Gardiner on the Kennebec

Prior to the American Revolution, Dr. Silvester

Gardiner, a prominent Boston physician, acquired

land on Maine's Kennebec River. His grandson, Robert

Hallowell Gardiner, later devoted himself to the civic,

industrial, educational, and religious development of the

community founded there.

In this fascinating pictorial history, Gardiner's story is

traced from Colonial times to World War II. The images

deliver us to intriguing destinations: along the picturesque

Kennebec watching the steamer Star of the East sail to

its wharf, and Depot Square in 1884 at the peak of the

railroad era. We visit an ice house on the river, where

"frozen gold" was harvested; Water Street during the

destructive 1896 flood; and Pulitzer Prize-winner Laura E.

Richards' "Yellow House," during the visits of her mother,

Julia Ward Howe, and her colleague, Helen Keller.