Caribou area From our Files – Week of April 26, 2023

1 year ago

115 Years Ago – Apr. 23, 1908

Working in Houlton to help out — Miss Gertrude Gahagan has gone to Houlton to work in the telephone office for a few weeks, taking the place of the regular operator who is confined to the house by sickness.

Building a house for autos — H. D. Collins is building an automobile house on his lot on Collins street. The house will be sufficiently large to accommodate both of Mr. Collins autos, the one he ran last year and the new one purchased this spring.

Relocating office — The American Express Company’s office, which has been located for several years in the store of H. D. Collins, was moved Saturday night into its new quarters in the Collins block on Main Street, that door south of the Post Office, which has been repaired and remodeled and fitted up expressly for the express building.

100 Years Ago – Apr. 26, 1923

New owners change the name — The new owners of the Direct Importing Co.s’ chain of stores throughout the country have decided to change the name of the company and hereafter the stores will be known as the Overland Stores D. S. Billington, manager of the local branch, informs the Republican that a new sign will soon be put in position over his place of business.

Special train ran to Presque Isle — A special train was run on the A. V. R. Tuesday night to accommodate those who wished to attend the Chapman concert in Presque Isle. Many took advantage of the opportunity and all reported that the concert was one of the very best, and expressed themselves as being greatly delighted.

75 Years Ago – Apr. 22, 1948

Local restaurants get spring renovations — Two local restaurants have been taking an early lead on spring clean-up and renovation. The Elite, on Sweden Street, has been completely repainted, and tables and counters varnished. Proprietor Ferris Corey says ceilings and floors also have had a ‘going over,’ and attractive drapes have been added to the windows. The Caribou, on Main Street, will blossom forth with a white ceiling and light green walls. Booths and counters will be redecorated, and Proprietor Sam Hackett says that a set of new menu cards will finish off the ‘new look’ of his place.

Apartment being built — Mrs. F. S. Tibbetts is having an apartment built over the Tibbetts building, Sweden Street. On completion she will move into it from her home on Collins Street.

25 Years Ago – Apr. 29, 1998

Growing by leaps and bounds — Necklaces of colored computer wires hang around the ceilings of each room and hallway in the ATX Forms Inc. office space. Small rooms have been divided into even smaller work spaces and every nook and cranny in the office space has a use. Next month, the company will be relocating to the former Rite-Aid building on Sweden Street in Caribou. ATX is in the process of renovating the building. What started out on a card table and a door laid across two filing cabinets in Glynn Willett’s living room in Washburn has become a nationally competitive tax software company. 

Benefit auction planned helps local AIDS efforts — 15 Aroostook County artists have donated pieces of their work to benefit Aroostook AIDS victims and to help support AIDS and HIV education. Some examples are: Frank Nichols, New Sweden, a painting of the Unitarian Universalist Church in Caribou; Liz Wyman, Fort Fairfield, an acrylic painting; Katherine Barns, Fort Fairfield, a stained glass panel. Other artists with pieces being donated are: John Hafford, Caribou; Mark Huff, Presque Isle; Wendy Kindred, Fort Kent; Richard Clark, Perham; Rosalind Morgan, Linnaeus; Steve Hatch, Caribou; Lisa Myers, St. Agatha; Catherine Torchia, Houlton; and John Kennedy, Bancroft.