Let’s return to Wiscasset of the 1940s and go time traveling with Blinn LeBourdais.

LeBourdais will turn 76 in September but stays busy working three days a week as part of the Wiscasset School Department’s custodial staff. He and his wife, Jane, reside on West Alna Road.

Blinn’s red Chevy Ram pickup served as our time machine. From Langdon Road he drove south on Route 27 towards town.

“You know when I was growing up this area was just an open field,” he said approaching the intersection of routes 1 and 27. “Now look at it; it’s probably the busiest intersection in town and soon there’ll be a traffic light!”

“Where the town office is, that was a gas station,” he added, turning left and heading downtown. He made a right, rounding the corner and onto Fort Hill Street. A short ways down the street he parked in front of the two-story house where he grew up. His parents, Louis and Bertha LeBourdais, raised Blinn and his younger brother, Russell, here.

“My father worked for Central Maine Power Company. During World War II they’d sent him to Bath Iron Works to tend the electrical generators there. During the war, the Yard had its own electrical supply,” he explained. “Dad moved us to Wiscasset after CMP opened the Mason Station over on Birch Point.”

The LeBourdais’ home was next door to Lincoln Lodge, home of the Masons.

“Before this building was a Masonic lodge it was a grade school,” he said. “I’m pretty sure there’s a few folks left in town who remember that and maybe even went to school here.”

Two doors down was the American Legion Hall, more recently home to an art gallery.

“The Legion then was really the focal point of the community. There were swinging dances every Saturday night, Beano on Thursdays, and the regular Legion meetings too. People rented the hall for weddings and anniversaries. My own wedding reception was held here.” 

Across the street, he continued, lived Ellsworth McPhee who everyone knew as “Bowzer.” A WWII Army veteran, McPhee had distinguished himself at the Battle at Anzio. Returning from the war he served as Wiscasset’s first and only Fire Ward. For years he also had the responsibility of winding the town clock over the Legion Hall.

When LeBourdais was a lad the Wiscasset Post Office was in the Old Custom House on Water Street. “When they decided to build the new post office on Main Street, they first had to move a house there on the corner. They didn’t carry it very far, just down the street and around the corner to a vacant lot on Pleasant Street. I remember the house tipped off the trailer when they were making the turn!

“On a hot summer day like today us kids used to head down to White’s Island for a swim,” LeBourdais said driving onto Fore Street and pointing. “There used to be a fine set of bath houses over there on the east side owned by Richmond White of High Street. He wouldn’t let kids swim on that side and there wasn’t much anybody could say because he owned the island!

“When we got older and braver, we’d climb aboard the old ships, the Hesper and Luther Little and swing off the rigging into the water like Tarzan.” (Wiscasset’s old ships, a waterfront landmark for decades, were demolished in the 1990s.)

“There used to be a bridge from the south end of White’s Island that crossed the cove to the Mason Station. It was pretty old and rickety but Russell and me used to cross it to meet dad when he was done work for the day. We’d ride back home with him in his car, a 1937 Chevy.”

The Mason Station was LeBourdais’ next stop. The former power-generating plant, now abandoned still dominates the view of Wiscasset harbor.

“It was coal-fired at first. Women hated when they blew the stacks if they had laundry hanging outdoors because no matter which way the wind was blowing, the coal ash would always settle on the clothes.” Much to their relief Mason Station was later converted to burn oil. LeBourdais’ father was tasked with taking oil samples from the barges that chugged up the Sheepscot River to deliver the fuel.

On the drive back to town, LeBourdais mentioned a time-honored spring tradition called May Day that almost nobody today remembers.

“On May 1, young fellows would fill a basket with candies and treats for a girl they were sweet on,” he explained. “They’d hang the basket on the front door where the girl lived, knock real hard, and run away. If the girl saw you she’d have to give you a kiss!”

We passed Holbrook’s Pond at the junction of Old Bath Road and Route 1. “They use to harvest ice over there,” he said nodding towards the pond. “When they got ready to cut the ice Charlie Rines would bring a team of horses down to haul it out.

“The Holbrooks also operated a sawmill here. There was another sawmill down on Ready Point and one off the Gorham Road on Montsweag Brook. I can still remember back when the Gorham Road crossed the brook and carried you into Woolwich.” The old wooden bridge that spanned the brook was taken down long ago.

Returning downtown LeBourdais recalled the businesses that once lined Main Street. “When I was a boy Wiscasset was where everyone shopped. Friday and Saturday nights the cars would be lined up and parked on both sides of Main Street.

“We had three barber shops here when I was a boy,” LeBourdais added as he named the businesses that once lined Main Street. There was Pendleton’s Market on the corner, Roy Marston’s Pharmacy, Fez Chases’s candy store, and Depositor’s Trust. Across the street was Ray Farmer’s grocery store, the Cozy Corner restaurant, Southard’s, a woman’s clothing shop, Coopie Greenleaf’s gas station, the Ace Grill and Minnie Lewis’s shoe store. They’re all gone now, although LeBourdais can see them plainly in his mind’s eye.

“We always bought our shoes from Minnie,” he added. She had a potbelly stove in her store and a bulldog. It’s kind of funny the things you remember from growing up.”

Today, Wiscasset has two barbershops, both operated by women. Main Street is lined with colorful art galleries, antique shops and gift stores. Downtown also boasts a coffee shop, Sarah’s Café & Twin Schooners Pub, and Treats, a wine shop and bakery. There’s professional business too, a physician, law offices, insurance agency and real estate agents. There’s also the famous Red’s Eats to enjoy or, Sprague’s Lobsters on the waterfront pier where still more colorful and unique gift shops are located. 

The day was wearing on. The Friday traffic was beginning to back up on Main Street. It was time to fast forward to the present.

“There’re not too many of us left that remember the old days,” LeBourdais sighed. He’s sure, though, that there will be many future generations to come that will love Wiscasset as much as he does, he said.