City/Town

Thomaston (1878)

Map Title

Thomaston: Knox Co., Maine 1878

Artist

Preview

Publication Date

1878

County

Knox

Artist

Unknown

Lithographer

Beck & Pauli

Publisher

J. J. Stoner

Dimensions

40.6 x 61 cm

Owner

Maine Historic Preservation Commission

Additional Institutional Copies

Maine Historical Society

Population of City/Town at Time of Publication

3,092

Description of City/Town

Thomaston is situated on St. George’s River in the eastern part of Knox County….Thomaston village is pleasantly situated a little eastward of the great bend of the St. George’s, on a bay-like expansion of the river. Along its broad, well-shaded streets, are many handsome and costly residences. The State prison is a conspicuous object, consisting of a high wall enclosing several acres of ground, and including an abandoned-lime quarry….Within its walls are manufactured boots, shoes, harnesses, and carriages. The building was begun in 1824. At the village and elsewhere in the town are two grist-mills, two steam saw and planing mills, one boat builder, three sail-lofts, nine patent lime-kilns, several ship-yards, brick-yards, etc. Lime has been manufactured here since 1734. The manufacture of marble slabs from the lime-stone was commenced here by Mr. Dwight, in 1809, and in 1825 there were two mills and factories devoted to it, in which 200 saws were in motion.

A Gazetteer of the State of Maine, George J. Varney, 1881, 1886

Historic Newspaper References

Thomaston Herald, May 10, 1878

Up in the Clouds or Looking Through a Bird’s Eye – We had the pleasure a few days ago of looking at the bird’s eye view of Thomaston., sketched by an artist of eminence, and so well is the view depicted that every Church, House, Stable, Barn, Hotel and in fact every building no matter how small is easily described and all are truthfully executed and located. It will be found not only an adornment, but it will be available for reference, being far superior to any made for that purpose. The intention is to lithograph the work providing sufficient encouragement can be obtained. As it is purely a local picture, it can be printed by being well patronized. Mr. Temple is now in the village calling upon our citizens to give them the opportunity to examine the work and to subscribe and we hope all will not be long in making up their minds to give Mr. Temple their order at once, for we cannot afford to lose the publication of such a valuable picture, and he tells us he must have at least 80 subscribers to insure publication.

Rockland Gazette, September 26, 1878

The birds-eye view picture of Thomaston will be ready to be delivered to subscribers next week. So be ready with your money.

Rockland Gazette, November 14, 1878

Mr. S. P. Swett has some of those beautiful bird’s eye views of Thomaston, elegantly framed, which he will sell at a very reasonable price.

Usage Rights

As a publicly supported institution, the Maine Historic Preservation Commission generally does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not charge permission fees for the use of such material and cannot give or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute material in its collections. The copyright and related rights status of the items in this collection have not been evaluated. While many of these images may be in the public domain, it is up to you to determine and satisfy copyright or other use restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in this collection. You are free to use an item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use.

Recommended Citation

Courtesy of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission.