On this date in Maine history: Jan. 28

Jan. 28, 1768: Moses Little and Jonathan Bagley, both of Newbury, Massachusetts, receive a grant for land around the falls on the Androscoggin River from the Pejepscot Proprietors.

A condition of the grant is that 50 families live there in 50 houses by June 1, 1774. In the fall of 1770, Paul Hildreth becomes the first settler to move there.

The settlement, named Lewiston, later becomes Maine’s second-largest city.

USM wants to build a student success/career center, shown in this rendering in the middle, and a 550-bed residence hall, upper right, on its Portland campus. At left is the existing Luther Bonney Hall. Courtesy of USM

Jan. 28, 2019: The University of Maine System trustees approve a sweeping $100 million master plan for the revitalization of the University of Southern Maine.

The plan calls for a $25 million student center, new dormitories and a campus quad in Portland, as well as other changes at the school’s Portland and Gorham campuses. First proposed in 2016, the overhaul is expected to take years to achieve.

The plan is part of a major rebranding that USM President Glenn Cummings promised when he took over in 2015 during a fiscal crisis.

Joseph Owen is a retired copy desk chief of the Morning Sentinel and Kennebec Journal and board member of the Kennebec Historical Society. He can be contacted at: [email protected]

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