Redington Museum
Home of the Waterville Historical Society
Railroad in Waterville
“Fifteen months before the whistle of the locomotive or the clanging of the engine bell had mingled their notes progress with the roar of the falls of the Kennebec, as its mighty waters, untrammeled and unharnessed, rushed toward the seas, there was gathering in the old Waterville town hall on the Fourth of July, 1848, a group of progressive Maine citizens, interested in the welfare of the State and ready with all the means at their command to carry forward to the best of their ability any movement that might lead to the betterment of Maine and for the welfare of its people.
The occasion of this gathering was the annual meeting of the Androscoggin & Kennebec Railroad Company, and so interested had the citizens of Waterville become at that time in the promotion of the railroad and the hope of an early communication with the outside world, that their progressive spirit was early recognized.
On November twenty-seven, 1849, the first train from Portland arrived. We, of today, can hardly picture the scene that must have occurred. The historian tells us that bells were rung, cannon were fired, and that a great crowd bubbling over with excitement and enthusiasm greeted the train upon its arrival.”
Clement M. Giveen, 1911
As published in Board of Trade Journal