President Lyndon B. Johnson eats two cones at Dairy Queen in Topsham in this photo that originally appeared in the Portland Press Herald on Aug. 20, 1966. Yoichi Okamoto photo, LBJ Library

The decade of the 1960s was filled with turmoil. A conflict no one had wanted escalated in southeast Asia, while a domestic war over civil rights raged on here at home. The hippie-driven, flower-power movement of peace and love mellowed many, while the contrast of brutal assassinations of America’s leaders was maddening.

And while Madison Avenue executives clogged the Union’s highway with billboards, America’s first lady led a beautification campaign of those same roadways. Then, during all of this national insanity, a sitting president of the United States stopped for a momentary royal visit in Topsham.

It was around five in the afternoon on a hot Saturday, Aug. 20, 1966, when Air Force One touched down on the runway at the Brunswick Naval Air Station. America’s 36th president of the United States, Lyndon B. Johnson, traveling with his family and a full entourage of aides and Secret Service agents, had just arrived from a stopover in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Among those traveling with the president were Maine’s own Gov. John Reed, Sen. Edmund Muskie and Congressmen William D. Hathaway and Stanley R. Tupper.

Johnson was on a fast-paced whirlwind tour of New York and New England to tout his domestic agenda, explain his international policies and to shake every voting hand in America. Now, the commander in chief was set to deliver a star-spangled speech in front of nearly 25,000 Mainers atop a bunting-bedazzled pavilion, at the John F. Kennedy Memorial Park in Lewiston.

It was a little over a year since the infamous “phantom punch” rocked a rematch between heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali and former champion Sonny Liston at the Central Maine Youth Center in Lewiston. The brief bout, which last just under two minutes, had stunned the sports world. Now, another famous visitor was about to shake up the same industrial town.

President Lyndon B. Johnson speaks in Lewiston 1966 in this still from video “The President: August 1966. MP877 (1280×720).” Courtesy of LBJ Library, YouTube

Five thousand spectators were on hand to greet the president when he landed in Brunswick. The sight of America’s colorful Air Force One on the sunny Brunswick tarmac was a special sight for many of the visitors, who waited as much as three hours in the hot sun.

When the entourage — already “an hour behind schedule” — departed Brunswick’s Navy Base, they picked “up the new highway at Cook’s Corner, turned right at Mill Street, then crossed the bridge over the Androscoggin,” to eventually head out 196 through Lisbon Falls. However, before the motorcade got up to speed, Johnson ordered an unscheduled stop for an impromptu royal visit.

Many customers were suddenly caught off guard when police motorcycles, black sedans, black limousines, federal agents, reporters, photographers, Maine’s top politicians and presidential aides all swiftly converged upon the tiny parking lot at the Dairy Queen on Main Street in Topsham.

When locals witnessed the spectacle before them, they all stood back in surprise as aides rushed the window to order soft-serve cones for the president, the first lady and their daughter, Lynda. It was a rush of excitement for the Queen’s young staff as LBJ double-fisted his refreshment with two of the large, soft and cold treats — one chocolate and one vanilla.

Many of the entourage also bellied up to the window, fired off their orders and devoured their treats, while Johnson met with stunned spectators. Then, just as quickly as they arrived, everyone piled back into the motorcade and roared off out of sight.

At about 7 p.m., when the evening’s events in Lewiston were over, President Johnson’s entourage sped down I-95 to the Maine State Pier in Portland. There, the president greeted over 4,000 spectators before boarding the U.S. Navy ship USS Northampton, which often served as a “seaboard presidential command post.”

The light cruiser then departed Portland Harbor, navigating northerly along the coast of Maine to Campobello Island, just off the coast of Lubec, where the president and his staff spent the night.

The next day, Johnson took part in discussions with Canadian Prime Minister Lester Pearson and attended other events hosted at Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s former summer home on Campobello Island.

Then, Johnson flew aboard Marine One — the presidential helicopter — to Dow Air Force Base in Bangor, where “a crowd of about 2,500 were on hand to give him an enthusiastic send off.” There, Air Force One met the entourage and soon whisked America’s 36th chief executive back to the political realities of Washington. It had been a quick hit-and-run weekend for Mainers and especially those of Lewiston and the Midcoast.

To this day, a sign still hangs on the wall outside of the popular eatery, reminding all of the hot August day in 1966 when the president of the United States suddenly visited a Queen in Topsham, in this, one of our coolest Stories From Maine.

Historian Lori-Suzanne Dell has authored five books on Maine history and administers the popular “Stories From Maine” page on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram.