RIDLON BROTHERS’ STORE

 The earliest information we have about this building, located on the corner of Bridge and River Street on the Porter side of the river, is shown on the 1880 map as E.T. Edgecomb’s store.  In 1904 this general store was purchased by brothers, Walter and Benjamin Ridlon, and they started a family business that would remain for nearly 58 years.  Walter’s son, Joe joined the business in 1929.  After Ben died in 1935 his widow, Josie, continued it until her death in 1943.  Walter’s wife Bertha died in 1953 and Walter died in 1954 leaving Joe to carry on the business.  

                                             Ridlon Bros. Store – Circa 1907.  L – R: Benjamin Ridlon, Walter’s wife Bertha (Gilpatrick) Ridlon – seated, Benjamin’s daughter Bernice Ridlon (later Mrs. Bertrand Huber), Benjamin’s wife Josephine (Mason) Ridlon, 3 unknown customers, Benjamin’s daughter Iva Ridlon (later Mrs. Chauncey Cutting) and Walter S. Ridlon.

It was an IGA grocery chain store for many years but eventually became a Nation Wide Store.  This interior view was taken by George French circa 1950.

The second story of the store burned in the 1950’s, but the ground floor was rebuilt and business continued.  Joe Ridlon retired and sold the business to Norman Ray in 1962.  

Norman Ray and Joseph Ridlon.

When Mr. Ray’s wife died shortly thereafter, the business was closed, and Joseph Ridlon sold the building in 1969 to John Burbank.  John converted the building and started a public laundry business.  It was next owned by Vieira LLC who remodeled the building in 2003 as the Village Laundry.  

The laundry continues to this day.  The current owners FSH of Porter, LLC remodeled it again recently and it operates as the Riverside Wash.

This is another success story where an old village business building continues to serve our community in the 21st century. 

 

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE FIRST VILLAGE SCHOOL?

Did last week’s post make you wonder about the 1st Village School?

The original K.F. Village Schoolhouse is one of the oldest buildings in Porter. It is said

to have been built and used as a schoolhouse on the Daniel Towle farm in Porter from

1829 – 1841. In 1842 the town of Porter moved it to its present location on the corner

of Chapel and School Street. It was the school for District #4 until 1889 when the new

Village School building was built on Main Street.

Village School Dist. #4 prior to 1889.

In December 1889 the building was purchased by the newly organized Advent

Christian Church (1887) and they remodeled it as a church.

Advent Christian Church - 1923

During the ministry of Rev. Lee Judkins (1969 – 1972) they left the Advent Church

Conference and changed the name to the Calvary Bible Church. By 1996 the church

membership had outgrown the building and, under the Rev. Barry Judd, made plans to

build a new church in So. Hiram. The first service in the new South Hiram church was

held on Easter Sunday, March 27, 2005.

The old school/church building was sold and was renovated as a private residence and

is still located at #5 Chapel Street. The exterior looks much the same as this picture,

taken about 2004.

PORTER’S VILLAGE SCHOOL HOUSE SERVES A DIFFERENT PURPOSE IN TODAY’S WORLD

 

While visiting my dentist recently, I was thinking back to when I attended school in that building as a young child in 1943 – 1947.  Today it is the Ossipee River Dental office recently purchased by Dr. Christopher Parent at 38 Main St., Porter.  Although it looks pretty much the same outside, it looks very different inside due to the reconfiguration of the space as a dental office.                                               Jan Iler, PPHS Secretary

The new Village School 30 Main Street, Porter c. 1889

This building was built in 1889 as the Village School, replacing the original Village School building on School Street.  It cost nearly $3,000 to build and the Porter Town Report boasted it was the best in Oxford County.  It housed grades K (called Sub-primary) – 12 and continued as such until 1919 when overcrowding led to the building of Porter High School further down on Main Street.  In 1946 an arrangement was made so that the Parsonsfield students who lived in Kezar Falls Village and the students from Porter shared schools. Grades K – 3 were housed in the Village School Building, then called “Porter Primary”, and 4 – 7 went to the Milliken School on Federal Road on the Parsonsfield side of Kezar Falls Village.  Grade 8 students from Porter and Parsonsfield students that resided in the village went to Porter High School. By 1948 all the outlying schools in Porter were closed and students were transported to the village.

The Village School  c. 1905

The Village School/Porter Primary c. 1940’s

The Porter Primary school continued to be used until 1967 when the new Sacopee Valley High School was built.  At that time the grammar school students were split up and relocated between the red school house in So. Hiram, the old Porter High building and Milliken School until 1986 when the South Hiram Elementary (now Sacopee Elementary) was built. 

Porter Primary School – c. 1950’s & 1960’s

For a while the old village school building was used as a warehouse/research lab for ITT, Vulcan Electric.  It was purchased by Dr. J. Cons in 1985. He renovated it and established his dental office there.  When Dr. Cons gave up his practice it became the Sacopee Valley Family Dentistry office which continued until 2023 when Dr. Parent purchased the practice and renamed it “Ossipee Valley Dental.

Dr. Con’s Dental Office - 2001.

This is a great example of repurposing old historic buildings to better meet the needs in the community today.

 In the next few months, we will continue to look at other historic buildings that were an important part of our community’s past development.  Some have been repurposed while some have been demolished and have disappeared from the village scene.

THE WINTER OF 1969

This has been an unusual winter with little snow during the month of December.  However, this was not the case in 1969.   If you are over 54 you may remember that was the year New England experienced a severe winter storm that left Maine with snowfall amounts exceeding 20 inches in many places. This nor'easter was slow moving and became known as the 100 Hour Storm with the storm lasting for 3 days.  According to NOAA the storm of 1969 had some very impressive snowfall totals.  This storm was ranked Category 2 on the Regional Snowfall Index.  Cities and towns were not prepared for the storm.

  Transportation was almost at a complete halt for days and many streets were not plowed for a week.  The Regional Snowfall Index rates the storm of 1969 with more snow than the devastating snowstorm of March 1993.  This might surprise some people who live in Maine now who have never heard of this storm.  While the February 1969, snowstorm is not as well-known as the March 1993 “Storm of the Century,” it affected many more people with heavy snow (greater than 30”) than any other storm since 1900.  Normally, snowfall is measured in inches except at Mt Washington where the snow was measured in feet that year and received over 8 feet of snow.   How did this storm affect our small towns?  Here's the headline from the Portland Press Herald on March 6, 1969...

Snow Damage $100,000 at Kezar Falls Girls' Camp

In 1969 there were reports of towns in Maine receiving 30 inches of snow.   Officials were broadcasting warnings to camp owners and summer residents of the possibility of roofs collapsing from the weight of heavy snow.  That is exactly what happened when the roof of the main lodge at Camp Hiawatha located in the towns of Hiram and Porter collapsed.  The main lodge housed the dining room, the kitchen and a recreational area. Musical instruments and athletic equipment were also stored there.  The second floor had bedrooms, sewing and ironing rooms.  The basement containing showers and a laundry room suffered little damage.  The damage to the lodge was estimated at $100,000.  David Crowley, resident of Hiram, remembers the roof collapse. He had come to Maine to help shovel the roof at Camp Robin Hood while his father went to Camp Hiawatha to oversee a crew shoveling off the buildings.  They had started clearing the snow from one end of the building when they stopped for lunch.  Suddenly while they were having lunch the lodge roof collapsed.  The snow was about 4 feet deep and it was wet and heavy.  At the time of the roof collapse the camp was owned and operated by Andrew Friedman and his two sons Major and Drew. The lodge was reconstructed and opened on time in the summer of 1969 with 100 girls registered for camp.

The Friedman’s had purchased Camp Hiawatha from Abraham Mandelstam who had established the camp in 1920.  Mandy as he was known by friends and family was from New York City.  He owned and operated two camps in Maine; Camp Hiawatha on Stanley Pond and Camp Wigwam in Harrison. The camp is now operated as the Maine Teen Camp, is coed and serves teenagers from the U.S. and around the world. 

Above, the lodge building before the collapse in 1969 and then after.

Happy New Year from Parsonsfield-Porter Historical Society

 2023 has been quite a year!  We welcome 2024 with the hope that it will be a better one for everyone worldwide.

With this vintage New Year’s Day card from our collection 

the Parsonsfield-Porter Historical Society wishes a

HAPPY, HEALTHY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR to all of you!  

History House is now closed for the season, but we still try

 to answer requests for information.   

See our website at – www.parsonsfieldporterhistorical.org

E-mail pphs@parsonsfieldporterhistorical.org

We look forward to seeing you in the spring of 2024.

The Parsonsfield - Porter Historical Society 

 sends everyone best wishes and much happiness this holiday season!                  

THE SPOTLIGHT IS ON: Paul W. Stacy (1893 – 1987)

 A lifelong resident of Porter, Maine, Paul Stacy was born April 1,1893 in Porter, son of Charles and Maude Watson Stacy. Paul graduated from Porter High School in 1908 and Bridgton Academy in 1911.  He married Jessie Merrifield on Feb. 23,1914 and they made their home on Summer Street. They had 5 children.  Unfortunately, three sons died before the age of 5. Their son, Dexter, survived but was bedridden all of his life and died at the age of 50 in 1965.  Their one daughter, Pauline, married George Gehrs of Falmouth and they had four children.

Paul served on the local school board of directors for 26 consecutive years and was its chairman for 20 years.  In 1917 he was elected town clerk of Porter and held the position for nine years, after which his wife Jessie served for more than 35 years.

In 1926, Mr. Stacy was elected to the Porter Board of Selectmen, serving until 1941.  He was re-elected to the Select Board in 1959 and served through 1983 - a total of 39 years.  One of the longest serving selectmen of the Town of Porter. He also served two terms (1938 – 1941) as a Republican member in the Maine House of Representatives.

Paul was a carpenter by trade and for 25 years he was foreman of the maintenance crew at the Kezar Falls Woolen Mill where he was in charge of many major construction projects.

Mr. Stacy was also active in several town organizations.  He served as chief of the Kezar Falls Fire Department for many years.  He was a member of the Saddleback Rod and Gun Club, a former member of the Knights of Pythias and the Costello Tribe No. 34 Improved Order of Red Men.  He was also a charter member of the Parsonsfield Porter Historical Society. Jean Stanley remembers Mr. Stacy well and said, “Paul believed strongly in public service.  He was gruff, opinionated, didn’t tolerate dissension, but he was also smart, with a dry sense of humor, and the well-being of Porter was center to his service.” Mrs. Stacy died in 1962 and Paul Stacy died at the age of 94 - Aug. 18, 1987. They are buried in the Kezar Falls Burial Grounds.