The following story appears in Rodney Quinn’s book, “Gorham during the Great Depression,” which was given to the Baxter Memorial Library:

Leather tanning requires a steady supply of water. In Gorham of the early 20th century, the railroad brook (behind where the Sebago restaurant is located) provided fresh water to the Iverson Tannery on Main Street where Rite-Aid drug now stands. The water was brought across town in a granite and wooden trench buried near where the present day Hannaford store and the Norway Savings bank stand. Another brook, downhill behind the tannery, fittingly called Tannery, carried the used water away.

For many years the tannery provided employment for 50 or 60 people, but by the 1930s had become unprofitable and was closed. The large building and its satellite structures were allowed to fall into disrepair. Long covered and forgotten, the water still flowed under the old structure.

It was eventually discovered by a group of exploring Boy Scouts. Down the hill from the main building they also found a concrete basement – all that was left of a sizeable storage building. The remains of the water system could be extended to the old basement and the floor drains (which led to the Tannery Brook) still worked.

What possibilities! Once an old wagon door at one end of the basement could be repaired, a potential swimming pool was in their hands!

As long as there was no destruction, the casual use of abandoned property was commonplace in the 1930s and the boys anticipated no problem with whomever the owners might be.

But technical assistance was required.

First, they solicited advice about capacity and wall strength from Mr. Brown and Mr. Dilley, Gorham Normal School shop teachers. Then the town plumber, Chuck Hannaford, assured them there would be sufficient water to keep the pool clean. With Calvin Coolidge a recent memory, “Business of the Country was still Business,” so Miss Robinson (later Doris Connors), the High School commercial teacher, was inveigled into designing a business model.

The Gorham Swimming Pool Corporation was formed. Corporate officers were John Alden, life guard (he was the best swimmer); David Bonney, construction (His father Roscoe was willing to help on pouring concrete for the door.); Bob Clement and Bob Hoover, engineering (They were the best at math.), and Rodney Quinn, stock sales (He was the fastest talker.).

The IPO was $100 at $1 per share. Shortly thereafter, $20 of stock was sold, and construction on the wagon door undertaken. This project emptied the treasury and, unfortunately, despite desperate efforts, it appeared the market for investment grade paper in Gorham had been exhausted. Like many developers before and since, the ambition of the Gorham Swimming Pool Corporation had exceeded its fiscal capacity.

The project stalled.

Anyway, it was about time for the annual two weeks at Camp Hinds, Nirvana for every Boy Scout in southern Maine. First things first.

A thousand years from now when archaeologists excavate Gorham, that cement cellar might still be found somewhere under the paved service area behind Burger King.

Rodney S. Quinn is a Gorham resident, author and former secretary of state.