Eastern Fine Paper Company, Brewer, Maine

A drawing of the mill c1921 - click to enlarge
Photo: Maine Folklife Center, Univ of Maine via www.mainememory.net

  When I went to work in Brewer it was 1988 and the mill was humming along.  When the first Gulf War was on the mill was even busier.  That mill was where the Army got paper for maps, it was also where National Geographic bought a lot of paper - that contract was lost.
  What started as a saw-mill in the early 1800s suddenly found itself out of customers.  People didn't use paper maps much any more, and paper from elsewhere was cheaper.  The mill had to close, hundreds of people, some who had worked for over 20 or 30 years were now unemployed.  The City had to act quickly to absorb to extra expense - Eastern Fine had funded one half of the Waste Water Treatment programs, and paid roughly half of the bills.  The taxes were but a fraction of what they once were.
  Now Cianbro Pittsfield Maine construction company owns the property, most of the buildings have been demolished to make was for a huge work yard to assemble modules for all sort of projects.  That building in the far upper right still stands, it was the administrative offices of Eastern Fine all of those years.

Looking upriver in 1930 an aerial view - click to enlarge
Photo: Maine Folklife Center, Univ of Maine via www.mainememory.net

The present day.  The admin building and modules under construction - click to enlarge
Photo: www.panortamio.com