Fallen-down barns in Aroostook County fields often recall days gone by.
But there are many other images that reflect The County’s rich history. Some of them exist only in memory. Others still stand, serving as reminders of how life used to be.
Consider a long-overgrown picnic area, a century-old railroad structure and an airport that hasn’t seen a plane in years. See if these spark any memories.
Feeder Farm, Mapleton
Feeder Farm was a favorite local picnic spot in the 1950s and ’60s. Complete with tables, a game field, fire pit and a “roundabout” — a spinning metal contraption with seats, operated by a foot-powered pump — it was a gathering place for all ages.
Remillie Good Norsworthy of Chapman remembers having family picnics there and going on field trips from Gouldville Elementary School.
“That roundabout had such large plank seats that it could easily seat 16-20 elementary kids,” she said. “The foot treadles or push bars were linked to the hand bars, so we could push with our feet and pull with our hands to really get it going.”
Forest and Gladys Chandler led the group that built the facility for the public to use, along with members of the Smith and Kinney families, Graydon K. Archer said in 2015 on the Facebook page Things I Remember about Growing up in Presque Isle.
“It fell into disuse sometime in the ’60’s. In my opinion the advent of television killed marvelous places like the Feeder Farm, never to return,” Archer wrote.
Today, it’s unclear where the road even was that led to Feeder Farm and no traces of it remain.
Railroad water tower, Frenchville
This water tower pays tribute to more than a century of railroading in Aroostook. Built in 1910, the same year the railroad first came to Frenchville, it is owned by the town and curated by the Frenchville Historical Society.
It is the only remaining water tower east of the Mississippi on a functioning railroad and is on the National Register of Historic Places, said Alice Carpenter, historical society president.
“In those days, they stopped in every little town to take on water to make steam to power the engines,” Carpenter said. “It would hold 50,000 gallons of water.”
Behind the tower is a vintage steam-powered pump, which pumped water from a nearby brook into the tower. Most of the water towers fell into disrepair with the advent of diesel engines, she said.
Now the tower holds no water but is a popular attraction for visitors. The site is open from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays through Sept. 7 or by appointment, Carpenter said.
For information visit the historical society on Facebook or the Town of Frenchville website.
Former Customs station, Hodgdon
The former U.S. Customs and Immigration station in East Hodgdon is now abandoned, according to Kristi McAtee, who lives nearby.
“I knew the couple that lived there,” McAtee said. “My family’s old homestead was just up the road from it.”
The building was once known as the East Hodgdon/Union Corners crossing, according to a publication by the Center for Land Use Interpretation, an educational and research organization based in California. The structure was sold and became a family home.
The new Houlton/Hodgdon station was built in 1965, according to U.S. Customs and Immigration.
Mars Hill Airport
In a field on the West Ridge Road, a small white building surrounded by vegetation is all that remains of the Mars Hill Airport, which has been defunct for about three years.
The original airstrip was established around 1946 by pilot Victor Giberson and Ray Holloran, said Steve Hitchcock, founder and president of the Central Aroostook Historical Society.
The airport was moved slightly north in 1976, because the new Fort Street Elementary School was being built and the airport would have been too close, he said. The building came from a former Presque Isle business and Hitchcock painted the sign on it.
Most recently it was part of a state flying event, he said.
“Maybe 10 years [ago], a flying organization set up a program. If you flew into certain airports, you got credit. Whoever went to all of them got a lobster dinner,” Hitchcock said. “This airport was part of that.”
The airport is featured in the 2018 book “Stories from the Heart of the County,” compiled and edited by Hitchcock and fellow historical society member Betsy York.
Sheridan church
St. Mark’s Church in Sheridan was active in the 1970s but was decommissioned when the new St. Mark’s was built in Ashland.
The building’s shell remains and the steeple has been removed. When we asked Facebook readers to share some memories, many said they, their parents or grandparents were married there.
It was a family affair for Claire Chasse Williams, whose paternal grandparents were involved in and lived near the church. Her aunts, Jeannette and Rita Legassie, were both organists and choir directors, she said.
Williams was baptized and confirmed there, as was Pat Long of Ashland. He remembers the stained glass windows and the loft inside.
“That was such a beautiful church back in the ’60s and ’70s. I was an altar server in that church,” he said. “It was old, cold, but so so beautiful. On weekends the Mass was full downstairs and upstairs. The echo of the organ was so amazing.”
Hannah Colleen Cummings said she and her siblings often played at the site. Even though it’s an empty shell now, it’s still beautiful, she said.
Today the building is owned by Jarad Carney, whose father also served as an altar boy there.
There are many other places around Aroostook that could tell such stories. While you’re out exploring, maybe you’ll find more of them.
