Just before the turn of the century, there were only a farm house, a barn, and some outbuildings, on a few acres of cleared land. There were two occupants of the Fowler Farm, Charles and Eugenia Powers. Ed Adams, the section foreman for the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad, lived near Millinocket Stream, with his two cousins, Fred and Quincy; and another section hand was living nearby. A camp known as Hunter’s Home, operated by Almon Reed, was the only other habitation. Yet, on March 16, 1901, Millinocket became Maine’s 467th town; and by 1903, it boasted a population of 3,000. In a very short time, it had become one of the state’s wealthiest towns, heralded in the press as the “Magic City.”
The first Millinocket town meeting was held on April 18, 1901.
Katahdin Avenue was Millinocket’s first street, which soon branched off to form a business district to the east, called Penobscot Avenue, more commonly referred to as “main street.” Then Central Avenue was built, intersecting both Katahdin and Penobscot, and forming a triangle that became the center of town. Next came Pine, Poplar, and Spruce Streets, cross streets within this triangle.
There was once a small cemetery where Memorial Park now is, containing three graves, that of a man and two children. The man’s name was Ossinger. When the municipal cemetery was built in Little Italy, the graves were removed, and the plot was landscaped with walks and flower beds, to serve as a town park.
Later, a brook coming up from Ferguson Pond was dammed to form a wading pool, which served as a skating rink in the winter, and which some people in town still remember. Still later, the pond and brook were filled in, and a bandstand was placed there.