The historic stone dam in Whiting, Maine has been the central feature of this tiny community of in Downeast Maine since the mid-nineteenth century. It is the lower of two dams on the Orange River, which has a brief, five-mile run as it drains eastward into Dennys Bay leading to the Atlantic Ocean. The dam is a barrier to the historic run of fish in the Orange River, and the Downeast Salmon Federation coordinated with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to fund the alteration and partial removal of the dam sufficient to allow the passage of fish while retaining the dam and impoundment which are so important to Whiting’s history and identity. The Town of Whiting contracted with me in late 2024 to conduct the historic research and HABS/HAER photography of the dam for the Maine Historic Engineering Record.
Despite extensive research, information about the dam’s history, its construction, use, and alterations, is scarce. Despite this, the dam appears to have been built in approximately 1830 for use as a saw and grist mill, serving the newly-arriving settlers here in this easternmost part of Maine. The dam has been partially damaged and rebuilt on at least one occasion, and has had a succession of mills attached to it. The last mill closed in 1954 after a devastating fire, with the remaining mill buildings removed shortly thereafter. All that was left was the one-story brick hydroelectric powerhouse at the north end of the dam’s downstream face, likely built at some point after the last rebuilding of the dam in the early 1920s, now with only the horizontal shaft of the generator and the governor housing to document the building’s purpose.