Maine Memory Network

Rene W. Boisvert, founder of Biddeford Textile, Biddeford, ca. 1997

Contributed by: Biddeford Mills Museum Date: 1997 Location: Biddeford Media: Digital photograph

Textile industry companies on the falls, Biddeford and Saco, 1890

Contributed by: McArthur Public Library Date: circa 1890 Location: Biddeford; Saco Media: Photographic print

Store House for Cowen Woolen Co., Lewiston, 1908

Contributed by: Maine Historical Society Date: 1908 Location: Lewiston Client: Cowen Woolen Co. Architect: Coombs and Gibbs Architects

Sarajo Gallery, Portland, 2007

Contributed by: Maine Historical Society Date: 2007 Location: Portland Clients: Yosi Barzilai; Sarajo Gallery Architect: Carol A. Wilson; Carol A. Wilson Architect

Biddeford, Saco and the Textile Industry

The largest textile factory in the country reached seven stories up on the banks of the Saco River in 1825, ushering in more than a century of making cloth in Biddeford and Saco. Along with the industry came larger populations and commercial, retail, social, and cultural growth.

Silk Manufacturing in Westbrook

Cultivation of silkworms and manufacture of silk thread was touted as a new agricultural boon for Maine in the early 19th century. However, only small-scale silk production followed. In 1874, the Haskell Silk Co. of Westbrook changed that, importing raw silk, and producing silk machine twist threat, then fabrics, until its demise in 1930.

Biddeford History & Heritage Project - The Civil War/Reconstruction Era as Experienced in Biddeford & Saco - Page 2 of 17

"Businesses that supported the war did well and were able to hire more employees. Biddeford and Saco were luckier than other towns and cities due to…"

Biddeford History & Heritage Project - Cities of Smoke and Soot

"Behind the industrial background of these two cities lays a history of raging fires that have consumed landmark buildings, businesses and even entire…"

Co-founding Halcyon Yarn and learning to weave
by Hector Jaeger

Moving to Maine, Halcyon Yarn, and rediscovering the joy of weaving

A Maine Family's story of being Prisoners of War in Manila
by Nicki Griffin

As a child, born after the war, I would hear these stories - glad they were finally written down