Bangor, Maine: Difference between revisions
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On [[April 30]], [[1911]], embers from a hayshed near the [[Kenduskeag Stream]] ignited nearby buildings, sparking the [[Great Fire of 1911]]. The fire would destroy most of the downtown, forever changing the face of the city, but as in the case of the more famous [[Great Chicago Fire]] of 1871, the city would rise again and prosper. |
On [[April 30]], [[1911]], embers from a hayshed near the [[Kenduskeag Stream]] ignited nearby buildings, sparking the [[Great Fire of 1911]]. The fire would destroy most of the downtown, forever changing the face of the city, but as in the case of the more famous [[Great Chicago Fire]] of 1871, the city would rise again and prosper. |
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In the fall of 1934, public enemy number one [[Al Brady]], and his infamous [[Brady Gang]], were captured after the bloodiest shootout in Maine's history. Federal agents lined the rooftops of Bangor's Center Street, shooting and killing Al Brady after he and his gang attempted to purchase guns and ammunition from Dakin's Sporting Goods in downtown Bangor. Al Brady was killed in this confrontation. |
In the fall of 1934, public enemy number one [[Al Brady]], and his infamous [[Brady Gang]], were captured after the bloodiest shootout in Maine's history. Federal agents lined the rooftops of Bangor's Center Street, shooting and killing Al Brady after he and his gang attempted to purchase guns and ammunition from Dakin's Sporting Goods in downtown Bangor. Al Brady was killed in this confrontation. Brady is burried in the public section of Mount Hope Cemetary (the public section is maintained by the City of Bangor and not The Mount Hope Cemetery Corporation), on the north side of Mount Hope Avenue. Until recently Brady's grave was unmarked. |
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| title = Bangor in Focus: The Brady Gang |
| title = Bangor in Focus: The Brady Gang |
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| accessdate = 2007-06-20 |
| accessdate = 2007-06-20 |
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}}</ref> A group of schoolchildren in the 1990s erected a marker to his memory over his grave, but it eventually deteriorated{{Fact|date=June 2007}}. In 2007, a permanent stone marker was placed on Bray's grave{{Fact|date=August 2007}} |
}}</ref> A group of schoolchildren in the 1990s erected a marker to his memory over his grave, but it eventually deteriorated{{Fact|date=June 2007}}. In 2007, a permanent stone marker was placed on Bray's grave{{Fact|date=August 2007}}. |
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==Geography== |
==Geography== |
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Revision as of 15:29, 31 August 2007
Bangor, Maine | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Nickname(s): The Queen City of the East, Queen City | |
 Location in Penobscot County, Maine | |
| Counties | Penobscot County |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Richard D. Greene (ends 2008) |
| Area | |
| • Total | 90.0 km2 (34.7 sq mi) |
| • Land | 89.2 km2 (34.4 sq mi) |
| • Water | 0.8 km2 (0.3 sq mi) |
| Population (2000) | |
| • Total | 31,473 (city proper) |
| • Density | 352.7/km2 (913/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC-5 (Eastern) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (Eastern) |
| Website | bangormaine.gov |
This article is about the Maine, USA city of Bangor. For other places named Bangor, see Bangor.
Bangor is a city in and the county seat of Penobscot County, MaineTemplate:GR, United States. It is the major commercial center for eastern and northern Maine. For U.S. Census statistical purposes, it is the core urban city of the 'Bangor, Maine New England City and Town Area (NECTA) ', and the principal city of the 'Bangor, Maine New England County Metropolitan Area ' which encompasses all of Bangor, Maine, all of Penobscot County and part of Waldo County, Maine. As of 2006, Bangor is the third-largest city in Maine, as it has been for more than a century. The population was 31,473 at the 2000 census.
History
In 1791, settlers from the area, which was then known as Kenduskeag Plantation,[1] decided to incorporate into a town. The Reverend Seth Noble promoted the name Sunbury, and went to Boston with the settlers' petition (at the time, Maine was part of Massachusetts). Noble's favorite song is said to have been an Irish hymn entitled Bangor, and he applied for this to be the name of the town instead. [2] The town was sacked by the British during the War of 1812.[1] It incorporated as a city in 1834.[1]
In the 19th century, Bangor was a center of the timber and logging business and at one point late in the century was said to be the richest city per capita in the world.[citation needed]
Sailors and loggers gave the city a different and more widespread reputation—their stomping grounds were known as the "Devil's Half Acre".[1]. (The same name was also applied, at roughly the same time, to The Devil's Half-Acre, Pennsylvania).
Many of the timber barons of the time lived in elaborate Victorian houses that still stand on West Broadway. It is noteworthy for its large number of substantial old churches, as well as its imposing canopy of shade trees. It was once known as "The Queen City of the East." The shorter Queen City appellation is still used by some local clubs, organizations, events and businesses. The University of Maine is located nearby in the town of Orono.
On April 30, 1911, embers from a hayshed near the Kenduskeag Stream ignited nearby buildings, sparking the Great Fire of 1911. The fire would destroy most of the downtown, forever changing the face of the city, but as in the case of the more famous Great Chicago Fire of 1871, the city would rise again and prosper.
In the fall of 1934, public enemy number one Al Brady, and his infamous Brady Gang, were captured after the bloodiest shootout in Maine's history. Federal agents lined the rooftops of Bangor's Center Street, shooting and killing Al Brady after he and his gang attempted to purchase guns and ammunition from Dakin's Sporting Goods in downtown Bangor. Al Brady was killed in this confrontation. Brady is burried in the public section of Mount Hope Cemetary (the public section is maintained by the City of Bangor and not The Mount Hope Cemetery Corporation), on the north side of Mount Hope Avenue. Until recently Brady's grave was unmarked. Robbins, Ryan. "Bangor in Focus: The Brady Gang". Retrieved 2007-06-20.</ref> A group of schoolchildren in the 1990s erected a marker to his memory over his grave, but it eventually deteriorated[citation needed]. In 2007, a permanent stone marker was placed on Bray's grave[citation needed].
Geography
Bangor is located at 44°48′39″N 68°46′59″W / 44.81083°N 68.78306°WInvalid arguments have been passed to the {{#coordinates:}} function (44.810870, -68.783012)Template:GR. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 90.0 km² (34.7 mi²). 89.2 km² (34.5 mi²) of it is land and 0.8 km² (0.3 mi²) of it (0.86%) is water.
Demographics
As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 31,473 people, 13,713 households, and 7,185 families residing in the city. The population density was 352.7/km² (913.7/mi²). There were 14,587 housing units at an average density of 163.5/km² (423.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 94.96% White, 1.02% African American, 0.98% Native American, 1.16% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 0.39% from other races, and 1.43% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.05% of the population.
There were 13,713 households out of which 26.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 36.0% were married couples living together, 12.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 47.6% were non-families. 37.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.12 and the average family size was 2.81.
In the city the population was spread out with 21.3% under the age of 18, 12.4% from 18 to 24, 30.3% from 25 to 44, 22.0% from 45 to 64, and 14.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 89.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.1 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $29,740, and the median income for a family was $42,047. Males had a median income of $32,314 versus $23,759 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,295. About 11.9% of families and 16.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.9% of those under age 18 and 13.1% of those age 65 or over.
Culture
The Bangor Public Library, founded in 1883 with its very beginnings tracing back to 1830 and seven books in a simple footlocker, now has a collection of over 500,000 volumes. The Maine Discovery Museum is a major children's museum founded in 2001 and located in the downtown area. Between the Bangor Public Library building on its northwest, and the old US Post Office building to its southeast (which has now become City Hall), is the Luther H. Peirce Memorial, a large statue commemorating River Drivers created by the noted sculptor Charles Eugene Tefft in 1925.
There are several performing arts venues and groups in the Bangor area. The Bangor Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1896, is the oldest continually operating symphony orchestra in the United States. The Bangor Band, founded in 1859 and performing continually since then, gives free weekly concerts in the city's parks during the summer, and counts among its past conductors noted march composer Robert B. Hall. The Penobscot Theatre Company is a professional theater company based in the historic Bangor Opera House. The Maine Center for the Arts, located at the nearby University of Maine, hosts a wide variety of touring performing artists and events.
Beginning 19 January 2007 the city has banned smoking in automobiles if children under 18 are present. Offenders can be fined $50 under the ordinance. According to the New York Times, Bangor is "believed to be the first city to outlaw smoking in cars with children." [3]
Bangor also boasts the country's second oldest garden cemetery, the Mt. Hope Cemetery.
In 2007 the city had a new police station constructed. The Bangor Police Department boasts a police museum with many items in the collection. Some items date back to the 1700's.
Also in 2007, construction began on a $131 million racino complex that will house, among other things, a gaming floor featuring up to 1,500 slot machines, a seven-story hotel, and a four-level parking garage. The new racino is slated to open in the summer of 2008. Maine is one of only a few states where racinos are legal, and the one in Bangor is expected to change the city's tourism a great deal.
Events
The Bangor State Fair, held starting the last Friday of each July, for more than 150 years, is one of the country's oldest fairs, featuring agricultural exhibits, carnival attractions, and live performances.
In 2002, 2003, and 2004, Bangor was the host of the National Folk Festival. In August, 2005, the newly created American Folk Festival began as an annual event on the city's waterfront.
Media
The Bangor, Maine region has a large number of media outlets for an area its size.
The Bangor Daily News is published in the city. The BDN is one of the few remaining family-owned newspapers left in the United States.
Bangor has more than a dozen radio stations and seven television stations, including WLBZ 2 (NBC), WABI 5 (CBS), WVII 7 (ABC), WBGR 33, and WFVX 22 (Fox). WMEB 12, licensed to Orono, is the area's PBS member station.
Sports and recreation
The Eastern Maine High School Basketball Tournament is held each February at the Bangor Auditorium drawing fans from central, eastern and northern Maine. The nearby University of Maine fields major college sports teams in football, ice hockey, baseball, and men's and women's basketball. Bangor has also been home to two minor league baseball teams in the past decade: the Bangor Blue Ox (1996-1997) and the Bangor Lumberjacks (2003-2004). Both were affiliated with the Northeast League that existed under that name from 1995-1998.
Bangor Raceway offers live harness racing and features an Off-Track betting center. Also, nearby Hollywood Slots offers Maine's first slot machine gambling center.
Every August (since 2002) Bangor has been home to the Senior League World Series.
Bangor has also been of historical importance to professional wrestling. Vince McMahon promoted his very first wrestling event in Bangor in 1979. In 1985, the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship changed hands for the first time outside of Puerto Rico in Bangor at an IWCCW show[4].
The Bangor City Forest and other nearby parks, forests and waterways support a wide variety of outdoor activities including hiking, sailing, canoeing, hunting, fishing, skiing, and snowmobiling.
Transportation
Bangor is located along I-95, US 1, US 2, and State Route 15. I-395 branches from I-95 and runs to the east. Two major bridges, the Joshua Chamberlain Bridge and Penobscot River Bridge, connect Bangor to its neighbor Brewer.
Five major airlines combine to offer over 60 flights a day to and from Bangor International Airport.
Public transportation throughout Bangor is offered by the BAT Community Connector system.
Famous Bangorians
Bangor is the hometown of Hannibal Hamlin, who served as Abraham Lincoln's first vice president, and of William Cohen, former U.S. Senator and Secretary of Defense under Bill Clinton. Chuck Peddle, who developed the MOS 6502 microprocessor in 1975, was born in Bangor in 1937. The painter and Bohemian character Waldo Peirce was born in Bangor and lived there for a number of years. Bangor is also the home of Toronto Blue Jays hitter Matt Stairs.
Residing there is Stephen King, the author best known for his horror-themed stories, novels, and movies. His wife, Tabitha Spruce-King, is also a writer and lives with him. They donate a substantial amount of money to local libraries and hospitals and have funded a baseball stadium, Mansfield Stadium (home to the Senior League World Series), and the Beth Pancoe Aquatic Center, both on the grounds of Hayford Park, for the citizens (especially the children) of the city to use. King's fictional town, Derry, Maine, shares many points of correspondence with Bangor — the rivers, the Thomas Hill Standpipe, the hospital — but is always referred to as separate from Bangor. King also featured Bangor in many of his stories such as The Langoliers and Storm of the Century. King owns radio stations WKIT and WZON.
Bangor is the birthplace of comedian Charles Rocket, who was a cast member on Saturday Night Live in the 1980-1981 season, and singer/songwriter Howie Day.
References
- ^ a b c d Maine League of Historical Societies and Museums (1970). Doris A. Isaacson (ed.). Maine: A Guide 'Down East'. Rockland, Me: Courier-Gazette, Inc. pp. 163–172.
- ^ History page of the Bangor, Maine official website, retrieved 6 November 2006
- ^ The New York Times, 19 January 2007, National section
- ^ "W.W.C. Universal Heavyweight Title". May 19 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-29.
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External links
