The photo on the left was taken from Longfellow Street where it connected to Main Street, and shows the old railroad tracks going west into Gorham. N.T. Fox Lumber Co. occupied the buildings adjacent the tracks and were actually on Conant Street, which connected onto Main Street and was part of Route 25 west. In the early 1970s the old railroad bed was taken up and a bypass road was built to relieve the heavy traffic congestion on Main Street during peak traffic hours. The new road was originally named Wayside Drive, but was changed several years ago to William Clarke Drive in honor of longtime Westbrook City Clerk William “Bill” Clarke. N.T. Fox closed the Westbrook store shortly after construction was started on the bypass. Photo on the right shows the present-day bypass. Conant Street is to the right of the photo and connects onto the bypass but is no longer part of Route 25.

Research and photos courtesy of Mike Sanphy