by Mary Grow What is now the Town of China was settled in 1774, starting on the shores of China Lake, and promptly incorporated as Jones Plantation. On Feb. 8, 1796, the Massachusetts legislature made it a town named Harlem. On Feb. 5, 1818, the legislature incorporated southern Albion and northern Harlem into a town […]
by Mary Grow Back in the early ’80s, Frederick “Rick” Denico, Jr., reminisced, when his father, Frederick Denico Sr., was on the Vassalboro select board, he brought home the report that there was “a young kid working for the town” under the federal CETA (Comprehensive Employment and Training Act) program. “That was 44 years and […]
by Mary Grow Vassalboro resident Judson Smith, 14, has no regrets about choosing the Maine School of Science and Mathematics (MSSM), in Limestone, as his high school. Home for Christmas break after his first semester, Smith said adjustment wasn’t easy, but now, “I’m happy with it. I really like the school.” His parents, Zachary Smith […]
by Mary Grow This subseries on education is organized by the dates the central Kennebec Valley towns were incorporated, and Clinton, in 1795, was next after Fairfield, in 1788. Therefore the history of education in Clinton, on the east side of the Kennebec River, opposite the northern part of Fairfield, follows the December 2024 articles […]
by Mary Grow According to the minutes of the Dec. 19, 2024, meeting of China’s Thurston Park Committee, seeking a second access to the park from the south was a main topic of discussion. Currently, people driving into the almost-400-acre recreation area in northeastern China have access only from Albion on the north, via the […]
by Mary Grow At their Dec. 20 meeting, China select board members unanimously approved Jeanette Smith’s proposal to have the Thurston Park Committee she chairs reach out to the park’s southern neighbors about opening an access road from that end. The former Yorktown Road runs from south to north through the almost-400-acre park and into […]
by Mary Grow Vassalboro Transfer Station Taskforce members met Dec. 12 to continue discussion of options for changes at the facility on Lombard Dam Road. (See the Nov. 21 issue of The Town Line, p. 8). The group began months ago with one main goal: improve safety by eliminating the need for users to back […]
by Mary Grow Vassalboro Conservation Commission members devoted most of their Dec. 18 meeting to updates on two town parks, Monument Park, at the outlet of China Lake in East Vassalboro, and Eagle Park, on Outlet Stream, a short distance north. At Monument Park, they are working with Jen Jespersen, of the Manchester-based consulting firm […]
by Mary Grow The Dec. 26 Vassalboro select board meeting began with a public hearing on five applications to renew junkyard licenses. Unusually, the hearing drew comments from the audience. Bill Pullen, owner of a South Stanley Hill Road junkyard, questioned a $10 hearing fee that he said was a new addition to the usual […]
by Mary Grow This article continues the history of schooling in Fairfield with information on the town’s high schools. It begins with conflicting information about where the first high school classes were held. One candidate is the former North Grammar School, at the intersection of Main Street and Western Avenue, near the Kennebec River, at […]