From collection Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Company Collection
P.L. Youngrens Store and Res., New Sweden, ME 22.
A view of the house and store owned by P.L.Youngren in New Sweden, Maine. The image depicts a two-story frame block with a retail business downstairs and residence upstairs. A long front porch, elevated from the dirt road by wooden stairs, spans the front of the building and offers access to two recessed entrances and generous fenestration for interior light and visual access. The front porch of the building is lined with wooden barrels and boxes, essential vessels for moving and storing the principal products of the place: potatoes and grains. Some of the boxes would have contained apples for local consumption. The first major boost to economic development in the area was the arrival, in 1899, of the Bangor & Aroostook Railroad. Peter L. Youngren was one of several enterprising businessmen to purchase land and build a store and residence right at the station. By 1908 New England Business Directory and Gazetteer lists Youngren as owner of a general store at New Sweden Bangor & Aroostook Station. The second major boost came in 1911 with the construction of the Aroostook Valley Electric Road, a short (33 mile) electrified inter-urban line for hauling goods as well as people between Presque Isle, Washburn, Caribou and New Sweden. This route connected large loads of freight (principally potatoes, but also hay, grain and fertilizer) from New Sweden to Washburn Junction, where it connected with the Canadian Pacific Railroad, and to freight and passenger trains bound for Boston. In 1915, Youngren's was one of four grocery stores in New Sweden. Peter L. Youngren also managed the Aroostook Starch Company, also located at the station. It was one of a handful of local factories which produced starch from ground-up potatoes. [Trail Link - Aroostook Valley Trail History traillink.com]
