Androscoggin County was barely 10 years old when the Civil War ended in 1865. My great-grandfather was headed home to Auburn, to a young bride and a farmhouse newly built for the family on what is now North River Road.

Family history is coming full circle for me this year as my wife and I have an opportunity to move back to my boyhood home. Furthermore, I have an opportunity to write this column about Androscoggin County’s first 150 years and its exciting steps into this millennium.

No, it’s not history. I think River Views should be about all kinds of interesting things that have happened, how and why they were important to us, and how they affect our lives now and in the future. Come to think of it, that is history, but let’s just think of it as some stories I’d like to pass on to you.

What kind of stories? There’s exceptional excitement about the Androscoggin River itself. We have legends of Native American raids and tragedies at the Great Falls. The stuff of legends is also present in the courageous men, from laborers to industrial giants, who built dams on the river, created canals and put up massive mills that still promise to influence our destiny.

Do you know about the corn factories? The bean canneries? Our North River Road farm had a small role in those little-known ventures when canned goods were relatively new.

The family fields still grow silage corn, but farming in Androscoggin County has changed. Like our manufacturing base, diversity is necessary, and now we have orchards, farms and strawberry fields that are destinations for family fun.

Years ago, the week after Labor Day brought the Maine State Fair to Lewiston Fairgrounds. It featured harness racing and agricultural exhibitions, not to mention the World of Mirth amusements. Every time I hear sirens across the river on Lewiston’s upper Main Street, I think of the wailing siren that hawked the carnival’s popular daredevil motorcycle motodrome.

People and politics, churches and schools, visits by presidents, prize-fighters and dog-sledders – all these shaped us. I probably won’t get it all right, so I hope you’ll let me know how you see things.

There is a rich reservoir from which I hope to draw these stories. Since I have no credentials as a historian except curiosity and a love for this place, I am indebted to many people who have collected and generously shared the facts (and sometimes fiction) we’ll explore. Whether their qualifications are formal or informal, their work shows us the solid foundations on which we continue to build.

One of those people who knew this part of the state so well was Gen. Ralph B. Skinner. His commentaries, called “Historically Speaking,” aired for 20 years on WLAM radio.

Another was a writer who was familiar to readers of the tabloid-size Magazine Section of the Lewiston Evening Journal every Saturday. The Edith Andrews byline on weekly columns meant readers would find unique insight into a local person or place. Her bylines (after later marriages) appeared as Edith Labbie and Edith Dolan. She was my aunt and her enthusiasm for life and writing was always an inspiration to me.

I know I will also rely heavily on the Androscoggin Historical Society and many people who contribute to its resources.

So, that’s the plan, and now we begin. Today, I need to talk to the contractor about an addition we are building on this old farmhouse.

Dave Sargent is a freelance writer and an Auburn native. You can contact him at [email protected].