100 Years Ago: 1922

New staging has been constructed at the Cushman-Hollis building in Auburn to facilitate construction work.

50 Years Ago: 1972

Donia J. Girard of Lewiston will serve as leader during the sing-along that will be one of several features at the Maple Festival, Saturday, April 18  held at the Central Maine Youth Center in Lewiston. The event, open to all, is sponsored by the Parish Council of SS. Peter and Paul parish through its Social Function Committee. Fernand Cloutier is chairman of that Parish Council group, and Edward Leveque is general chairman of the festival, planned for sociability rather than a fund-raising event. Harvey Pare is chairman of entertainment which will include general singing in French and English, an hour and a half of musical square dancing by a musical combine, a demonstration of square dancing and general dancing.

25 Years Ago: 1997

How far is it from Bakerstown to Sylvester, Canada? Not that far if you know that Bakerstown is Auburn and Sylvester-Canada is Turner. They share a Townline today, so not far. But in 1765, people leaving what is now Auburn were venturing into the wilderness according to “A History of Turner” by the Rev. W. R. French. Turner was originally called Sylvester in honor of Capt. Joseph Sylvester, who was given the first T-square-mile land for Sylvester and his descendants in return for services rendered in the invasion of Canada in 1690. The town was completely forested and Indians still drilled in the area, according to French’s history. Since settlers were not venturing that way, the town fathers began giving away land and finally offered to pay them in order to come. That’s a big change from the town of today which, according to statistics at the Androscoggin Valley Council of Government, has the highest median prices in the county. The original settlers’ lots were on Upper and Lower streets, land which is among the most sought-after and expensive in the area. The first pioneers of Turner had names found easily in today’s area telephone book. They include Records, Bradford, Leavitt, House, Bonney, Hinkley, Low and Bryant. Hezekiah Bryant’s daughter Bethiah was the first child born here. Some of the town’s most  colorful stories originate with those men and others of olden times who left an imprint. In 1779, Massachusetts native Joseph Leavitt cleared a lot and built a small house. Aiming to cultivate the land, he journeyed to what is now New Gloucester. He returned with 19 young apple trees on his back and produced the first apple in town. Now, Turner grows and exports apples all over the world, and one of the largest orchardists, in a long family line, is Steve Leavitt. In 1792, the first settler in North Turner was Caleb House Jr., a farmer with 10 children who built a house on what became known as House’s Hill.

The material used in Looking Back is produced exactly as it originally appeared although misspellings and errors may be corrected.