Carrabassett In Brief
common / backtracks
Carrabassett In Brief
(Editor’s note: this story is taken from the Vol. 4, #6, November 1971 issue of the Sugarloaf Irregular and is reprinted here in its entirety. ©The Original Irregular)
By Laura Dunham
One of the most progressive stories of any place in the state of Maine is that of the Carrabassett Valley area. It all started many years ago in 1928 when a veneer mill was built which was the dream of the families residing in the Valley for a steady line of work. In 1930 the Depression came, making the sale of veneer no longer in demand. Curtis Hutchins, now president of the Dead River Company, in 1934 took over the mill with Clyde Jacobs as its manager.
In 1936 Kenneth Packard joined Dead River, and for the first two years, he opened the Alder Stream area six miles north of Eustis and cruised the timberlands. At this time the market for veneer was closed, and the mill couldn’t operate. So Hutchins leased the land to the Diamond Match Company in Oakland in 1935, and for a year they made matches until the mill was closed permanently, and the hopes of steady employment were dashed for the twenty families who resided in the town. At this time, the town consisted of a store, a school house and a hotel. In 1938 when Ken Packard came to the Valley, he resided in the office of the old veneer mill where he lived for twenty years. The buildings in the town then began to collapse so they were quietly demolished, given away or burned. By 1944 all that was left in the Valley was the old mill which was used for storage for Dead River’s supplies. Finally, the roof caved in, and it became necessary to destroy the mill in 1958; the last dreams of what used to be a thriving town.
In 1956 the Packards built their lovely home overlooking the Carrabassett River, surrounded by birch trees, with their own private bridge leading to the house. In 1962 Dave Rollins and Wes Sanborn of Waterville purchased the old stable that housed the horses for the Dead River lumbering operations; the carpenters came to renovate the building, and in 1963 the Red Stallion Inn was opened to the public. The Inn is now owned and operated by Ed Rogers who gave up a career in teaching to be able to be a part of the Sugarloaf area. Since becoming owner of the Inn, Rogers has added a new motel unit, enlarged the lounge and installed the only heated swimming pool in the area, which has all served to enhance the Red Stallion as one of the most popular places for the younger set in the area.
In October of 1971, a vote was taken on whether Jerusalem Township should become a town; the vote was carried by the 38 residents, and the new town was organized, with the first meeting to be held in March of this year.
About four years ago, Dead River Company again returned to the Carrabassett area and built the now familiar modular shopping center which has become a part of the Sugarloaf region. This large building which juts out in odd angles holds 15 shops including a gourmet restaurant, a health spa, an antique shop, a newspaper office, an insurance company, a country store, a pub, a recreation center for teenagers, a ski shop, and the offices of the Dead River Recreation Division. Since about a year before the shopping complex was constructed, over 200 A-frames and chalets have been built in the Poplar Stream and Spring Farm areas along the beautiful Carrabassett River. More than 50 luxurious homes have been built in Dead River Company’s Redington North and East developments. In the past, Dead River has employed as many as 40 and has offered services such as a retail building supply store, maid service, building construction, land sales, gas service and an interior design shop, all of which served the people of the Carrabassett region.
Did Kenneth Packard foresee the boom that has now become the Sugarloaf/Carrabassett area? He feels that from the time Amos Winter of Kingfield cut the first trail at Sugarloaf it was not a dream but a reality that someday the area would expand –-and why not-– for he feels there is definitely not a place in the state of Maine more beautiful than his Carrabassett Valley. AS for the new town, “expansion brings people, and if the people are conservative, it’s time a town was formed with laws and restrictions before the progress of the area goes any further.”
