Millinocket, Maine

Millinocket is a mill town in Maine. It began with the selection of a site for the Great Northern Paper Company in 1899. Charles W. Mullen, an engineering graduate from the University of Maine, intended to build a hydroelectric dam on the Penobscot River. He contacted Garret Schenck, a recognized expert in the pulp and paper industry, about building a pulp and paper mill near the proposed new dam. Mr. Schenck agreed, and set about obtaining the necessary financial backing.

After securing land rights, the chosen site was at the junction of the West Branch of the Penobscot River and Millinocket Stream, where it stands today.

Things moved quickly, and by the spring of 1899, a new company was formed, to be called the Great Northern Paper Company. As the location of the mill was not near any existing towns, it became necessary to build a town to house the people who were to be employed at the mill. Thus were the beginnings of the town of Millinocket, Maine.