Androscoggin River Valley
Great Falls
Auburn- Lewiston, Maine
July 15th & 16h, 2009
I heard the news yesterday afternoon. I almost did not believe it at first. The stately though oft misunderstood Cowan Mill was torched by pretentious arsonists and went to a fiery grave. All of Island Point was engulfed in an inferno of angry 40 foot flames and belching black smoke. Firefighters from a dozen cities raced to the scene to offer aid. The blaze would not be put down easily. Most rescue personnel were quickly regulated to spectators as the walls finally succumb to the scorching heat and tumbled into the river they stood watch over for a century and a half. The quickness and ferocity of the blaze was humbling. The mayhem was complete in just a handful of hours.
There has been a mill of some sort or another on the prominent overlook along the falls dating back to Finley's Grist Mill built in 1770. The Libby Mill succoumbed to a similar firey demise about a decade ago. Now in a dramatic fashion the Cowan Mill designtergrates to ash and crumbled stone as well. Within a week the brittle skeleton will be razed leaving the once proud bluff above the falls bald and scared. As the cities debate rebuilding only time will tell if these fires stole the dignity Island Point maintained in the face of despair since originally industrialized.
Great Falls
Auburn- Lewiston, Maine
July 15th & 16h, 2009
I heard the news yesterday afternoon. I almost did not believe it at first. The stately though oft misunderstood Cowan Mill was torched by pretentious arsonists and went to a fiery grave. All of Island Point was engulfed in an inferno of angry 40 foot flames and belching black smoke. Firefighters from a dozen cities raced to the scene to offer aid. The blaze would not be put down easily. Most rescue personnel were quickly regulated to spectators as the walls finally succumb to the scorching heat and tumbled into the river they stood watch over for a century and a half. The quickness and ferocity of the blaze was humbling. The mayhem was complete in just a handful of hours.
There has been a mill of some sort or another on the prominent overlook along the falls dating back to Finley's Grist Mill built in 1770. The Libby Mill succoumbed to a similar firey demise about a decade ago. Now in a dramatic fashion the Cowan Mill designtergrates to ash and crumbled stone as well. Within a week the brittle skeleton will be razed leaving the once proud bluff above the falls bald and scared. As the cities debate rebuilding only time will tell if these fires stole the dignity Island Point maintained in the face of despair since originally industrialized.
Back in the winters of 2000 & 2001 I had a unique opportunity to take a rare look inside the hermitage that the Cowan Mill had become. A reclusive, some would say eccentric, gentleman had begun to restore small parts of the mill to house his life's work-- a collection of the rare and vintage. This collection included dozens of turn of the century automobiles and even an aeroplane, decades old street signs and license plates, horse-drawn buggies and surreys (the kind with the fringe on top), centuries old firefighting uniforms, gas pumps from the 1940's, parking meters from the 1950's, and even mannequins from a Five & Dime that went out of business in the 1960's. It was a dusty collection with more stories then Lake Wobegon.
For a young photojournalist just getting a start in the world it was an enchanted warehouse of endless opportunities. I spent hours daydreaming among the piles of detritus. I spent hundreds of feet of film trying to document everything in its natural light. Now looking back I realize how fortunate I was in my naivete to have had the chance to blunder inside. Looking back I wish I had spent more time wandering, chatting, and daydreaming with the elusive proprietor. Looking back I am reminded how fleeting, and how overlooked, the best things and life can be.
The Mighty Androscoggin.*
The Mill.**
The Legacy.
The Line-up.
The Vintage.
The Fin.
The Kettle.
The Detail.
The Pile.
The Roaring 20's.
The Project.
The Recluse. 2001.
* Cowan Mill to right of frame.
**Taken from the clock tower of the Bates Mill downriver (looking up river toward Island Point & Great Falls).
At the bottom of the frame is visible the sawtoothed roof of Bates Mill #5. It was this roof that would also catch fire yesterday as hot ash spewed from the Cowan Mill fire and ignited the brittle timbers of good ole #5. To the right of the frame is the shell of the Libby Mill. To the center-left of the frame is a side view of the Cowan Mill.
For a young photojournalist just getting a start in the world it was an enchanted warehouse of endless opportunities. I spent hours daydreaming among the piles of detritus. I spent hundreds of feet of film trying to document everything in its natural light. Now looking back I realize how fortunate I was in my naivete to have had the chance to blunder inside. Looking back I wish I had spent more time wandering, chatting, and daydreaming with the elusive proprietor. Looking back I am reminded how fleeting, and how overlooked, the best things and life can be.
The Mighty Androscoggin.*
The Mill.**
The Legacy.
The Line-up.
The Vintage.
The Fin.
The Kettle.
The Detail.
The Pile. 
The Roaring 20's. 
The Project. 
The Recluse. 2001.* Cowan Mill to right of frame.
**Taken from the clock tower of the Bates Mill downriver (looking up river toward Island Point & Great Falls).
At the bottom of the frame is visible the sawtoothed roof of Bates Mill #5. It was this roof that would also catch fire yesterday as hot ash spewed from the Cowan Mill fire and ignited the brittle timbers of good ole #5. To the right of the frame is the shell of the Libby Mill. To the center-left of the frame is a side view of the Cowan Mill.
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