100 years ago, 1915
Aggregate rewards of $600 will be paid by the city of Lewiston for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those connected with the robbery of Thomas McNamara, night of June 10th; the hold-up at the point of a pistol at George B. Michaud in his harness shop, Saturday night; and the breaks at Palmer’s market and I. L. Robbins’ Coal & Wood office, Sunday. Mayor Brann was wrought up Monday morning when he learned of the three robberies over the weekend and already out of patience that nothing has been cleaned up on the McNamara case, announced that he would offer a reward as a hope that something would come to light which would put the police on the trail.

50 years ago, 1965
Reports that a Massachusetts concern is interested in a five-acre plot of land on Lincoln Street, bordering the Androscoggin River and Main Street, as the site of a possible shopping center, could not be confirmed today, although it was established that some contacts involving land purchase have been made. The reports had it that the shopping center might be located on Lincoln Street, in the area bounded by Main Street, Lincoln Street to the first canal, and the Androscoggin River. Some property owners in this area, which includes approximately 200,000 square feet of land, have been contacted by at least two local real estate dealers.

25 years ago, 1990
Within a matter of days of its opening, the new Androscoggin County Jail is likely to be filled to capacity, and short a few staffers. The current jail is housing about 65 inmates in-house, and has another 35 boarded at other facilities around the state. The new jail’s basic capacity is 98 inmates, although there is contingency housing and short-term housing for an additional 24. The 65 people in the current jail will be moved into the new facility sometime next week, and the remaining inmates will be brought in over the following days, according to Chief Deputy Andre Gagne. “We have inmates all over the state,” Gagne said. “We have them in Aroostook, Piscataquis, Knox, all over the place.”

The material in Looking Back is reproduced exactly as it originally appeared, although misspellings and errors made at that time may be edited.