Peter R. Stowell Books

Before its incorporation in 1803, Dixfield was called Holmanstown, after its principal proprietor, Col. Jonathan Holman. Dixfield, the easternmost town in Oxford County, bordered two rivers, the Webb and the Androscoggin, which provided valuable waterpower and drained the town's rolling wooded hills and fertile valleys. The twin peaks of the Sugar Loaves form its most recognizable landmark. In the 1800s, Amos Trask purchased mills that had been built along the Webb River. Over time, his descendants, the Stanleys, Stowells, Eustises, and Harlows, steered Dixfield away from its agrarian roots towards becoming both the toothpick and spool manufacturing capital of the world. From the area's early homes, bridges, and streets to its pioneering toothpick mills and from lumber barons to antique dealers, Dixfield contains an array of photographs designed to present life as it was. The Dixfield community continues forging into the future, drawing on the sterling character of the people who have made it what it is today.

Old Town, situated in north-central Maine, sits snugly along the mighty Penobscot River. Taking advantage of the river's vibrant woods and watershed, Old Town would become the country's leading producer of timber in its early history. Penobscot Indian tribes had inhabited the land for more than 6,000 years, but the area's resources were so vast that, by 1836, the first railroad in Maine had established a line from Bangor to Old Town, with many eager to access the town's wealth. Since its separation from the town of Orono in 1840, Old Town has developed a robust industrial base, including Old Town Canoe Company, Penobscot Chemical Fibre, T.M. Chapman & Sons, the Bickmore Gall Company, Jordan Lumber, LeBree's Bakery, and the James W. Sewall Company. Today, Old Town has lost much of its industrialized base, but nonetheless, its strong ethnic and religious communities, which have worked together for more than 175 years, stand ready to prepare the river town for a bright future.