100 years ago, 1917
“One of the most dangerous places on our streets is on Main on the right-hand side going toward Lisbon street, just after leaving the bridge over the canal,” said an employee of the Union Water Power company to the Lewiston Journal. “The traffic officer cannot watch everything at once, and 1 don’t criticize him, but something ought to be done to prevent machines from crossing the car tracks instead of keeping straight on up Main street. When a car swings around the end of another car to go down Main street, and a machine cuts across the tracks, it is exceedingly dangerous.”

50 years ago, 1967
Although off to a limping start, Lewiston city officials have worked out a three-year plan to completely remodel three of the city’s oldest school houses. The 81-year-old Wallace School on Main Street was given top priority, and it will be followed by Dingley School at Oak, Middle and Bates Streets, then Coburn School. Officials are estimating that remodeling costs will total about $20,000 per floor, or $40,000 per building, Mayor Rocheleau’s plan met with the approval of the City Council, but theoretically, the latter could not commit future administrations to expenditures budgeted annually. It was hoped this year that Wallace School could be completed.

25 years ago, 1992
It brings a touch of Europe’s grandeur to Main Street. On an August afternoon, the cool, dark quiet inside St. Joseph’s Catholic Church provides a welcome contrast to the honking rush of traffic near the corner of Main and Sabattus streets. “It’s more in keeping with the Gothic cathedrals of Europe,” said Kirk Mohney, of the red-brick parish church. Mohney, an architectural historian with the Maine Historic Preservation Commission, said the tall rows of columns separating the aisles from the nave and the vaulted ceiling are typical of the Gothic Revival style. The unique architecture of St. Joseph’s is one of the reasons it recently gained a place on the National Register of Historic Places, Mohney said on Monday. The building is the oldest Catholic church in the city.

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