It’s A Busy Week In Bangor History!

I remember when my 34th birthday rolled around. It was on a Tuesday or Wednesday, and it was raining. My wife asked me if we should go ouyt to dinner or something that night, and I kind of shrugged it off. In my mind, 34 was kind of 'who cares?' birthday. Anything ending in a five or a zero can be a milestone. But 34? Nah.

However, Bangor's biggest man, Paul Bunyan came to Bangor 60 years ago this week! Can you imagine Bangor's landscape before that massive statue came to preside over Main Street? I've seen pictures. It looks like Bangor went to work without any pants on. It's just all wrong.

Tourists come to check him out from all over, as they pass through town. How many of us have photos that our parents took when we were kids, all standing on the base of the statue?? I know we did, and then many generations after as well with nephews and cousins, etc. I know there's Paul Bunyan's in other towns across the country, but we absolutely have the best one.

Also, today is Bangor's 185th birthday! Incorporated on this date in 1834, the name of the town was finalized. It went through a few changes in it's early days starting as Condeskeg Plantation in 1791. No one know 100% why Bangor changed it's name. Some say to commemorate the town in Ireland, but we pronounce the name differently here, according to Wikipedia.

Most of us have a pretty good handle on a lot of Bangor's past. It was the lumber capital of the world at one point, there's the legend of the Devil's Half Acre, George Hale's infamous forecast for the blizzard of '62, etc. Bangor has a storied history that makes it quite unique for a town it's size, and in it's location.

So, Happy Birthday Bangor! And to Bangor's most famous resident, Paul Bunyan! You're both interchangeable figures at this point, and we wouldn't want it any other way!