The First Settlers
Aerial view of Stockholm. ca. 1930
Stockholm Historical Society
Settlement of wooded lots that were being cleared for farms began in 1881. Alfred Swenson and his wife Brita, daughter of Jons Sodergren, settled on Lot #2, the first farm in Stockholm. Other settlers on the road that would become Main Street were Johannes Anderson, Johan Nilsson Lind, A. Fred Anderson, Frederick Peterson, Fred Berquist, Alfred Tall, John Tall, Lars Erick Anderson, and Hedeens. Early settlers crossed the Madawaska Stream to settle the area known as Upsala. The population in 1890 was 66, by 1900 it was 191. By 1910 Stockholm was beginning to boom. The population was 715 in 1910, 1038 in 1920, and 1300 around 1925. Stockholm was a tri–cultural town with languages and customs of three countries: Sweden, France, and England. The growth of the mills brought the French and the English into the community. The depression saw the closing of many of the mills and businesses and a steady decline in population. Currently Stockholm is a residential town with a population of under 300.
The Mills and Lumber Compnay of Stockholm
Mills, Stockholm, ca. 1900
Stockholm Historical Society
In 1900 though 1901 a dam was created to be able to send large logs down the river to send them right to the lumber company. The lumber company would cut trees into smooth slabs and send them to stores. The company built a boarding house, a store, twelve houses on Red Row Street for their workers' families, a stable and two barns. In 1902 the company had 150 workers working with a daily output of fifty thousand shingles and fifteen thousand different types of lumber a day.
The First Store in Stockholm
Company Store, Stockholm
Stockholm Historical Society
In November 1900 Lewis and John Anderson came to Stockholm from Jempland, at one point Lewis worked in Jacob Hedman's store. Originally they worked in Brownville with their brother Andrew and several other Swedes. Now they were able to build the first store in Stockholm, a 20 X 20 one-and-a-half story building. They opened a general store in the early 1900s. The Stockholm museum was originally the lumber store.
The Veneer Company
Veneer mill, Stockholm, ca. 1930
Stockholm Historical Society
In 1902 the Standard Veneer Company purchased 20 acres of lots. By the time 1904 came they were shipping two cars of product each week. The company also ran a starch factory from 1904 though 1909. Later it was converted to a Box Company that made cleated plywood boxes for phonograph companies. Another company was built to make clothes pins, peavey and pick–pole handles, whiffle–trees, snowshoes and perforated chair seats. Then it was a lumber mill. This company also had its own store called the Veneer Hall which was used for movies and dances and meetings and church services.
Work Cited:
www.geocities.com/mscguide/sthis.html, Maine Swedish Colony, 5/24/06
www.mainememory.net, 5/25/06