100 years ago, 1915
Lewiston’s fire fighters will demonstrate their skill and daring, as a feature of the Harvest Carnival next week. This exhibition will have the dash and go of a real fire, without any of the serious property loss. With its siren screeching, the big red auto truck will be driven thru the streets at its fastest speed. Their bells clanging, firemen hanging to the sides, the red hose carts and ladder trucks will follow in a mad dash, as tho the greatest conflagration these cities ever knew was calling them.

50 years ago, 1965
On a summer afternoon, people stroll along the river-side pathway, watching boats run up and down the waterway. Crossing a bridge over the canal, people enter one of the half-dozen parks lining the river, and look up a tree-lined boulevard to the downtown area. If the city’s planners have their way, this scene could describe Lewiston at the beginning of the 21st century. Designs for the city’s downtown and waterfront, which were developed over the last 20 years, are slowly being molded into a single coherent design, which is now being put in place bit by bit. Several current projects in the city tie into an overall plan to merge the downtown and the riverfront into a single district with parks, green space, pedestrian walkways and a riverside trail system.

25 years ago, 1990
The Herbert E. Callahan Inc. contracting firm of Auburn has completed pouring the four outer walls and also the center dividing wall of the new million-gallon reservoir for the Auburn Water District and is expected to start next week on the concrete floors for the two compartments. The reservoir will be fed off the new 12-inch water main on Hardscrabble Road. Once it is filled there will be continuous flow in and out of the reservoir as there is a demand. The reservoir is designed to strengthen the water system in that section and on Washington Street.

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