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Bangor, Maine

Bangor (/ˈbæŋɡɔːr/ BANG-gor) is a city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat of Penobscot County. The city proper has a population of 31,753,[4] making it the state's third-largest settlement, behind Portland (68,408) and Lewiston (37,121).

Bangor, Maine
City
City of Bangor[1]
Skyline
Nickname: 
The Queen City of the East
Interactive map outlining Bangor
Bangor
Location within Maine
Bangor
Location within the United States
Bangor
Bangor (North America)
Coordinates: 44°48′11″N 68°46′03″W / 44.80306°N 68.76750°W / 44.80306; -68.76750Coordinates: 44°48′11″N 68°46′03″W / 44.80306°N 68.76750°W / 44.80306; -68.76750
Country United States
State Maine
CountyPenobscot
IncorporatedFebruary 12, 1834
Government
 • TypeCouncil-Manager
 • City ManagerCatherine Conlow
Area
 • City34.59 sq mi (89.60 km2)
 • Land34.26 sq mi (88.73 km2)
 • Water0.34 sq mi (0.87 km2)
Elevation
118 ft (36 m)
Population
 (2020)
 • City31,753
 • Density926.85/sq mi (357.86/km2)
 • Urban
61,210 (US: 441st)
 • Metro
153,923 (US: 276th)
DemonymBangorean[3]
Time zoneUTC−5 (Eastern)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−4 (Eastern)
ZIP Codes
04401–04402
Area code207
FIPS code23-02795
GNIS feature ID0561558
Websitewww.bangormaine.gov

Modern Bangor was established in the mid-19th century with the lumber and shipbuilding industries. Lying on the Penobscot River, logs could be floated downstream from the Maine North Woods and processed at the city's water-powered sawmills, then shipped from Bangor's port to the Atlantic Ocean 30 miles (48 km) downstream, and from there to any port in the world. Evidence of this is still visible in the lumber barons' elaborate Greek Revival and Victorian mansions and the 31-foot-high (9.4 m) statue of Paul Bunyan. Today, Bangor's economy is based on services and retail, healthcare, and education.

Bangor has a port of entry at Bangor International Airport, also home to the Bangor Air National Guard Base. Historically Bangor was an important stopover on the Great Circle Air Route between the U.S. East Coast and Europe.

Bangor has a humid continental climate, with cold, snowy winters, and warm summers.

Name and pronunciation

Founded as Kendeskeag Plantation, Bangor was incorporated as a New England town in 1791. The reason for the choice of name is disputed.[5] The final syllable is pronounced gor, not ger as in Bangor, Northern Ireland. The final syllable of the city of Bangor in north Wales is "gor" (with the "r” pronounced) in the original Welsh, but English speakers often say "ger". In 2015, local celebrities and business owners recorded the YouTube video "How to Say Bangor".[6]

History

European settlement

The Penobscot people have inhabited the area around present-day Bangor for at least 11,000 years[7] and still occupy tribal land on the nearby Penobscot Indian Island Reservation. They practised some agriculture, but less than peoples in southern New England where the climate is milder,[8] and subsisted on what they could hunt and gather.[9] Contact with Europeans was not uncommon during the 1500s because the fur trade was lucrative and the Penobscot were willing to trade pelts for European goods. The first European known to have explored the area in 1524 was Estêvão Gomes, a Portuguese navigator who sailed in the service of Spain in the 1520s. The Spaniards, led by Gómez, were the first Europeans to make landfall in what is now Maine, followed by the Frenchman Samuel de Champlain in 1605.[10] The Jesuits established a mission on Penobscot Bay in 1609, which was then part of the French colony of Acadia, and the valley remained contested between France and Britain into the 1750s, making it one of the last regions to become part of New England.

In 1769, Jacob Buswell founded a settlement at the site. Then known as Norumbega, by 1772, there were 12 families, along with a sawmill, store, and school. By 1787, the population was 567. It was known as Sunbury until incorporation as Bangor in 1791.[11]

Wars of Independence, 1812, and Civil War

In 1779, the rebel Penobscot Expedition fled up the Penobscot River and ten of its ships were scuttled by the British fleet at Bangor. The ships remained there until the late 1950s, when construction of the Joshua Chamberlain Bridge disturbed the site. Six cannons were removed from the riverbed, five of which are on display throughout the region (one was thrown back into the river by area residents angered that the archeological site was destroyed for the bridge's construction).[5]

During the War of 1812 Bangor and Hampden were sacked by the British.[12]

Maine was part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts until 1820 when it voted to secede from Massachusetts and was admitted to the Union as the 23rd state under the Missouri Compromise.

In 1861, a mob ransacked the offices of the Democratic newspaper the Bangor Daily Union, threw the presses and other materials into the street and burned them. Editor Marcellus Emery escaped unharmed and it was only after the war that he resumed publishing.[13]

During the American Civil War the locally mustered 2nd Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment was the first to march out of Maine in 1861, and played a prominent part in the First Battle of Bull Run. The 1st Maine Heavy Artillery Regiment, mustered in Bangor and commanded by a local merchant, lost more men than any other Union regiment in the war (especially in the Second Battle of Petersburg, 1864). The 20th Maine Infantry Regiment held Little Round Top in the Battle of Gettysburg. A bridge connecting Bangor with Brewer is named for Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, the regiment's leader and one of eight Civil War soldiers from Penobscot County towns to receive the Medal of Honor.[14] Bangor's Charles A. Boutelle accepted the surrender of the Confederate fleet after the Battle of Mobile Bay. A Bangor residential street is named for him. The Confederate States Navy captured several Bangor ships during the Civil War.

Bangor was near the lands disputed during the Aroostook War, a boundary dispute with Britain in 1838–1839. The passion of the Aroostook War signaled the increasing role lumbering and logging played in the Maine economy, particularly in the state's central and eastern sections. Bangor arose as a lumbering boom-town in the 1830s, and a potential demographic and political rival to Portland. Bangor became for a time the largest lumber port in the world, and the site of furious land speculation that extended up the Penobscot River valley and beyond.[15]

Industrialization: lumbering, shipping, and manufacturing

 
Sterns Sawmill, below Bangor

The Penobscot River drainage basin above Bangor was unattractive to settlement for farming, but well suited to lumbering. Winter snow allowed logs to be dragged from the woods by horse-teams. Carried to the Penobscot or its tributaries, log driving in the snowmelt brought them to waterfall-powered sawmills upriver from Bangor. The sawed lumber was then shipped from the city's docks, Bangor being at the head-of-tide (between the rapids and the ocean) to points anywhere in the world. Shipbuilding was also developed.[16] Bangor capitalists also owned most of the forests. The main markets for Bangor lumber were the East Coast cities. Much was also shipped to the Caribbean and to California during the Gold Rush, via Cape Horn, before sawmills could be established in the west. Bangorians later helped transplant the Maine culture of lumbering to the Pacific Northwest, and participated directly in the Gold Rush. Bangor, Washington; Bangor, California; and Little Bangor, Nevada, are legacies of this contact.[16]

By 1860, Bangor was the world's largest lumber port, with 150 sawmills operating along the river. The city shipped over 150 million boardfeet of lumber a year, much of it in Bangor-built and Bangor-owned ships. In the year 1860, 3,300 lumbering ships passed by the docks.[5]

Many of the lumber barons built elaborate Greek Revival and Victorian houses that still stand in the Broadway Historic District. Bangor has many substantial old churches, and shade trees. The city was so beautiful it was called "The Queen City of the East". The shorter Queen City appellation is still used by some local clubs, organizations, events and businesses.[17]

In addition to shipping lumber, 19th-century Bangor was the leading producer of moccasins, shipping over 100,000 pairs a year by the 1880s.[18] Exports also included bricks, leather, and even ice (which was cut and stored in winter, then shipped to Boston, and even China, the West Indies and South America).[5]

Bangor had certain disadvantages compared to other East Coast ports, including its rival Portland, Maine. Being on a northern river, its port froze during the winter, and it could not take the largest ocean-going ships. The comparative lack of settlement in the forested hinterland also gave it a comparatively small home market.[19]

In 1844 the first ocean-going iron-hulled steamship in the U.S. was named The Bangor. She was built by the Harlan and Hollingsworth firm of Wilmington, Delaware in 1844, and was intended to take passengers between Bangor and Boston. On her second voyage, however, in 1845, she burned to the waterline off Castine. She was rebuilt at Bath, returned briefly to her earlier route, but was soon purchased by the U.S. government for use in the Mexican–American War.[20]

Modern Bangor

 
Downtown Bangor

Bangor continued to prosper as the pulp and paper industry replaced lumbering, and railroads replaced shipping.[21] Local capitalists also invested in a train route to Aroostook County in northern Maine (the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad), opening that area to settlement.

Bangor's Hinkley & Egery Ironworks (later Union Ironworks) was a local center for invention in the 19th and early 20th centuries. A new type of steam engine built there, named the "Endeavor", won a gold medal at the New York Crystal Palace Exhibition of the American Institute in 1856. The firm won a diploma for a shingle-making machine the following year.[22] In the 1920s, Union Iron Works engineer Don A. Sargent invented the first automotive snow plow. Sargent patented the device and the firm manufactured it for a national market.[23]

Geography

Bangor is located at 44°48′N 68°48′W / 44.8°N 68.8°W / 44.8; -68.8.[24] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 34.59 square miles (89.59 km2), of which 34.26 square miles (88.73 km2) is land and 0.33 square miles (0.85 km2) is water.[25]

A potential advantage that has always eluded exploitation is the city's location between the port city of Halifax, Nova Scotia, and the rest of Canada (as well as New York). As early as the 1870s, the city promoted a Halifax-to-New York railroad, via Bangor, as the quickest connection between North America and Europe (when combined with steamship service between Britain and Halifax). A European and North American Railway opened through Bangor, with President Ulysses S. Grant officiating at the inauguration, but commerce never lived up to the potential. More recent attempts to capture traffic between Halifax and Montreal by constructing an East–West Highway through Maine have also come to naught. Most overland traffic between the two parts of Canada continues to travel north of Maine rather than across it.[26]

Urban development

Fires

Major fires struck the downtown in 1856,[27] 1869,[28] and 1872,[29] the last resulting in the erection of the Adams-Pickering Block. In the Great Fire of 1911 Bangor lost its high school, post office & custom house, public library, telephone and telegraph companies, banks, two fire stations, nearly a hundred businesses, six churches, and synagogue and 285 private residences over a total of 55 acres (23 ha.) The area was rebuilt, and in the process became a showplace for a diverse range of architectural styles, including the Mansard style, Beaux Arts, Greek Revival and Colonial Revival,[5] and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Great Fire of 1911 Historic District.

Urban renewal

The destruction of downtown landmarks such as the old city hall and train station in the late 1960s urban renewal program is now considered to have been a mistake. It ushered in a decline of the city center that was accelerated by the construction of the Bangor Mall in 1978 and subsequent big-box stores on the city's outskirts.[30] Downtown Bangor began to recover in the 1990s, with bookstores, café/restaurants, galleries, and museums filling once-vacant storefronts. The recent re-development of the city's waterfront has also helped re-focus cultural life in the historic center.[31]

Hydrology

Bangor is on the banks of the Penobscot River, close enough to the Atlantic Ocean to be influenced by tides. Upstream, the Penobscot River drainage basin occupies 8,570 square miles (22,200 km2) in northeastern Maine. Flooding is most often caused by a combination of precipitation and snowmelt. Ice jams can exacerbate high flow conditions and cause acute localized flooding. Conditions favorable for flooding typically occur during the spring months.[32]

In 1807 an ice jam formed below Bangor Village raising the water 10 to 12 feet (3 to 3.7 m) above the normal highwater mark[33] and in 1887 the freshet caused the Maine Central Railroad Company rails between Bangor and Vanceboro to be covered to a depth of several feet.[33] Bangor's worst ice jam floods occurred in 1846 and 1902. Both resulted from mid-December freshets that cleared the upper river of ice, followed by cold that produced large volumes of frazil ice or slush which was carried by high flows forming a major ice jam in the lower river. In March of both years, a dynamic breakup of ice ran into the jam and flooded downtown Bangor. Though no people died and the city recovered quickly, the 1846 and 1902 ice jam floods were economically devastating, according to the Army Corps analysis. Both floods occurred with multiple dams in place and little to no ice-breaking in the lower river. The United States Coast Guard began icebreaker operations on the Penobscot in the 1940s, preventing the formation of frozen ice jams during the winter and providing an unobstructed path for ice-out in the spring.[34] Long-term temperature records show a gradual warming since 1894, which may have reduced the ice jam flood potential at Bangor.

In the Groundhog Day gale of 1976 a storm surge went up the Penobscot, flooding Bangor for three hours.[35] At 11:15 am, waters began rising on the river and within 15 minutes had risen a total of 3.7 metres (12 ft) flooding downtown. About 200 cars were submerged and office workers were stranded until waters receded. There were no reported deaths during this unusual flash flood.[36]

Climate

Bangor has a humid continental climate (Köppen: Dfb), with cold, snowy winters, and warm summers, and is in USDA hardiness zone 5a.[37] The monthly daily average temperature ranges from 18.5 °F (−7.5 °C) in January to 69.5 °F (20.8 °C) in July.[38][39] On average, there are 20 nights annually that drop to 0 °F (−18 °C) or below, and 55 days where the temperature stays below freezing, including 49 days from December through February.[38] There is an average of 6.1 days annually with highs at or above 90 °F (32 °C), with the last year to have not seen such temperatures being 2014.[38][39] Extreme temperatures range from −32 °F (−36 °C) on February 10, 1948, up to 104 °F (40 °C) on August 19, 1935.[38]

The average first freeze of the season occurs on October 7, and the last May 7, resulting in a freeze-free season of 152 days; the corresponding dates for measurable snowfall, i.e. at least 0.1 in (0.25 cm), are November 23 and April 4.[38] The average annual snowfall for Bangor is approximately 74.6 inches (189 cm), while snowfall has ranged from 22.2 inches (56 cm) in 1979–80 to 181.9 inches (4.62 m) in 1962−63; the record snowiest month was February 1969 with 58.0 inches (147 cm), while the most snow in one calendar day was 30.0 inches (76 cm) on December 14, 1927.[38] A snow depth of at least 3 in (7.6 cm) is on average seen 66 days per winter, including 54 days from January to March, when the snow pack is typically most reliable.[39]

Climate data for Bangor International Airport, Maine (1991–2020 normals,[a] extremes 1925–present)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °F (°C) 63
(17)
65
(18)
84
(29)
90
(32)
96
(36)
98
(37)
99
(37)
104
(40)
99
(37)
92
(33)
75
(24)
65
(18)
104
(40)
Mean maximum °F (°C) 48.9
(9.4)
47.7
(8.7)
57.9
(14.4)
73.0
(22.8)
84.6
(29.2)
90.2
(32.3)
91.5
(33.1)
90.3
(32.4)
86.0
(30.0)
73.8
(23.2)
63.5
(17.5)
54.1
(12.3)
93.9
(34.4)
Average high °F (°C) 28.1
(−2.2)
31.2
(−0.4)
40.1
(4.5)
53.2
(11.8)
65.7
(18.7)
74.7
(23.7)
80.4
(26.9)
79.4
(26.3)
71.0
(21.7)
58.2
(14.6)
45.8
(7.7)
34.5
(1.4)
55.2
(12.9)
Daily mean °F (°C) 18.5
(−7.5)
21.0
(−6.1)
30.6
(−0.8)
42.8
(6.0)
54.5
(12.5)
63.6
(17.6)
69.5
(20.8)
68.2
(20.1)
59.9
(15.5)
48.2
(9.0)
37.3
(2.9)
25.9
(−3.4)
45.0
(7.2)
Average low °F (°C) 9.0
(−12.8)
10.9
(−11.7)
21.1
(−6.1)
32.4
(0.2)
43.3
(6.3)
52.6
(11.4)
58.6
(14.8)
57.0
(13.9)
48.8
(9.3)
38.2
(3.4)
28.8
(−1.8)
17.3
(−8.2)
34.8
(1.6)
Mean minimum °F (°C) −14.1
(−25.6)
−11.2
(−24.0)
−2.1
(−18.9)
20.3
(−6.5)
30.8
(−0.7)
40.7
(4.8)
48.4
(9.1)
45.2
(7.3)
33.5
(0.8)
24.3
(−4.3)
12.6
(−10.8)
−3.2
(−19.6)
−16.9
(−27.2)
Record low °F (°C) −29
(−34)
−32
(−36)
−16
(−27)
4
(−16)
23
(−5)
29
(−2)
37
(3)
29
(−2)
23
(−5)
11
(−12)
−3
(−19)
−27
(−33)
−32
(−36)
Average precipitation inches (mm) 3.17
(81)
2.38
(60)
3.22
(82)
3.61
(92)
3.34
(85)
3.87
(98)
3.16
(80)
3.06
(78)
3.76
(96)
4.58
(116)
3.84
(98)
3.72
(94)
41.71
(1,059)
Average snowfall inches (cm) 18.6
(47)
17.5
(44)
15.2
(39)
3.7
(9.4)
0.0
(0.0)
0.0
(0.0)
0.0
(0.0)
0.0
(0.0)
0.0
(0.0)
0.6
(1.5)
4.3
(11)
14.7
(37)
74.6
(189)
Average extreme snow depth inches (mm) 14.5
(37)
16.3
(41)
14.2
(36)
4.0
(10)
0.0
(0.0)
0.0
(0.0)
0.0
(0.0)
0.0
(0.0)
0.0
(0.0)
0.1
(0.25)
2.3
(5.8)
8.0
(20)
18.7
(47)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in) 11.2 9.9 11.3 11.6 12.4 12.2 10.9 9.8 9.4 11.4 11.3 12.6 134.0
Average snowy days (≥ 0.1 in) 8.0 7.6 5.4 1.7 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2 2.0 6.4 31.3
Average relative humidity (%) 84 85 84 77 77 79 79 79 79 79 78 81 80
Mean daily sunshine hours 4.6 4.0 5.1 7.0 7.9 8.6 9.6 9.9 8.2 6.2 4.9 4.4 6.7
Mean daily daylight hours 9.3 10.5 12.0 13.5 14.9 15.5 15.2 14.0 12.5 10.9 9.6 8.9 12.2
Average ultraviolet index 2 2 2 3 4 5 5 5 4 2 2 2 3
Source 1: NOAA[38][39]
Source 2: Weather Atlas (UV and humidity)[40]

Demographics

Historical population
Census Pop.
1800277
1810850206.9%
18201,22143.6%
18302,867134.8%
18408,627200.9%
185014,43267.3%
186016,40713.7%
187018,28911.5%
188016,856−7.8%
189019,10313.3%
190021,85014.4%
191024,80313.5%
192025,9784.7%
193028,74910.7%
194029,8223.7%
195031,5585.8%
196038,91223.3%
197033,168−14.8%
198031,643−4.6%
199033,1814.9%
200031,473−5.1%
201033,0395.0%
202031,753−3.9%
sources:[41]

As of 2008, Bangor is the third most populous city in Maine, as it has been for more than a century. As of 2012, the estimated population of the Bangor Metropolitan Area (which includes Penobscot County) is 153,746, indicating a slight growth rate since 2000, almost all of it accounted for by Bangor.[42] As of 2007, Metro Bangor had a higher percentage of people with high school degrees than the national average (85% compared to 76.5%) and a slightly higher number of graduate degree holders (7.55% compared to 7.16%). It had much higher number of physicians per capita (291 vs. 170), because of the presence of two large hospitals.[43]

Historically Bangor received many immigrants as it industrialized. Irish-Catholic and later Jewish immigrants eventually became established members of the community, along with many migrants from Atlantic Canada. Of the 205 black citizens who lived in Bangor in 1910, over a third were originally from Canada.[44]

2010 census

As of the census[45] of 2010, there were 33,039 people, 14,475 households, and 7,182 families residing in the city. The population density was 964.4 inhabitants per square mile (372.4/km2). There were 15,674 housing units at an average density of 457.5 per square mile (176.6/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 93.1% White, 1.7% African American, 1.2% Native American, 1.7% Asian, 0.3% from other races, and 2.0% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.5% of the population.

There were 14,475 households, of which 24.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 32.8% were married couples living together, 12.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.2% had a male householder with no wife present, and 50.4% were non-families. 37.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.10 and the average family size was 2.76.

The median age in the city was 36.7 years. 17.8% of residents were under the age of 18; 16% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 26% were from 25 to 44; 25.8% were from 45 to 64; and 14.4% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.2% male and 51.8% female.

2020 census

As of the census[46] of 2020, there were 31,753 people and 13,887 households residing in the city. The population density was 926.9 inhabitants per square mile (357.9/km2). There were 15,900 housing units at an average density of 464.1 per square mile (179.2/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 88.0% White, 2.3% African American, 1.0% Native American, 2.2% Asian, 0.9% from other races, and 5.6% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.4% of the population.

The median age in the city was 39.0 years. 18.0% of residents were under the age of 18.

Economy

Major employers in the region include:[47]

Bangor is the largest market town, distribution center, transportation hub, and media center in a five-county area whose population tops 330,000 and which includes Penobscot, Piscataquis, Hancock, Aroostook, and Washington counties.

Bangor's City Council has approved a resolution opposing the sale of sweat-shop-produced clothing in local stores.[50]

Tourism

 

Outdoor activities in the Bangor City Forest and other nearby parks, forests, and waterways include hiking, sailing, canoeing, hunting, fishing, skiing, and snowmobiling.

Bangor Raceway at the Bass Park Civic Center and Auditorium offers live, pari-mutuel harness racing from May through July and then briefly in the fall. Hollywood Casino, operated by Penn National Gaming, originally opened as a slot machine only facility. In 2007, construction began on a $131-million casino complex in Bangor that houses, among other things, a gaming floor with about 1,000 slot machines, an off-track betting center, a seven-story hotel, and a four-level parking garage. In 2011, it was authorized to add table games.

Military installations

Bangor Air National Guard Base is a United States Air National Guard base. Created in 1927 as a commercial field, it was taken over by the U.S. Army just before World War II. In 1968, the base was sold to the city of Bangor, Maine, to become Bangor International Airport but has since continued to host the 101st Air Refueling Wing, Maine Air National Guard, part of the Northeast Tanker Task Force.

In 1990, the USAF East Coast Radar System (ECRS) Operation Center was activated in Bangor with over 400 personnel. The center controlled the over-the-horizon radar's transmitter in Moscow, Maine, and receiver in Columbia Falls, Maine. With the end of the Cold War, the facility's mission of guarding against a Soviet air attack became superfluous, and though it briefly turned its attention toward drug interdiction, the system was decommissioned in 1997 as the SSPARS system installation—the successor to the PAVE PAWS installation—in Massachusetts' Cape Cod Air Force Station reservation fully took over.

Arts and culture

Events

  • One of the country's oldest fairs, the Bangor State fair has occurred annually for more than 150 years. Beginning on the last Friday of July, it features agricultural exhibits, rides, and live performances.
  • The annual KahBang Music and Art Festival (now defunct).
  • The annual American Folk Festival (now defunct).

Venues

Cultural institutions

 
Bangor Public Library main entrance

Architecture

 
Stephen King's 1858 house

Many buildings and monuments are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The city has also had a municipal Historic Preservation Commission since the early 1980s.[51] Bangor has many Greek Revival. Victorian, and Colonial Revival houses. Some notable architecture:

Public art and monuments

The bow-plate of the battleship USS Maine, whose destruction in Havana, Cuba, presaged the start of the Spanish–American War, survives on a granite memorial by Charles Eugene Tefft in Davenport Park.

Bangor has a large fiberglass-over-metal statue of mythical lumberman Paul Bunyan by Normand Martin (1959).

There are three large bronze statues in downtown Bangor by sculptor Charles Eugene Tefft of Brewer, including the Luther H. Peirce Memorial, commemorating the Penobscot River Log-Drivers; a statue of Hannibal Hamlin at Kenduskeag Mall; and an image of "Lady Victory" at Norumbega Parkway.

The abstract aluminum sculpture "Continuity of Community" (1969) on the Bangor Waterfront, formerly in West Market Square, is by the Castine sculptor Clark Battle Fitz-Gerald.

The U.S. Post Office in Bangor contains Yvonne Jacquette's 1980 three-part mural "Autumn Expansion".

A 1962 bronze commemorating the 2nd Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment by Wisconsin sculptor Owen Vernon Shaffer stands at the entrance to Mount Hope Cemetery.

A memorial has been placed by Bangor City Council and members of the LGBT community along the Kenduskeag Stream honoring the memory of Charlie Howard as the victim of a hate crime. In 1984 he was beaten and thrown off Bangor's State Street Bridge by three young men in a what would become a high-profile example of violence against LGBT people.[54] The murder of Charlie Howard inspired the formation of The Maine Lesbian/Gay Political Alliance, which later became EqualityMaine.[55] In May 2011, vandals spray-painted graffiti and an anti-gay slur on the memorial. Family and friends cleaned it up and rededicated it.[56]

Sports

From 2002 to 2017, Bangor had been home to Little League International's Senior League World Series.

Bangor was home to two minor league baseball teams affiliated with the 1995–1998 Northeast League: the Bangor Blue Ox (1996–1997) and the Bangor Lumberjacks (2003–2004). Even earlier the Bangor Millionaires (1894–1896) played in the New England League.

Vince McMahon promoted his first professional wrestling event in Bangor in 1979. In 1985, the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship changed hands for the first time outside of Puerto Rico at an IWCCW show in Bangor.[57]

The Penobscot is a salmon-fishing river; the Penobscot Salmon Club traditionally sent the first fish caught to the President of the United States. From 1999 to 2006, low fish stocks resulted in a ban on salmon fishing. Today, the wild salmon population (and the sport) is slowly recovering. The Penobscot River Restoration Project is working to help the fish population by removing some dams north of Bangor.[58]

The Kenduskeag Stream Canoe Race, a white-water event which begins just north of Bangor in Kenduskeag, has been held since 1965.

Government

Bangor is the county seat of Penobscot County.

Since 1931, Bangor has had a Council-Manager form of government. The nine-member City Council is a non-partisan body, with three city councilors elected to three-year terms each year. The nine council members elect the Chair of the City Council, who is referred to informally as the mayor, and plays the role when there is a ceremonial need. As of 2019, the council members are Clare Davitt, Sarah Dubay, Rick Fournier, Susan Hawes, Sarah Nichols, Angela Okafor, Gretchen Schaefer, Jonathan Sprague, and Dan Tremble (chair).[59]

In 2007, Bangor was the first city in the U.S. to ban smoking in vehicles carrying passengers under the age of 18.[60]

In 2012, Bangor's City Council passed an order in support of same-sex marriage in Maine. In 2013, the City of Bangor also signed an amicus brief to the United States Supreme Court calling for the federal Defense of Marriage Act to be struck down.[61]

In the United States House of Representatives, Bangor is included in Maine's 2nd congressional district and is currently represented by Democrat Jared F. Golden.[62]

Voter registration
Voter Registration and Party Enrollment as of October 2022[63]
Party Total Voters Percentage
Unenrolled/Independent 5,113 28.67%
Democratic 7,245 40.62%
Republican 4,913 27.55%
Green Independent 524 2.94%
Libertarian 39 0.22%
Total 17,834 100.00%

Law and order

In 2008 Bangor's crime rate was the second-lowest among American metropolitan areas of comparable size.[64] As of 2014 Bangor had the third highest rate of property crime in Maine.[65]

The arrival of Irish immigrants from nearby Canada beginning in the 1830s, and their competition with locals for jobs, sparked a deadly sectarian riot in 1833 that lasted for days and had to be put down by militia. Realizing the need for a police force, the town incorporated as The City of Bangor in 1834.[66] In the 1800s, sailors and loggers gave the city a reputation for roughness; their stomping grounds were known as the "Devil's Half Acre".[67] The same name was also applied, at roughly the same time, to The Devil's Half-Acre, Pennsylvania.

Although Maine was the first "dry" state (i.e. the first to prohibit the sale of alcohol, with the passage of the "Maine law" in 1851), Bangor managed to remain "wet". The city had 142 saloons in 1890. A look-the-other-way attitude by local police and politicians (sustained by a system of bribery in the form of ritualized fine-payments known as "The Bangor Plan") allowed Bangor to flout the nation's most long-standing state prohibition law.[68] In 1913, the war of the "drys" (prohibitionists) on "wet" Bangor escalated when the Penobscot County Sheriff was impeached and removed by the Maine Legislature for not enforcing anti-liquor laws. His successor was asked to resign by the Governor the following year for the same reason, but refused. A third sheriff was removed by the Governor in 1918, but promptly re-nominated by the Democratic Party. Prohibitionist Carrie Nation had been forcibly expelled from the Bangor House hotel in 1902 after causing a disturbance.[69]

In October 1937, "public enemy" Al Brady and another member of his "Brady Gang" (Clarence Shaffer) were killed in the bloodiest shootout in Maine's history. FBI agents ambushed Brady, Shaffer, and James Dalhover on Bangor's Central Street after they had attempted to purchase a Thompson submachine gun from Dakin's Sporting Goods downtown.[70] Brady is buried in the public section of Mount Hope Cemetery, on the north side of Mount Hope Avenue.[71] Until recently, Brady's grave was unmarked. A group of schoolchildren erected a wooden marker over his grave in the 1990s, which was replaced by a more permanent stone in 2007.[72]

Education

Universities and colleges

Bangor School Department operates public schools, including Bangor High School, the only public high school in the municipality.[73] In 2013 it was named a National Silver Award winner by U.S. News & World Report's "America's Best High Schools".[74]

Private schools include:

Media

The Bangor region has a large number of media outlets for an area its size. The city has an unbroken history of newspaper publishing extending from 1815. Almost thirty dailies, weeklies, and monthlies had been launched there by the end of the Civil War.[13]

The Bangor Daily News was founded in the late 19th century, and is one of the few remaining family-owned newspapers left in the United States. The Maine Edge is published from Bangor.

Bangor has more than a dozen radio stations and seven television stations, including WLBZ 2 (NBC), WABI 5 (CBS; CW on DT2), WVII 7 (ABC), WBGR-LD 33 (MeTV), and WFVX-LD 22 (Fox/MyNetworkTV). Maine Public Broadcasting Network outlet WMEB 12, licensed to nearby Orono, is the area's PBS member station. Radio stations in the city include WKIT and WZON, owned by Zone Radio Corporation, a company owned by Bangor resident novelist Stephen King. WHSN is a non-commercial alternative rock station licensed to Bangor and run and operated by staff and students at the New England School of Communications on the campus of Husson University. Several other stations in the market are owned by Blueberry Broadcasting and Townsquare Media.

Infrastructure

 
Penobscot Bridge

Road

Bangor sits along interstates I-95 and I-395; U.S. highways US 1A, US 2, US Route 2A, US 202; and state routes SR 9, SR 15, SR 15 Business, SR 100, and SR 222. Three major bridges connect the city to neighboring Brewer: Joshua Chamberlain Bridge (carrying US 1A), Penobscot River Bridge (carrying SR 15), and the Veterans Remembrance Bridge (carrying I-395).

Daily intercity bus service from Bangor proper is provided by two companies. Concord Coach Lines connects Bangor with Augusta, Portland, several towns in Maine's midcoast region, and Boston, Massachusetts. Cyr Bus Lines provides daily service to Caribou and several northern Maine towns along I-95 and Route 1.[77] The area is also served by Greyhound, which operates out of Dysart's Truck Stop in neighboring Hermon. West's Bus Service provides service between Bangor and Calais.[78]

In 2011, Acadian Lines ended bus service to Saint John, New Brunswick, because of low ticket sales.[79]

The Community Connector system offers public transportation within Bangor and to adjacent towns such as Orono. There is also a seasonal (summer) shuttle between Bangor and Bar Harbor.

Rail

 
Bangor Aroostook Railway Logo, 1918

Freight service is provided by Pan Am Railways and Central Maine and Quebec Railway, the latter being a successor to locally based Bangor and Aroostook Railroad and Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway.

Passenger rail service was provided most recently by the New Brunswick Southern Railway, which in 1994 discontinued its route to Saint John, New Brunswick.

For historic Bangor trolley service see Bangor Railway and Electric Company.

Rail accidents

  • 1869: The Black Island Railroad Bridge north of Old Town, Maine collapsed under the weight of a Bangor and Piscataquis Railroad train, killing 3 crew and injuring 7–8 others.[80]
  • 1871: A bridge in Hampden collapsed under the weight of a Maine Central Railroad train approaching Bangor, killing 2 and injuring 50.[81]
  • 1898: A Maine Central Railroad train crashed near Orono killing 2 and fatally injuring 4. The president of the railroad and his wife were also on board in a private car, but escaped injury. Train Wrecked in Maine
  • 1899: The collapse of a gangway between a train and a waiting ferry at Mount Desert sent 200 members of a Bangor excursion party into the water, drowning 20.
  • 1911: A head-on collision of two trains north of Bangor, in Grindstone, killed 15, including 5 members of the Presque Isle Brass Band.[82]

Air

Bangor International Airport (IATA: BGR, ICAO: KBGR) is a joint civil-military public airport 3 miles (4.8 kilometres) west of the city. It has a single runway measuring 11,439 by 200 ft (3,487 by 61 m). Bangor is the last (or first) American airport along the great circle route between the U.S. East Coast and Europe, and in the 1970s and '80s it was a refuelling stop, until the development of longer-range jets in the 1990s.[26]

Healthcare

Hospitals

Bangor is home to two large hospitals, the Eastern Maine Medical Center and the Catholic-affiliated St. Joseph Hospital. As of 2012, the Bangor Metropolitan Statistical Area (Penobscot County) ranked in the top fifth for physicians per capita nationally (74th of 381). It is also within the top ten in the Northeast (i.e. north of Pennsylvania) and the top five in New England.[83] In 2013, U.S. News & World Report ranked the Eastern Maine Medical Center as the second best hospital in Maine.[84]

Pandemics

In 1832, a cholera epidemic in Saint John, New Brunswick, (part of the Second cholera pandemic) sent as many as eight hundred poor Irish immigrants walking to Bangor. This was the beginning of Maine's first substantial Irish-Catholic community. Competition with Americans for jobs caused a riot and resulting fire in 1833.[66] In 1849–50, the Second cholera pandemic reached Bangor itself, killing 20–30 within the first week,[85] 112 had died by October 1849.[86] The final death toll was 161. A late outbreak of the disease in 1854 killed seventeen others. The victims in most cases were poor Irish immigrants.[87] In 1872, a smallpox epidemic closed local schools. The Spanish flu pandemic of 1918, which was global in scope, struck over a thousand Bangoreans and killed more than a hundred. This was the worst 'natural disaster' in the city's history since the cholera epidemic of 1849.

Popular culture

Bangor is mentioned in the songs King of the Road, I've Been Everywhere, How 'Bout Them Cowgirls, and What the Cowgirls Do.

In 1977, tourist Erwin Kreuz mistook the city for San Francisco.

Marvel Comics villain MODOK is from Bangor, Maine.

Julie "The Cat" Gaffney from The Mighty Ducks film franchise is from Bangor, Maine.

Bangor International Airport is the main set for the TV series The Langoliers.

Stephen King's novels mention Bangor many times. See his bibliography.

Sister cities

Notable people

References

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External links

  • City of Bangor official website

bangor, maine, bangor, ɔːr, bang, city, state, maine, county, seat, penobscot, county, city, proper, population, making, state, third, largest, settlement, behind, portland, lewiston, citycity, bangor, skylinesealnickname, queen, city, eastinteractive, outlini. Bangor ˈ b ae ŋ ɡ ɔːr BANG gor is a city in the U S state of Maine and the county seat of Penobscot County The city proper has a population of 31 753 4 making it the state s third largest settlement behind Portland 68 408 and Lewiston 37 121 Bangor MaineCityCity of Bangor 1 SkylineSealNickname The Queen City of the EastInteractive map outlining BangorBangorLocation within MaineShow map of MaineBangorLocation within the United StatesShow map of the United StatesBangorBangor North America Show map of North AmericaCoordinates 44 48 11 N 68 46 03 W 44 80306 N 68 76750 W 44 80306 68 76750 Coordinates 44 48 11 N 68 46 03 W 44 80306 N 68 76750 W 44 80306 68 76750CountryUnited StatesStateMaineCountyPenobscotIncorporatedFebruary 12 1834Government TypeCouncil Manager City ManagerCatherine ConlowArea 2 City34 59 sq mi 89 60 km2 Land34 26 sq mi 88 73 km2 Water0 34 sq mi 0 87 km2 Elevation118 ft 36 m Population 2020 City31 753 Density926 85 sq mi 357 86 km2 Urban61 210 US 441st Metro153 923 US 276th DemonymBangorean 3 Time zoneUTC 5 Eastern Summer DST UTC 4 Eastern ZIP Codes04401 04402Area code207FIPS code23 02795GNIS feature ID0561558Websitewww bangormaine govModern Bangor was established in the mid 19th century with the lumber and shipbuilding industries Lying on the Penobscot River logs could be floated downstream from the Maine North Woods and processed at the city s water powered sawmills then shipped from Bangor s port to the Atlantic Ocean 30 miles 48 km downstream and from there to any port in the world Evidence of this is still visible in the lumber barons elaborate Greek Revival and Victorian mansions and the 31 foot high 9 4 m statue of Paul Bunyan Today Bangor s economy is based on services and retail healthcare and education Bangor has a port of entry at Bangor International Airport also home to the Bangor Air National Guard Base Historically Bangor was an important stopover on the Great Circle Air Route between the U S East Coast and Europe Bangor has a humid continental climate with cold snowy winters and warm summers Contents 1 Name and pronunciation 2 History 2 1 European settlement 2 2 Wars of Independence 1812 and Civil War 2 3 Industrialization lumbering shipping and manufacturing 2 4 Modern Bangor 3 Geography 3 1 Urban development 3 1 1 Fires 3 1 2 Urban renewal 3 2 Hydrology 3 3 Climate 4 Demographics 4 1 2010 census 4 2 2020 census 5 Economy 5 1 Tourism 5 2 Military installations 6 Arts and culture 6 1 Events 6 2 Venues 6 3 Cultural institutions 6 4 Architecture 6 5 Public art and monuments 7 Sports 8 Government 8 1 Law and order 9 Education 10 Media 11 Infrastructure 11 1 Road 11 2 Rail 11 2 1 Rail accidents 11 3 Air 11 4 Healthcare 11 4 1 Hospitals 11 4 2 Pandemics 12 Popular culture 13 Sister cities 14 Notable people 15 References 16 External linksName and pronunciation EditFounded as Kendeskeag Plantation Bangor was incorporated as a New England town in 1791 The reason for the choice of name is disputed 5 The final syllable is pronounced gor not ger as in Bangor Northern Ireland The final syllable of the city of Bangor in north Wales is gor with the r pronounced in the original Welsh but English speakers often say ger In 2015 local celebrities and business owners recorded the YouTube video How to Say Bangor 6 History EditEuropean settlement Edit The Penobscot people have inhabited the area around present day Bangor for at least 11 000 years 7 and still occupy tribal land on the nearby Penobscot Indian Island Reservation They practised some agriculture but less than peoples in southern New England where the climate is milder 8 and subsisted on what they could hunt and gather 9 Contact with Europeans was not uncommon during the 1500s because the fur trade was lucrative and the Penobscot were willing to trade pelts for European goods The first European known to have explored the area in 1524 was Estevao Gomes a Portuguese navigator who sailed in the service of Spain in the 1520s The Spaniards led by Gomez were the first Europeans to make landfall in what is now Maine followed by the Frenchman Samuel de Champlain in 1605 10 The Jesuits established a mission on Penobscot Bay in 1609 which was then part of the French colony of Acadia and the valley remained contested between France and Britain into the 1750s making it one of the last regions to become part of New England In 1769 Jacob Buswell founded a settlement at the site Then known as Norumbega by 1772 there were 12 families along with a sawmill store and school By 1787 the population was 567 It was known as Sunbury until incorporation as Bangor in 1791 11 Wars of Independence 1812 and Civil War Edit In 1779 the rebel Penobscot Expedition fled up the Penobscot River and ten of its ships were scuttled by the British fleet at Bangor The ships remained there until the late 1950s when construction of the Joshua Chamberlain Bridge disturbed the site Six cannons were removed from the riverbed five of which are on display throughout the region one was thrown back into the river by area residents angered that the archeological site was destroyed for the bridge s construction 5 During the War of 1812 Bangor and Hampden were sacked by the British 12 Maine was part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts until 1820 when it voted to secede from Massachusetts and was admitted to the Union as the 23rd state under the Missouri Compromise In 1861 a mob ransacked the offices of the Democratic newspaper the Bangor Daily Union threw the presses and other materials into the street and burned them Editor Marcellus Emery escaped unharmed and it was only after the war that he resumed publishing 13 During the American Civil War the locally mustered 2nd Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment was the first to march out of Maine in 1861 and played a prominent part in the First Battle of Bull Run The 1st Maine Heavy Artillery Regiment mustered in Bangor and commanded by a local merchant lost more men than any other Union regiment in the war especially in the Second Battle of Petersburg 1864 The 20th Maine Infantry Regiment held Little Round Top in the Battle of Gettysburg A bridge connecting Bangor with Brewer is named for Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain the regiment s leader and one of eight Civil War soldiers from Penobscot County towns to receive the Medal of Honor 14 Bangor s Charles A Boutelle accepted the surrender of the Confederate fleet after the Battle of Mobile Bay A Bangor residential street is named for him The Confederate States Navy captured several Bangor ships during the Civil War Bangor was near the lands disputed during the Aroostook War a boundary dispute with Britain in 1838 1839 The passion of the Aroostook War signaled the increasing role lumbering and logging played in the Maine economy particularly in the state s central and eastern sections Bangor arose as a lumbering boom town in the 1830s and a potential demographic and political rival to Portland Bangor became for a time the largest lumber port in the world and the site of furious land speculation that extended up the Penobscot River valley and beyond 15 Industrialization lumbering shipping and manufacturing Edit Sterns Sawmill below Bangor The Penobscot River drainage basin above Bangor was unattractive to settlement for farming but well suited to lumbering Winter snow allowed logs to be dragged from the woods by horse teams Carried to the Penobscot or its tributaries log driving in the snowmelt brought them to waterfall powered sawmills upriver from Bangor The sawed lumber was then shipped from the city s docks Bangor being at the head of tide between the rapids and the ocean to points anywhere in the world Shipbuilding was also developed 16 Bangor capitalists also owned most of the forests The main markets for Bangor lumber were the East Coast cities Much was also shipped to the Caribbean and to California during the Gold Rush via Cape Horn before sawmills could be established in the west Bangorians later helped transplant the Maine culture of lumbering to the Pacific Northwest and participated directly in the Gold Rush Bangor Washington Bangor California and Little Bangor Nevada are legacies of this contact 16 By 1860 Bangor was the world s largest lumber port with 150 sawmills operating along the river The city shipped over 150 million boardfeet of lumber a year much of it in Bangor built and Bangor owned ships In the year 1860 3 300 lumbering ships passed by the docks 5 Many of the lumber barons built elaborate Greek Revival and Victorian houses that still stand in the Broadway Historic District Bangor has many substantial old churches and shade trees The city was so beautiful it was called The Queen City of the East The shorter Queen City appellation is still used by some local clubs organizations events and businesses 17 In addition to shipping lumber 19th century Bangor was the leading producer of moccasins shipping over 100 000 pairs a year by the 1880s 18 Exports also included bricks leather and even ice which was cut and stored in winter then shipped to Boston and even China the West Indies and South America 5 Bangor had certain disadvantages compared to other East Coast ports including its rival Portland Maine Being on a northern river its port froze during the winter and it could not take the largest ocean going ships The comparative lack of settlement in the forested hinterland also gave it a comparatively small home market 19 In 1844 the first ocean going iron hulled steamship in the U S was named The Bangor She was built by the Harlan and Hollingsworth firm of Wilmington Delaware in 1844 and was intended to take passengers between Bangor and Boston On her second voyage however in 1845 she burned to the waterline off Castine She was rebuilt at Bath returned briefly to her earlier route but was soon purchased by the U S government for use in the Mexican American War 20 Modern Bangor Edit Downtown Bangor Bangor continued to prosper as the pulp and paper industry replaced lumbering and railroads replaced shipping 21 Local capitalists also invested in a train route to Aroostook County in northern Maine the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad opening that area to settlement Bangor s Hinkley amp Egery Ironworks later Union Ironworks was a local center for invention in the 19th and early 20th centuries A new type of steam engine built there named the Endeavor won a gold medal at the New York Crystal Palace Exhibition of the American Institute in 1856 The firm won a diploma for a shingle making machine the following year 22 In the 1920s Union Iron Works engineer Don A Sargent invented the first automotive snow plow Sargent patented the device and the firm manufactured it for a national market 23 Geography EditBangor is located at 44 48 N 68 48 W 44 8 N 68 8 W 44 8 68 8 24 According to the United States Census Bureau the city has a total area of 34 59 square miles 89 59 km2 of which 34 26 square miles 88 73 km2 is land and 0 33 square miles 0 85 km2 is water 25 A potential advantage that has always eluded exploitation is the city s location between the port city of Halifax Nova Scotia and the rest of Canada as well as New York As early as the 1870s the city promoted a Halifax to New York railroad via Bangor as the quickest connection between North America and Europe when combined with steamship service between Britain and Halifax A European and North American Railway opened through Bangor with President Ulysses S Grant officiating at the inauguration but commerce never lived up to the potential More recent attempts to capture traffic between Halifax and Montreal by constructing an East West Highway through Maine have also come to naught Most overland traffic between the two parts of Canada continues to travel north of Maine rather than across it 26 Urban development Edit Fires Edit Major fires struck the downtown in 1856 27 1869 28 and 1872 29 the last resulting in the erection of the Adams Pickering Block In the Great Fire of 1911 Bangor lost its high school post office amp custom house public library telephone and telegraph companies banks two fire stations nearly a hundred businesses six churches and synagogue and 285 private residences over a total of 55 acres 23 ha The area was rebuilt and in the process became a showplace for a diverse range of architectural styles including the Mansard style Beaux Arts Greek Revival and Colonial Revival 5 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Great Fire of 1911 Historic District Urban renewal Edit The destruction of downtown landmarks such as the old city hall and train station in the late 1960s urban renewal program is now considered to have been a mistake It ushered in a decline of the city center that was accelerated by the construction of the Bangor Mall in 1978 and subsequent big box stores on the city s outskirts 30 Downtown Bangor began to recover in the 1990s with bookstores cafe restaurants galleries and museums filling once vacant storefronts The recent re development of the city s waterfront has also helped re focus cultural life in the historic center 31 Hydrology Edit Ice breaking on the Penobscot River Bangor is on the banks of the Penobscot River close enough to the Atlantic Ocean to be influenced by tides Upstream the Penobscot River drainage basin occupies 8 570 square miles 22 200 km2 in northeastern Maine Flooding is most often caused by a combination of precipitation and snowmelt Ice jams can exacerbate high flow conditions and cause acute localized flooding Conditions favorable for flooding typically occur during the spring months 32 In 1807 an ice jam formed below Bangor Village raising the water 10 to 12 feet 3 to 3 7 m above the normal highwater mark 33 and in 1887 the freshet caused the Maine Central Railroad Company rails between Bangor and Vanceboro to be covered to a depth of several feet 33 Bangor s worst ice jam floods occurred in 1846 and 1902 Both resulted from mid December freshets that cleared the upper river of ice followed by cold that produced large volumes of frazil ice or slush which was carried by high flows forming a major ice jam in the lower river In March of both years a dynamic breakup of ice ran into the jam and flooded downtown Bangor Though no people died and the city recovered quickly the 1846 and 1902 ice jam floods were economically devastating according to the Army Corps analysis Both floods occurred with multiple dams in place and little to no ice breaking in the lower river The United States Coast Guard began icebreaker operations on the Penobscot in the 1940s preventing the formation of frozen ice jams during the winter and providing an unobstructed path for ice out in the spring 34 Long term temperature records show a gradual warming since 1894 which may have reduced the ice jam flood potential at Bangor In the Groundhog Day gale of 1976 a storm surge went up the Penobscot flooding Bangor for three hours 35 At 11 15 am waters began rising on the river and within 15 minutes had risen a total of 3 7 metres 12 ft flooding downtown About 200 cars were submerged and office workers were stranded until waters receded There were no reported deaths during this unusual flash flood 36 Climate Edit Bangor has a humid continental climate Koppen Dfb with cold snowy winters and warm summers and is in USDA hardiness zone 5a 37 The monthly daily average temperature ranges from 18 5 F 7 5 C in January to 69 5 F 20 8 C in July 38 39 On average there are 20 nights annually that drop to 0 F 18 C or below and 55 days where the temperature stays below freezing including 49 days from December through February 38 There is an average of 6 1 days annually with highs at or above 90 F 32 C with the last year to have not seen such temperatures being 2014 38 39 Extreme temperatures range from 32 F 36 C on February 10 1948 up to 104 F 40 C on August 19 1935 38 The average first freeze of the season occurs on October 7 and the last May 7 resulting in a freeze free season of 152 days the corresponding dates for measurable snowfall i e at least 0 1 in 0 25 cm are November 23 and April 4 38 The average annual snowfall for Bangor is approximately 74 6 inches 189 cm while snowfall has ranged from 22 2 inches 56 cm in 1979 80 to 181 9 inches 4 62 m in 1962 63 the record snowiest month was February 1969 with 58 0 inches 147 cm while the most snow in one calendar day was 30 0 inches 76 cm on December 14 1927 38 A snow depth of at least 3 in 7 6 cm is on average seen 66 days per winter including 54 days from January to March when the snow pack is typically most reliable 39 Climate data for Bangor International Airport Maine 1991 2020 normals a extremes 1925 present Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec YearRecord high F C 63 17 65 18 84 29 90 32 96 36 98 37 99 37 104 40 99 37 92 33 75 24 65 18 104 40 Mean maximum F C 48 9 9 4 47 7 8 7 57 9 14 4 73 0 22 8 84 6 29 2 90 2 32 3 91 5 33 1 90 3 32 4 86 0 30 0 73 8 23 2 63 5 17 5 54 1 12 3 93 9 34 4 Average high F C 28 1 2 2 31 2 0 4 40 1 4 5 53 2 11 8 65 7 18 7 74 7 23 7 80 4 26 9 79 4 26 3 71 0 21 7 58 2 14 6 45 8 7 7 34 5 1 4 55 2 12 9 Daily mean F C 18 5 7 5 21 0 6 1 30 6 0 8 42 8 6 0 54 5 12 5 63 6 17 6 69 5 20 8 68 2 20 1 59 9 15 5 48 2 9 0 37 3 2 9 25 9 3 4 45 0 7 2 Average low F C 9 0 12 8 10 9 11 7 21 1 6 1 32 4 0 2 43 3 6 3 52 6 11 4 58 6 14 8 57 0 13 9 48 8 9 3 38 2 3 4 28 8 1 8 17 3 8 2 34 8 1 6 Mean minimum F C 14 1 25 6 11 2 24 0 2 1 18 9 20 3 6 5 30 8 0 7 40 7 4 8 48 4 9 1 45 2 7 3 33 5 0 8 24 3 4 3 12 6 10 8 3 2 19 6 16 9 27 2 Record low F C 29 34 32 36 16 27 4 16 23 5 29 2 37 3 29 2 23 5 11 12 3 19 27 33 32 36 Average precipitation inches mm 3 17 81 2 38 60 3 22 82 3 61 92 3 34 85 3 87 98 3 16 80 3 06 78 3 76 96 4 58 116 3 84 98 3 72 94 41 71 1 059 Average snowfall inches cm 18 6 47 17 5 44 15 2 39 3 7 9 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 1 5 4 3 11 14 7 37 74 6 189 Average extreme snow depth inches mm 14 5 37 16 3 41 14 2 36 4 0 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 25 2 3 5 8 8 0 20 18 7 47 Average precipitation days 0 01 in 11 2 9 9 11 3 11 6 12 4 12 2 10 9 9 8 9 4 11 4 11 3 12 6 134 0Average snowy days 0 1 in 8 0 7 6 5 4 1 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0 6 4 31 3Average relative humidity 84 85 84 77 77 79 79 79 79 79 78 81 80Mean daily sunshine hours 4 6 4 0 5 1 7 0 7 9 8 6 9 6 9 9 8 2 6 2 4 9 4 4 6 7Mean daily daylight hours 9 3 10 5 12 0 13 5 14 9 15 5 15 2 14 0 12 5 10 9 9 6 8 9 12 2Average ultraviolet index 2 2 2 3 4 5 5 5 4 2 2 2 3Source 1 NOAA 38 39 Source 2 Weather Atlas UV and humidity 40 Demographics EditHistorical populationCensus Pop 1800277 1810850206 9 18201 22143 6 18302 867134 8 18408 627200 9 185014 43267 3 186016 40713 7 187018 28911 5 188016 856 7 8 189019 10313 3 190021 85014 4 191024 80313 5 192025 9784 7 193028 74910 7 194029 8223 7 195031 5585 8 196038 91223 3 197033 168 14 8 198031 643 4 6 199033 1814 9 200031 473 5 1 201033 0395 0 202031 753 3 9 sources 41 As of 2008 Bangor is the third most populous city in Maine as it has been for more than a century As of 2012 the estimated population of the Bangor Metropolitan Area which includes Penobscot County is 153 746 indicating a slight growth rate since 2000 almost all of it accounted for by Bangor 42 As of 2007 Metro Bangor had a higher percentage of people with high school degrees than the national average 85 compared to 76 5 and a slightly higher number of graduate degree holders 7 55 compared to 7 16 It had much higher number of physicians per capita 291 vs 170 because of the presence of two large hospitals 43 Historically Bangor received many immigrants as it industrialized Irish Catholic and later Jewish immigrants eventually became established members of the community along with many migrants from Atlantic Canada Of the 205 black citizens who lived in Bangor in 1910 over a third were originally from Canada 44 2010 census Edit As of the census 45 of 2010 there were 33 039 people 14 475 households and 7 182 families residing in the city The population density was 964 4 inhabitants per square mile 372 4 km2 There were 15 674 housing units at an average density of 457 5 per square mile 176 6 km2 The racial makeup of the city was 93 1 White 1 7 African American 1 2 Native American 1 7 Asian 0 3 from other races and 2 0 from two or more races Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1 5 of the population There were 14 475 households of which 24 2 had children under the age of 18 living with them 32 8 were married couples living together 12 6 had a female householder with no husband present 4 2 had a male householder with no wife present and 50 4 were non families 37 9 of all households were made up of individuals and 12 4 had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older The average household size was 2 10 and the average family size was 2 76 The median age in the city was 36 7 years 17 8 of residents were under the age of 18 16 were between the ages of 18 and 24 26 were from 25 to 44 25 8 were from 45 to 64 and 14 4 were 65 years of age or older The gender makeup of the city was 48 2 male and 51 8 female 2020 census Edit As of the census 46 of 2020 there were 31 753 people and 13 887 households residing in the city The population density was 926 9 inhabitants per square mile 357 9 km2 There were 15 900 housing units at an average density of 464 1 per square mile 179 2 km2 The racial makeup of the city was 88 0 White 2 3 African American 1 0 Native American 2 2 Asian 0 9 from other races and 5 6 from two or more races Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2 4 of the population The median age in the city was 39 0 years 18 0 of residents were under the age of 18 Economy EditMajor employers in the region include 47 Services and retail Hannaford Supermarkets Shaw s and Star Market Bangor Savings Bank Walmart Finance The Bangor Savings Bank founded in 1852 is Maine s largest independent bank as of 2013 it had more than 2 8 billion in assets 48 and the largest share of the 13 bank Bangor market 49 Healthcare Eastern Maine Medical Center now Northern Light Healthcare Acadia Hospital St Joseph s Healthcare Community Health amp Counseling Services Education University of Maine Beal University Husson University Eastern Maine Community College Manufacturing General Electric Bangor is the largest market town distribution center transportation hub and media center in a five county area whose population tops 330 000 and which includes Penobscot Piscataquis Hancock Aroostook and Washington counties Bangor s City Council has approved a resolution opposing the sale of sweat shop produced clothing in local stores 50 Tourism Edit Paul Bunyan statue Outdoor activities in the Bangor City Forest and other nearby parks forests and waterways include hiking sailing canoeing hunting fishing skiing and snowmobiling Bangor Raceway at the Bass Park Civic Center and Auditorium offers live pari mutuel harness racing from May through July and then briefly in the fall Hollywood Casino operated by Penn National Gaming originally opened as a slot machine only facility In 2007 construction began on a 131 million casino complex in Bangor that houses among other things a gaming floor with about 1 000 slot machines an off track betting center a seven story hotel and a four level parking garage In 2011 it was authorized to add table games Military installations Edit Bangor Air National Guard Base is a United States Air National Guard base Created in 1927 as a commercial field it was taken over by the U S Army just before World War II In 1968 the base was sold to the city of Bangor Maine to become Bangor International Airport but has since continued to host the 101st Air Refueling Wing Maine Air National Guard part of the Northeast Tanker Task Force In 1990 the USAF East Coast Radar System ECRS Operation Center was activated in Bangor with over 400 personnel The center controlled the over the horizon radar s transmitter in Moscow Maine and receiver in Columbia Falls Maine With the end of the Cold War the facility s mission of guarding against a Soviet air attack became superfluous and though it briefly turned its attention toward drug interdiction the system was decommissioned in 1997 as the SSPARS system installation the successor to the PAVE PAWS installation in Massachusetts Cape Cod Air Force Station reservation fully took over Arts and culture EditEvents Edit One of the country s oldest fairs the Bangor State fair has occurred annually for more than 150 years Beginning on the last Friday of July it features agricultural exhibits rides and live performances The annual KahBang Music and Art Festival now defunct The annual American Folk Festival now defunct Venues Edit The Cross Insurance Center which replaced the Bangor Auditorium in 2013 Darling s Waterfront PavilionCultural institutions Edit Bangor Public Library main entrance The University of Maine Museum of Art and the Maine Discovery Museum a major children s museum was founded in 2001 in the former Freese s Department Store The Bangor Symphony Orchestra The Penobscot Theatre Company The Collins Center for the ArtsArchitecture Edit Stephen King s 1858 house Many buildings and monuments are listed on the National Register of Historic Places The city has also had a municipal Historic Preservation Commission since the early 1980s 51 Bangor has many Greek Revival Victorian and Colonial Revival houses Some notable architecture The Thomas Hill Standpipe a shingle style structure The Hammond Street Congregation Church The St John s Catholic Church The Bangor House Hotel now converted to apartments is the only survivor among a series of Palace Hotels designed by Boston architect Isaiah Rogers which were the first of their kind in the United States 52 The country s second oldest garden cemetery is the Mount Hope Cemetery designed by Charles G Bryant 51 Richard Upjohn British born architect and early promoter of the Gothic Revival style received some of his first commissions in Bangor including the Isaac Farrar House 1833 Samuel Farrar House 1836 Thomas A Hill House presently owned by the Bangor Historical Society and St John s Church Episcopal 1836 1839 Bangor Public Library by Peabody and Stearns The Eastern Maine Insane Hospital now Dorothea Dix Psychiatric Center by John Calvin Stevens 53 The William Arnold House of 1856 an Italianate style mansion and home to author Stephen King Its wrought iron fence with bat and spider web motif is King s own addition 51 Public art and monuments Edit Mount Hope Cemetery The bow plate of the battleship USS Maine whose destruction in Havana Cuba presaged the start of the Spanish American War survives on a granite memorial by Charles Eugene Tefft in Davenport Park Bangor has a large fiberglass over metal statue of mythical lumberman Paul Bunyan by Normand Martin 1959 There are three large bronze statues in downtown Bangor by sculptor Charles Eugene Tefft of Brewer including the Luther H Peirce Memorial commemorating the Penobscot River Log Drivers a statue of Hannibal Hamlin at Kenduskeag Mall and an image of Lady Victory at Norumbega Parkway The abstract aluminum sculpture Continuity of Community 1969 on the Bangor Waterfront formerly in West Market Square is by the Castine sculptor Clark Battle Fitz Gerald The U S Post Office in Bangor contains Yvonne Jacquette s 1980 three part mural Autumn Expansion A 1962 bronze commemorating the 2nd Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment by Wisconsin sculptor Owen Vernon Shaffer stands at the entrance to Mount Hope Cemetery A memorial has been placed by Bangor City Council and members of the LGBT community along the Kenduskeag Stream honoring the memory of Charlie Howard as the victim of a hate crime In 1984 he was beaten and thrown off Bangor s State Street Bridge by three young men in a what would become a high profile example of violence against LGBT people 54 The murder of Charlie Howard inspired the formation of The Maine Lesbian Gay Political Alliance which later became EqualityMaine 55 In May 2011 vandals spray painted graffiti and an anti gay slur on the memorial Family and friends cleaned it up and rededicated it 56 Sports EditFrom 2002 to 2017 Bangor had been home to Little League International s Senior League World Series Bangor was home to two minor league baseball teams affiliated with the 1995 1998 Northeast League the Bangor Blue Ox 1996 1997 and the Bangor Lumberjacks 2003 2004 Even earlier the Bangor Millionaires 1894 1896 played in the New England League Vince McMahon promoted his first professional wrestling event in Bangor in 1979 In 1985 the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship changed hands for the first time outside of Puerto Rico at an IWCCW show in Bangor 57 The Penobscot is a salmon fishing river the Penobscot Salmon Club traditionally sent the first fish caught to the President of the United States From 1999 to 2006 low fish stocks resulted in a ban on salmon fishing Today the wild salmon population and the sport is slowly recovering The Penobscot River Restoration Project is working to help the fish population by removing some dams north of Bangor 58 The Kenduskeag Stream Canoe Race a white water event which begins just north of Bangor in Kenduskeag has been held since 1965 Government EditBangor is the county seat of Penobscot County Since 1931 Bangor has had a Council Manager form of government The nine member City Council is a non partisan body with three city councilors elected to three year terms each year The nine council members elect the Chair of the City Council who is referred to informally as the mayor and plays the role when there is a ceremonial need As of 2019 the council members are Clare Davitt Sarah Dubay Rick Fournier Susan Hawes Sarah Nichols Angela Okafor Gretchen Schaefer Jonathan Sprague and Dan Tremble chair 59 In 2007 Bangor was the first city in the U S to ban smoking in vehicles carrying passengers under the age of 18 60 In 2012 Bangor s City Council passed an order in support of same sex marriage in Maine In 2013 the City of Bangor also signed an amicus brief to the United States Supreme Court calling for the federal Defense of Marriage Act to be struck down 61 In the United States House of Representatives Bangor is included in Maine s 2nd congressional district and is currently represented by Democrat Jared F Golden 62 Voter registration Voter Registration and Party Enrollment as of October 2022 63 Party Total Voters PercentageUnenrolled Independent 5 113 28 67 Democratic 7 245 40 62 Republican 4 913 27 55 Green Independent 524 2 94 Libertarian 39 0 22 Total 17 834 100 00 Law and order Edit In 2008 Bangor s crime rate was the second lowest among American metropolitan areas of comparable size 64 As of 2014 Bangor had the third highest rate of property crime in Maine 65 The arrival of Irish immigrants from nearby Canada beginning in the 1830s and their competition with locals for jobs sparked a deadly sectarian riot in 1833 that lasted for days and had to be put down by militia Realizing the need for a police force the town incorporated as The City of Bangor in 1834 66 In the 1800s sailors and loggers gave the city a reputation for roughness their stomping grounds were known as the Devil s Half Acre 67 The same name was also applied at roughly the same time to The Devil s Half Acre Pennsylvania Although Maine was the first dry state i e the first to prohibit the sale of alcohol with the passage of the Maine law in 1851 Bangor managed to remain wet The city had 142 saloons in 1890 A look the other way attitude by local police and politicians sustained by a system of bribery in the form of ritualized fine payments known as The Bangor Plan allowed Bangor to flout the nation s most long standing state prohibition law 68 In 1913 the war of the drys prohibitionists on wet Bangor escalated when the Penobscot County Sheriff was impeached and removed by the Maine Legislature for not enforcing anti liquor laws His successor was asked to resign by the Governor the following year for the same reason but refused A third sheriff was removed by the Governor in 1918 but promptly re nominated by the Democratic Party Prohibitionist Carrie Nation had been forcibly expelled from the Bangor House hotel in 1902 after causing a disturbance 69 In October 1937 public enemy Al Brady and another member of his Brady Gang Clarence Shaffer were killed in the bloodiest shootout in Maine s history FBI agents ambushed Brady Shaffer and James Dalhover on Bangor s Central Street after they had attempted to purchase a Thompson submachine gun from Dakin s Sporting Goods downtown 70 Brady is buried in the public section of Mount Hope Cemetery on the north side of Mount Hope Avenue 71 Until recently Brady s grave was unmarked A group of schoolchildren erected a wooden marker over his grave in the 1990s which was replaced by a more permanent stone in 2007 72 Education EditUniversities and collegesThe University of Maine originally The Maine State College was founded in Orono in 1868 It is part of the University of Maine System The Bangor campus of the University of Maine at Augusta Husson University enrolls about 3 500 students a year in a variety of undergraduate and graduate programs Beal College was founded in 1891 and offers degrees in nursing healthcare business and more The Bangor Theological Seminary founded in 1814 is the only accredited graduate school of religion in northern New England Bangor School Department operates public schools including Bangor High School the only public high school in the municipality 73 In 2013 it was named a National Silver Award winner by U S News amp World Report s America s Best High Schools 74 Private schools include The private John Bapst Memorial High School In 2012 it was ranked in the top 20 nationally by the Washington Post High School Challenge 75 The private Bangor Christian Schools All Saints Catholic School of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland is in Bangor 76 Media EditThe Bangor region has a large number of media outlets for an area its size The city has an unbroken history of newspaper publishing extending from 1815 Almost thirty dailies weeklies and monthlies had been launched there by the end of the Civil War 13 The Bangor Daily News was founded in the late 19th century and is one of the few remaining family owned newspapers left in the United States The Maine Edge is published from Bangor Bangor has more than a dozen radio stations and seven television stations including WLBZ 2 NBC WABI 5 CBS CW on DT2 WVII 7 ABC WBGR LD 33 MeTV and WFVX LD 22 Fox MyNetworkTV Maine Public Broadcasting Network outlet WMEB 12 licensed to nearby Orono is the area s PBS member station Radio stations in the city include WKIT and WZON owned by Zone Radio Corporation a company owned by Bangor resident novelist Stephen King WHSN is a non commercial alternative rock station licensed to Bangor and run and operated by staff and students at the New England School of Communications on the campus of Husson University Several other stations in the market are owned by Blueberry Broadcasting and Townsquare Media Infrastructure Edit Penobscot Bridge Road Edit Bangor sits along interstates I 95 and I 395 U S highways US 1A US 2 US Route 2A US 202 and state routes SR 9 SR 15 SR 15 Business SR 100 and SR 222 Three major bridges connect the city to neighboring Brewer Joshua Chamberlain Bridge carrying US 1A Penobscot River Bridge carrying SR 15 and the Veterans Remembrance Bridge carrying I 395 Daily intercity bus service from Bangor proper is provided by two companies Concord Coach Lines connects Bangor with Augusta Portland several towns in Maine s midcoast region and Boston Massachusetts Cyr Bus Lines provides daily service to Caribou and several northern Maine towns along I 95 and Route 1 77 The area is also served by Greyhound which operates out of Dysart s Truck Stop in neighboring Hermon West s Bus Service provides service between Bangor and Calais 78 In 2011 Acadian Lines ended bus service to Saint John New Brunswick because of low ticket sales 79 The Community Connector system offers public transportation within Bangor and to adjacent towns such as Orono There is also a seasonal summer shuttle between Bangor and Bar Harbor Rail Edit Bangor Aroostook Railway Logo 1918 Freight service is provided by Pan Am Railways and Central Maine and Quebec Railway the latter being a successor to locally based Bangor and Aroostook Railroad and Montreal Maine and Atlantic Railway Passenger rail service was provided most recently by the New Brunswick Southern Railway which in 1994 discontinued its route to Saint John New Brunswick For historic Bangor trolley service see Bangor Railway and Electric Company Rail accidents Edit 1869 The Black Island Railroad Bridge north of Old Town Maine collapsed under the weight of a Bangor and Piscataquis Railroad train killing 3 crew and injuring 7 8 others 80 1871 A bridge in Hampden collapsed under the weight of a Maine Central Railroad train approaching Bangor killing 2 and injuring 50 81 1898 A Maine Central Railroad train crashed near Orono killing 2 and fatally injuring 4 The president of the railroad and his wife were also on board in a private car but escaped injury Train Wrecked in Maine 1899 The collapse of a gangway between a train and a waiting ferry at Mount Desert sent 200 members of a Bangor excursion party into the water drowning 20 1911 A head on collision of two trains north of Bangor in Grindstone killed 15 including 5 members of the Presque Isle Brass Band 82 Air Edit Bangor International Airport IATA BGR ICAO KBGR is a joint civil military public airport 3 miles 4 8 kilometres west of the city It has a single runway measuring 11 439 by 200 ft 3 487 by 61 m Bangor is the last or first American airport along the great circle route between the U S East Coast and Europe and in the 1970s and 80s it was a refuelling stop until the development of longer range jets in the 1990s 26 Healthcare Edit Hospitals Edit Bangor is home to two large hospitals the Eastern Maine Medical Center and the Catholic affiliated St Joseph Hospital As of 2012 the Bangor Metropolitan Statistical Area Penobscot County ranked in the top fifth for physicians per capita nationally 74th of 381 It is also within the top ten in the Northeast i e north of Pennsylvania and the top five in New England 83 In 2013 U S News amp World Report ranked the Eastern Maine Medical Center as the second best hospital in Maine 84 Pandemics Edit In 1832 a cholera epidemic in Saint John New Brunswick part of the Second cholera pandemic sent as many as eight hundred poor Irish immigrants walking to Bangor This was the beginning of Maine s first substantial Irish Catholic community Competition with Americans for jobs caused a riot and resulting fire in 1833 66 In 1849 50 the Second cholera pandemic reached Bangor itself killing 20 30 within the first week 85 112 had died by October 1849 86 The final death toll was 161 A late outbreak of the disease in 1854 killed seventeen others The victims in most cases were poor Irish immigrants 87 In 1872 a smallpox epidemic closed local schools The Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 which was global in scope struck over a thousand Bangoreans and killed more than a hundred This was the worst natural disaster in the city s history since the cholera epidemic of 1849 Popular culture EditBangor is mentioned in the songs King of the Road I ve Been Everywhere How Bout Them Cowgirls and What the Cowgirls Do In 1977 tourist Erwin Kreuz mistook the city for San Francisco Marvel Comics villain MODOK is from Bangor Maine Julie The Cat Gaffney from The Mighty Ducks film franchise is from Bangor Maine Bangor International Airport is the main set for the TV series The Langoliers Stephen King s novels mention Bangor many times See his bibliography Sister cities Edit Harbin Heilongjiang China 88 Saint John New Brunswick CanadaNotable people EditList of people from Bangor MaineReferences Edit Mean monthly maxima and minima i e the expected highest and lowest temperature readings at any point during the year or given month calculated based on data at said location from 1991 to 2020 City of Bangor ME Charter Retrieved January 24 2011 2020 U S Gazetteer Files United States Census Bureau Retrieved April 8 2022 Chronicling America About The Bangorean Bangor Me Library of Congress Retrieved March 1 2015 Census Geography Profile Bangor city Maine United States Census Bureau Retrieved January 8 2022 a b c d e History Greater Bangor CVB February 8 2017 Retrieved May 11 2019 Burnham Emily February 20 2015 Bangor agrees with We Are Bangor video it s GOR not GER Bangor Daily News Retrieved December 27 2015 The Wabanakis of Maine and the Maritimes American Friends Service Committee 1989 James Francis Burnt Harvest Penobscot People and Fire Maine History 44 1 2008 4 18 Wabanakis of Maine and the Maritimes Fischer David Hackett 2009 Champlain s Dream Simon and Schuster pp 180 181 ISBN 978 1 4165 9333 1 The New International Encyclopaedia 1st ed v 02 djvu 535 Wikisource Retrieved July 2 2019 James H Ellis A Ruinous and Unhappy War New England and the War of 1812 2009 p 193 a b Ancestry Family Tree Genealogy amp Family History Records ancestry com Retrieved December 30 2022 Medal of Honor Recipients Associated with the State of Maine Archived May 12 2008 at the Wayback Machine According to this list 4 Civil War MOH recipients were born in Bangor and one each in Brewer Chamberlain Old Town Edinburg and LaGrange David C Smith A History of Lumbering in Maine 1861 1960 University of Maine Press 1972 a b Richard George Wood A History of Lumbering in Maine 1820 61 Orono University of Maine Press 1971 Maine s Queen City Since 1834 Retrieved December 18 2012 Barnstable Patriot October 21 1884 p 1 David Demeritt Boards Barrels and Boxshooks The Economics of Downeast Lumber in 19th Century Cuba Forest and Conservation History v 35 no 3 July 1991 p 112 Edward Mitchell Blanding Bangor Maine New England Magazine v XVI no 1 Mar 1897 p 235 David Clayton Smith A History of Lumbering in Maine 1861 1960 Orono University of Maine Press 1972 York American Institute of the City of New 1864 Transactions of the American Institute of the City of New York C van Benthuysen The American City Magazine v 35 July Dec 1926 p 149 US Gazetteer files 2010 2000 and 1990 United States Census Bureau February 12 2011 Retrieved April 23 2011 US Gazetteer files 2010 United States Census Bureau Retrieved November 23 2012 a b Gregory Clancey Local Memory and Worldly Narrative The Remote City in America and Japan Archived August 29 2008 at the Wayback Machine in Urban Studies Vol 41 No 12 pp 2335 2355 2004 The New York Times The Bangor Fires July 1 1856 p 1 Hartford Weekly Times January 9 1869 p 1 The Bangor Fire The New York Times October 13 1872 Urban Renewal Bangor Info Retrieved July 2 2019 Major Development Initiatives Waterfront Redevelopment City of Bangor Archived from the original on February 22 2008 Retrieved February 26 2008 Maine River Basin Report PDF Retrieved December 19 2015 a b Thomson M Gannon W Thomas M Hayes G 1964 Historical Floods in New England PDF US Geological Survey Retrieved December 19 2015 Schmitt Catherine April 6 2015 Ice out on the Penobscot Retrieved December 19 2015 The Maine Climate Maine State Climate Office March 2002 a href Template Cite journal html title Template Cite journal cite journal a Missing or empty title help The Great Bangor Storm Surge Flash Flood National Weather Service Retrieved February 10 2015 United States Department of Agriculture USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map United States National Arboretum Archived from the original on March 3 2015 Retrieved February 25 2015 a b c d e f g NowData NOAA Online Weather Data National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Retrieved May 22 2021 a b c d Station Bangor INTL AP ME U S Climate Normals 2020 U S Monthly Climate Normals 1991 2020 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Retrieved May 22 2021 Climate and monthly weather forecast Bangor ME Retrieved August 16 2022 http www library umaine edu census townsearch asp county Penobscot amp town Bangor amp from 1790 amp to 2000 amp optype ex Archived September 29 2011 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved March 2010 旋风VPN 旋风加速器 旋风官方 www topmetroarea com Retrieved December 30 2022 http www bestplaces net Sperling s Best Places Bangor Maine Retrieved January 17 2008 Lee Maureen Elgersman 2005 Black Bangor African Americans in a Maine Community 1880 1950 UPNE ISBN 978 1 58465 499 5 U S Census website United States Census Bureau Retrieved November 23 2012 Explore Census Data data census gov Retrieved December 30 2022 Major Employers Archived from the original on December 22 2015 Retrieved December 12 2015 Archived copy PDF Archived from the original PDF on September 13 2013 Retrieved February 4 2014 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint archived copy as title link The First to open branch bank in Bangor The Bangor Daily News January 15 2013 Edes Katherine C Saucier Dale Maine citizens must take a stand against sweatshops Bangor Daily News Retrieved April 20 2015 a b c Deborah Thompson Bangor Maine 1769 1914 An Architectural History Orono University of Maine Press 1988 bangorinfo com Bangor In Focus Bangor House bangorinfo com Retrieved December 30 2022 Bangor in Focus Bangor Mental Health Institute bangorinfo com Retrieved December 30 2022 roseforcharlie October 19 2007 Archived from the original on October 19 2007 Love Barbara J 2006 Feminists who changed America 1963 1975 University of Illinois Press p 109 ISBN 978 0 252 03189 2 Retrieved April 10 2011 365gay com Archived from the original on May 27 2011 Retrieved October 26 2018 W W C Universal Heavyweight Title May 19 2007 Archived from the original on July 9 2007 Retrieved June 29 2007 Penobscot River Restoration Project Retrieved March 2 2008 Welcome to the City of Bangor Maine City Council bangormaine gov Area Information Bangor CVB December 18 2014 Retrieved December 22 2015 McCrea Nick Staff B D N February 12 2013 Bangor council signs on to call for repeal of DOMA renews Diamonds liquor amusement licenses Retrieved April 20 2015 Our District Congressman Jared Golden Retrieved January 8 2019 REGISTERED amp ENROLLED VOTERS STATEWIDE PDF Retrieved December 3 2022 Bangor Maine the Official Web Site of the City of Bangor Archived December 23 2007 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved January 18 2008 Seth Koenig February 4 2015 Website ranks Maine s 10 most dangerous cities hashtagmaine bangordailynews com Retrieved December 12 2015 a b James H Mundy and Earle G Shettleworth The Flight of the Grand Eagle Charles G Bryant Architect and Adventurer Augusta Maine Historic Preservation Commission 1977 Doris A Isaacson ed Maine A Guide Down East Rockland Me Courier Gazette Inc 1970 pp 163 172 New York Times January 8 1890 p 1 Ibid August 30 1903 p 3 Carrie Nation Ejected Pittsburgh Press August 30 1902 p 1 Bill Vanderpool Walter R Walsh An Amazing Life American Rifleman November 2010 p 84 The Brady Gang Bangor in Focus Retrieved February 26 2008 Bangor Daily News Friday September 7 2007 K 8 Attendance Area Directory PDF Bangor School Department August 2012 p 2 24 BANGOR HIGH SCHOOL is the only public high school in the city Search Maine High Schools US News usnews com John Bapst ranked No 1 high school in northern New England by Washington Post The Bangor Daily News August 7 2012 Home All Saints Catholic School Retrieved July 18 2022 St Mary s campus PreK 3 768 Ohio Street Bangor ME 04401 St John s campus Grades 4 8 166 State Street Bangor ME 04401 CYR Bus Line Maine Charter Tours amp Bus Services Cyr Bus Lines Maine WEST BUS SERVICE westbusservice com Maine to Canada bus service to end February 16 2011 Retrieved August 21 2011 Fearful Railroad Accident The New York Times September 2 1869 p 1 New York Times August 10 1871 New York Times July 29 1911 healthprovidersdata com http healthprovidersdata com statistics metro areas aspx Retrieved January 11 2014 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a Missing or empty title help http health usnews com best hospitals area me specialty bare URL Austin Jacobs A History and Description of New England Boston 1859 p 46 see letter of Samuel Gilman to his wife September 2 1849 on line at Maine Memory Network The Public Ledger Newfoundland October 2 1849 p 2 Williams Chase and Co History of Penobscot County Maine 1882 p 714 New waterfront monument celebrates Bangor s sister city relationship with Harbin China July 15 2013 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bangor Maine Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Bangor Maine City of Bangor official website Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Bangor Maine amp oldid 1131442385, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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