During June 1896, a railroad contractor was in Dennysville getting rights of way for the railroad through town, but the actual clearing of the land did not start until November, 1897. In December of that year a contractor, Wheaton, brought his crew to work a cut for the railroad near Falls Bridge. They rented the nearby Charles Wilder house, and worked through the winter months, even when the temperature was -34 degrees on January 31, 1898. In April, John Boyd of Calais brought a crew to build the stone abutments for the railroad bridge. The granite, which was brought by the schooner Rocky Mountain, kept most of the teams in town busy transporting it from Allan's wharf to the Falls. By June there were other crews at work, Joe Orlando's at Stoddard Meadow and McLaughlin's at Shaw Meadow. On June 30, 1898, the townspeople heard the engine whistle blow for the first time. Although the iron bridge was not yet constructed, the first engine, No. 4, crossed the river on a false structure on August 27, 1898. During September, the construction train was laying ties and rails between the Falls and Great Works and a steam shovel was at work on the gravel hill by the Falls. On January 2, 1899, the trains began running on a regular schedule. Two days later the first car of corn to be hauled by the Washington County Railroad came into Dennysville for the A.L.R. Gardner Company.

Dennys River Postcard CollectionPhotos for Map

Washington County Railroad