic Lewiston: the Fire Department (1989)

By: Clarence Penley, Geneva Kirk and Gridley Barrows

This is the fourth in a series of Historic Lewiston publications. It was compiled by members of the Lewiston Historical Commission and Retired Auburn Fire Department Deputy Chief Clarence E Penely. The History of the City of Lewiston, Maine Fire Department is captured from its earliest beginnings in 1849 through the late 1980's.

(Download - 86 PDF Pages - 7.86 MB) 

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Historic Lewiston: Its Architectural Heritage (1997)

By: Ruth Libbey O'Halloran and Illustrated by Gridley Barrows

The fifth in a series of Historic Lewiston publictaions by the Lewiston Historical Commission. This one takes readers down memory lane and on a historical tour of over one hundred of Lewiston's most historic places. The text was completed in the late 1970's by Ruth Libbey O'Halloran, and some twenty years later, it was illustrated by Gridley Barrows, bringing this work to completion.

(Download - 119 PDF Pages - 10.69 MB)

Historic Lewiston: Bales to Bedspreads (2000)

By: Lewiston Historical Commission

The sixth in a series of Lewiston Historical Commission publications. This one is a pictorial account, of old photographs rescued from the Bates Mill and depicts the processes used by the Bates Manufacturing Company. The text was prepared by the members of the Lewiston Historical Commission with invaluable assistance from two long-time employees of Bates Manufacturing.

(Download - 46 PDF Pages - 7.48 MB) 

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Historic Lewiston: the Grange at Crowley's Junction (2003)

By: Douglas I. Hodgkin

The seventh in a series of publications by the Lewiston Historical Commission. The History of Lewiston Grange No. 2 at Crowley's Junction is nicely delivered having been culled by the author through interviews, letters, diaries, photos and memorabilia. The Grange was a vibrant organization until about the middle of the twentieth century. Local Granges played an important role in the lives of their predominantly agriculturally oriented members and their communities.

(Download - 68 PDF Pages - 9.14 MB)