Presque Isle Sites

"In 1938, the newly created State Park Commission (which had been formed in 1935) recommended that the State accept a gift of 100 acres of land near Presque Isle. This became Aroostook State Park, the first in the State Park system... On October 26, 1938, it was announced that WPA work on the State Park would begin within a few weeks; with Mr. C.P. Bradford as the engineer. $7,715 had been allotted and that the first work would be the building of a trail on the west side of the mountain, a ski and toboggan slide, a ski tow, skating rink...

Throughout the lifespan of the New Deal, the citizens of Presque Isle Maine (population 6,695 in 1930) benefited from numerous projects from road construction, school repair, the airport, work relief, and a slaughter house. 1933 C. W. A. SPECIAL PROJECTS MATERIALS $1,398.90 1934 HIGHWAYS IN CONNECTION WITH ERA PROJECTS Raised at Special Town Meeting $2,004.02 Expenditures Materials, Cleaves Road $740.95 Materials Parkhurst Road $438.51 Materials Phair Junction Road $472.73 Materials Spragueville Road $351.83 MATERIAL FOR RELIEF PROJECTS Emergency Work Relief $915.71 C. W. A. Accounts $1,879.96 F. E. R. A. Accounts $1,106.96 Total $3,902.63 E. R. A. labor was used on Hall, Second, Dyer and Park Streets and on the Sidewalks that constructed in 1934. The...

One of 6 airports considered very important by the State Military Commission in 1940 for use as a military base. A 1940 Maine State Legislature report records that construction of the base was done by the W.P.A. Under FERA/MERA (Maine Emergency Relief Administration) there were constructed a 2100 x 100 graded sod runway and a 2000 x 100 graded sod runway. "In 1941 the federal government appropriated the local airport, establishing Presque Isle Army Airfield for planes bound to and from Great Britain. Activated as an Army Air Corps military airfield on 15 September... the airfield was de-activated on 20 September 1945...

Tuberculosis hospitals were built in the state of Maine in the early part of the 20th century. 1,000 people a year died of tuberculosis in Maine before the advent of modern medicine. Following the success of private hospitals in Hebron & Fairfield Maine which were facing financial difficulty, the state took control. The Northern Maine Sanitorium was built in Presque Isle following the passing of a law in the Maine State Legislature April 9, 1921. In 1938, the P.W.A. offered a grant of $7,739 for repairs or improvements which were completed in 1939. The facilities at Hebron and Presque Isle were closed...