Orono

The images contained in Orono present the many facets of this central Maine town. Incorporated in 1806 and named after a blue-eyed American Indian chief, Orono began as a farming community but quickly capitalized on the presence of the Penobscot and Stillwater Rivers to evolve into a burgeoning industrial town. When it became the home to Maine’s land grant university in 1865, the lamp of higher learning was added to the stacks of lumber that served as Orono’s contribution to state and nation. Around the beginning of the twentieth century, lumbering gave way to papermaking, which continued until the end of World War II.