1795 Lewiston incorporates

1842 Auburn incorporates

1849-1856 Lewiston Falls Village Corp. united fire district covers both cities.

1865 Cities buy what’s now Longley Bridge from private owner (it had been a toll bridge since 1823).

1870 Lewiston-Auburn Railroad corporation forms; Lewiston later chips in to build tracks from Danville, over Auburn land.

1899 Lewiston gets city water from Lake Auburn.

1919 Lewiston-Auburn Business and Professional Women’s Club debuts, first of its kind in state.

1927 Auburn joins Lewiston to establish two-city public health office (clamps down on disease, oversees sanitary conditions).

1946 Cities take over airport when Department of Defense gives it to both equally.

1974 Lewiston-Auburn Pollution Control Authority fires up on Lincoln Street; treats the waste from both cities.

1975 During Rockland retreat, Auburn officials call Lewiston officials “smug” and “parochial”; Lewiston calls Auburn “yes men” and “reluctant to participate in joint innovation.” That off their chests, relations improve markedly.

1976 Joint purchasing starts, things like fuel oil and gasoline.

1979 First-of-its-kind tax-sharing agreement at the industrial park, outside airport.

1980 Joint cable TV negotiations, Lewiston Auburn Cable Advisory Committee.

1980 Lewiston-Auburn Economic Growth Council forms; business-attraction mission for both cities.

1981 Study to merge L-A fire departments fizzles. Separate unions and politics make it a non-starter.

1984 New tax-sharing agreement forged over Central Maine Power hydro facility, avoiding a “my side of the river is better than yours” argument. It’s built on Lewiston side.

1988 L/A Arts forms (had operated as LPL Plus APL, born from both libraries).

1995 Agree to open 911 Center together.

1993 Lake Auburn Watershed Protection Commission forms, consisting of Auburn Water District and Lewiston Water Division, and the town of Turner. Three-person water quality team and all costs incurred in watershed protection are split 50-50 by Lewiston and Auburn.

1996 L/A Together finds ways to save money by joining services; doesn’t get traction.

1997 Lewiston takes its trash to Mid-Maine Waste Action Corp. in Auburn; MMWAC takes ash to Lewiston’s landfill.

1999 Joint recycling program.

2002 Successfully apply for HUD money together to rid local homes of lead.

2006 Lewiston-Auburn Commission on Joint Services issues the second report in a decade that determines merging would save money.

2007 Citizens Commission on Lewiston-Auburn Cooperation is formed to outline consolidation specifics.

Note: Exact dates sometimes varied by source.

Sources: “An inventory of collaboration between Lewiston and Auburn,” by Douglas Hodgkin’s Political Science 214 Class, 1995; Auburn 1869-1969, “100 Years A City,” by The Auburn Centennial History Committee; department heads

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