From collection Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Company Collection
Sweden St., Caribou, ME 23X
A bustling street scene at the intersections of Sweden St. and Main St. in Caribou, Maine. According to a ca.1870 Roe and Colby Map of the downtown, a "New Sweden" Road leading from the west crossed Main St. at its north end just above Caribou Stream, which also ran through town, powering early grist and saw mills. This 1920s image shows what is still a late 19th century downtown for the time, with one substantial masonry commercial builing mixing with the older wood frame structures. The photo documents a place in transition. While early automobiles choke the streets, the roads are still dirt. However, electric poles and lines signify power and telephone service. People are out, suggesting a vital economy and community. Indeed, since the arrival of the Bangor & Aroostook Railroad in 1894, Caribou had become the shipping hub for Aroostook County's major potato crop, where millions of bushels of potatoes, and barrels of potato stock and potato seed got loaded onto trains bound for Boston and New York.
