Lewiston, Maine

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Template:Infobox City Lewiston, located in Androscoggin County, is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of Maine. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 35,690. A former industrial center, it is located in southwest Maine, at the falls of the Androscoggin River, across from Auburn. Lewiston and Auburn are often thought of as a single entity and referred to as Lewiston-Auburn, which is sometimes abbreviated as L-A. Lewiston is home to Bates College, the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, the Lewiston campus of the University of Southern Maine, and several medical centers.

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History

Lewiston was settled in 1770 and officially incorporated in 1795. At least four houses that existed in 1795 in Lewiston have survived to the present and are currently designated "Historic Buildings" by the National Register of Historic Places.

In 1809, Michael Little built a large wooden sawmill next to the falls. Burned in 1814 by an arsonist, it was later rebuilt. In 1836, local entrepreneurs — predominantly the Little family and friends — formed the Androscoggin Falls, Dam, Lock and Canal Company

"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, and Danville".Template:Ref

Later reorganized as the Lewiston Water Power Company the new sales of stock attracted Boston investors — including Thomas J. Hill, Lyman Nichols, George L. Ward, Alexander De Witt, and Benjamin E. Bates (Namesake of Bates College) – who financed a canal system and several textile mills on the Androscoggin river, beginning Lewiston's transformation from a small community into a hub of textile production.

Lewiston's population boomed during these years. During the Civil War, high demand for textiles provided Lewiston with a strong industrial base. Starting in the 1870s, railroad connections to Canada brought an influx of French-Canadian millworkers, and the city's population has been largely Franco-American since.

Image:Canal, Lewiston, ME.jpg The local Kora Shrine was organized in 1891 and held its first meetings in a 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 organization in the state. Architect George M. Coombs would design its Moorish style structure.

City leaders decided to build a cathedral to which the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland would relocate. Construction of the Church of Saints Peter and Paul began in 1905 and ended in 1938, mostly funded through thousands of small donations from Lewiston residents.

Image:City Park, Lewiston, ME.jpg While the Diocese of Portland did not relocate to Lewiston, the cathedral is a prominent landmark and source of pride, and became a basilica in 2004. It is one of the few American basilicas located outside of a major metropolitan area.

Starting in the late 1950s, lower production costs elsewhere led to the closure of many of Lewiston's textile mills, which were the city's economic base and once produced a quarter of American textiles. Today, health care is Lewiston's largest industry. Other industries include paper manufacturing, shoe manufacturing, and tourism. Central Maine Medical Center is the city's largest employer.

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Somali Influx

In 2001, approximately 4,000 Somalis began immigrating to Lewiston from Somalia and the greater Atlanta area. Reactions were mixed in Lewiston, which until then had been predominantly caucasian with the vast majority being of French Canadian descent. Many Somali newcomers received welfare and public housing benefits, which generated resentment among some long-time citizens. The Somalis themselves admitted that the higher welfare benefits in Maine were a partial inducement to settling in the Lewiston area, but they also stated that they were looking to raise their families in a peaceful community. However, Lewiston's economy was not favourable to the Somalis, as they were largely poorly educated (and sometimes illiterate), had few marketable job skills in demand in America, and possessed a poor spoken and written knowledge of the English language. Lewiston's economy had increasingly become more white collar-oriented as the factories closed. Local employment experts conceded that unlike waves of uneducated immigrants in the past, most Somalis would find great difficulty in securing well-paying jobs with which to support themselves.

In October 2002, then-Mayor Laurier T. Raymond wrote an open letter addressed to leaders of the Somali community, predicting a negative impact on the city's social services and requesting that Somali leaders discourage relocation to Lewiston. The letter angered many, prompted many community leaders and residents to speak out against the mayor, drawing national attention. Demonstrations were held in Lewiston, both by those who supported the Somalis' presence and those who opposed it.

In January 2003, a small group from the white supremacist Creativity Movement demonstrated in Lewiston against the Somali population, prompting a simultaneous counter-demonstration of about 5,000 people at Bates College and the organization of the "Many and One Coalition."

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Heritage initiative

Image:Panorama, Lewiston, ME.jpg In May 2004, the City of Lewiston announced an ambitious plan for urban renewal near its downtown area. The plan, still in its formative stages, is to demolish several blocks of nineteenth-century millworker housing, lay new streets with updated infrastructure, construct more owner-occupied, lower-density housing, and build a boulevard through the neighborhood, using federal Community Development Block Grant funds provided over a period of ten years. The plan was initially announced with very little input from the residents of the affected neighborhoods, leading to the formation of a neighborhood group, "The Visible Community," which has been actively involved in the planning process.

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Geography

Lewiston is located at 44°5'51" North, 70°11'33" West (44.097473, -70.192416)Template:GR.According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 91.1 km² (35.2 mi²). 88.3 km² (34.1 mi²) of it is land and 2.8 km² (1.1 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 3.13% water.

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Demographics

Image:Post Office, Lewiston, ME.jpg As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 35,690 people, 15,290 households, and 8,654 families residing in the city. The population density was 404.2/km² (1,047.0/mi²). There were 16,470 housing units at an average density of 186.5/km² (483.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 95.75% White, 1.07% African American, 0.28% Native American, 0.84% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.36% from other races, and 1.66% from two or more races. 1.26% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 15,290 households out of which 25.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.9% were married couples living together, 11.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.4% were non-families. 35.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.17 and the average family size was 2.81.

Image:Park Street, Lewiston, ME.jpg In the city the population was spread out with 20.7% under the age of 18, 12.6% from 18 to 24, 26.9% from 25 to 44, 22.0% from 45 to 64, and 17.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 90.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.8 males. The median income for a household in the city was $29,191, and the median income for a family was $40,061. Males had a median income of $30,095 versus $21,810 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,905. 15.5% of the population and 10.0% of families were below the poverty line. 20.9% of those under the age of 18 and 12.5% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.

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Notable people

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Trivia

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Notes

  1. Template:Note Elder, Janus G. A History of Lewiston, Maine with a Genealogical Register of Early Families page 52.
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References

  • Elder, Janus G. A History of Lewiston, Maine with a Genealogical Register of Early Families Heritage Books, Inc., 1989
  • Hodgkin, Douglas I. Lewiston Memories: A Bicentennial Pictorial Jostens Printing & Publishing, 1994
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External links

Somali immigration related

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Image:Flag of Maine.svg The State of Maine
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