This postcard depicts downtown Bar Mills on the Buxton side about 1900. The large Meserve Department Store is on the left. The Atkinson Store is at the right rear, with Saco River Telephone & Telegraph building on the upper level. The many crossarms on the telephone poles carried bare iron wires for each telephone circuit. The grain store in the right foreground advertising Obelisk Flour was on the site of one of the earliest grain mills in the area. It was later the Soule Brothers grain store. The dog is in the middle of one of the main roads between Portland and Boston. The buildings on the right always had their basements fill with water when the Saco River flooded. Courtesy Buxton-Hollis Historical Society

In commemoration of Maine’s bicentennial this year, the American Journal is featuring historical highlights from our communities’ past 200 years. This feature can be found in print and online every other week.

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