East Somerset County Register, 1911-1912 - Athens: ITEMS OF INTEREST Compiled and Published by CHATTO & TURNER Auburn, Maine Clarence I. Chatto Clair E. Turner pages 37-38 ITEMS OF INTEREST The Athens Telephone Company of which L. C. Williams is owner and proprietor was started in 1900 in order to accommo- date the surrounding central offices in enabling them to reach a physician and at first had only three subscribers. At pres- ent the company has 189 subscribers and owns 70 miles of metallic circuit which reaches into every town which borders on Athens. The company has always owned all the property and rented the machines. It furnishes a day and night service week days and a two hour Sunday service 9-10 A. M. and 5-6 P. M.) giving free connection with N. E. long distance and the Farmers Co-operative Company which carries about 900 sub- scribers in the western part of the country. One of the interesting thins in Athens is a well in the store room of Mr. Samuel Taylor. It was dug many years ago by James Taylor. It has a depth of 105 ft. below the surface of the floor. The diameter was about seven feet before it was stoned and the present diameter is three feet, the walls, which are made of common field stone, being nearly two feet in thick- ness. The water, which is very cold, remains at a level of three or four feet above the bottom of the well. Isaiah Dore built and ran the first hotel in town. It was located on the corner near where the Ware stable now stands. In 1834 a Baptist church was built on Lord's Hill, which was then one of the most flourishing sections of the town. The first store in the village was run by Esq. Ware. It was a small, low building with dwelling house attached, and stood a short distance west of the house where Dr. Ellingwood now lives. In after years the house part was moved across the stream is part of the house where Samuel Goodrich now lives In the year 1851 Abel Are built a tannery on the stream a short distance north of the village. In 1866, it was enlarged by John Ware who also built the dwelling house near it for a boarding house. The tannery burned in 1877. In the fall of 1840 Benjamin Hussey started from Athens on foot with a large flock of turkey and drove them through to the Brighton, Mass., market. The first mention made of a stream is in Indian history and it is there called the "Wesserunsicke," and on it was built by Joshua Brown the first mills in town. Philip Leavitt built the fist mill at West Athens. He sold out to Ziba Hall, who in turn sold to Isaac Fellows. Later on Fred Tuttle and David Corson have owned mills there. (c) 1998 Courtesy of Tina Vickery of Somerset Co, Maine USGenWeb Project & The Androscoggin Historical Society ************************************************* NOTICE: Printing the files within by non-commercial individuals and libraries is encouraged, as long as all notices and submitter information is included. Any other use, including copying files to other sites requires permission from the submitters PRIOR to uploading to any other sites. We encourage links to the state and county table of contents. The USGenWeb Project makes no claims or estimates of the validity of the information submitted and reminds you that each new piece of information must be researched and proved or disproved by weight of evidence. It is always best to consult the original material for verification.