Let’s flip the calendar back to the 1980s and have a look at a few more pictures from Wiscasset’s past. We’ll start with two pictures of Red’s Eats on the corner of Main and Water streets, famous for its legendary lobster rolls. The pictures were taken by me a week apart in the middle part of April following an unusually heavy spring snowstorm. On the righthand side you can see the old timber-pile bridge and signs advertising the Haggett Ford dealership located down the street that’s now a parking lot. Other directional signs point to Marilyn’s Beauty Salon and the Wiscasset Times, the weekly newspaper I published for 15 years next door to the Coastal Business Center. The directional signs were hand-painted by the late Schuyler Fairfield of Federal Street. Schuyler’s shop was located on Railroad Avenue in the space now occupied by The Jolie Roger Raw Bar. Wiscasset Hardware, owned by the Stetson family, was alongside of Red’s Eats. In that second picture you can see a small pile of snow remaining from the storm.

The sea plane pictured was owned and piloted by the late Grover Sprague of Wiscasset. Grover could often be seen flying his plane over the skies of Wiscasset, Damariscotta and Boothbay. For many years he was a member of the town’s Airport Committee. I just happened to have my camera with me one morning when Grover flew past the Luther Little and Hesper, Wiscasset’s landmark 4-masted schooners. From where I took the picture on the shore it looks like the plane is caught in the schooner’s rigging. That’s Grover wiping the aircraft’s windshield after he landed in the river and tied up at the waterfront. Grover’s son Frank Sprague and his family own and operate Sprague’s Lobster and Restaurant on the Creamery Pier, and within walking distance of where the schooners lay beached for decades.

Since I mentioned the old ships, I’ve included one of the Luther Little’s bow. This picture was taken around the time when there was talk of preserving the old schooners. One morning when the tide was up, I canoed carefully between the old ships and took this picture which I later developed and used in the newspaper. The iron hawse pipe where the anchor chain passed through was saved and can now be seen at the town landing. The last I knew that length of anchor chain and the turnbuckles were still up at the former landfill with other pieces salvaged when the old ships were demolished in the 1990s.

McLellan’s Seafood, a market and takeout restaurant, was located in Edgecomb a short distance north of the Davey Bridge. Pictured is its owner and chef, the late Phil McLellan of Boothbay. Along with fresh seafood Phil sold sandwiches including his original “Poor Boy Lobster Roll.” After Phil sold the business he reopened a small takeout restaurant next to his home on the Boothbay Road. Phil McLellan was a kind man, I miss him. The gambrel-roofed building on Davis Island is now home to Abenaki Trading Company, a business selling very unique Native American arts and crafts.

Let’s finish with a picture of Blake’s Marine that was located on Route 1 south of town. The cinder-block building has been greatly remodeled and expanded over the years and was recently home to a wholesale coffee roasting business. It’s now home to JAR Co., a retail business selling recreational cannabis products. Robert “Bob” Wright Jr. now deceased, owned and operated Blake’s Marine which sold Seaway and Mako pleasure boats. Blake’s Marine was also an authorized dealer for Evinrude outboard motors. Bob was a regular advertiser in my newspaper and a friend. Although he didn’t often talk about it he was a decorated Army veteran of the Vietnam War. During his service he’d been awarded the Silver Star, Legion of Merit, two Bronze Stars, three Purple Hearts, four Army Commendation Medals, three with "V" Device for Valor, and two Vietnamese Crosses of Gallantry. After Blake’s Marine closed Bob Wright rejoined the military and retired as a Colonel. He died Jan. 19, 2015, and is buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Wiscasset alongside his father, Robert Wight Sr., an Army veteran of Pearl Harbor. 

Once again, I’d like to thank my readers for their comments, suggestions and for sharing their memories. It gives me a great deal of satisfaction knowing people are reading and enjoying what they see in The Boothbay Register-Wiscasset Newspaper both in print and online. 

Phil Di Vece earned a B.A. in journalism studies from Colorado State University and an M.A. in journalism at the University of South Florida. He is the author of three Wiscasset books and is a frequent news contributor to the Boothbay Register/Wiscasset Newspaper. He resides in Wiscasset. Contact him at pdivece@roadrunner.com