HALLOWELL ME

HALLOWELL ME

Warren Heald Bandstand

Waterfront Mini-Park

Built - 1982

The city of Hallowell is named for Benjamin Hallowell who was a Boston merchant and one of the original key proprietors of the land back in the 1600s. Due to its proximity to the Kennebec River, the town grew with its shipbuilding industry along with logging, gristmills, sawmills and slaughterhosues. Also in 1815, granite quarries were opened in the area that ran until 1908 when cement replaced stone as the preferred building material of choice. The ice industry also became very important for the next 75 years which employed thousands of locals over the years along with other lesser industries. The Kennebec River thus sustained the city from the beginning but the fear of spring floods was always a terror factor to the shopkeepers and residents of the town. Cold Maine weather also wreaked havoc on the farms in the local area. With all of these factors, the city still remained a center of industry and also one of learning and intellectual accomplishments due to the private academies and conservatories in the area. Many mansions are still standing in the city from past wealthy entrepreneurs and the first automobile and threshing machines in Maine were tried out in the city.

The Warren Heald Bandstand was built in 1982 that consists of an open platform with no roof and is located on the waterfront mini-park. This large platform is the first bandstand structure the city has ever had and was built as part of this mini-park project financed by city money and private donations with a matching grant from the federal office of the Coastal Zone Management. Many local bands use this platform as their venue on special occasions.

INFORMATION SUPPLIED BY:
Daniel P. Kelley, Asst Clerk