Gilman Dam on Dennys River
Not only was the Gilman Dam useful to the Dennysville Lumber Company in regulating the flow of water in the river, it also created a series of rips that made it a great place to fish. Lyle Furlong of Charlotte recounted a trip to Gilman Dam on the Dennys River in 1950, made by his father and a visiting celebrity, as follows: "The Dennys River was a mile and a half from his father’s house on Damon Ridge. To get to the river, they went past the Hatton home just beyond Archer Corner and continued over Thompson Brook and kept going west on Hayward Road to the Blatchford Farm. It was there that Herman “Herm” Farris Sr. had a winter Road that he “set up for bobsleds with a rack body to hauled peeled pulp[wood] by a span of horses on snow as far as I know,” Lyle recalled. That winter road when as far as Tom Brook, about half a mile from the river. Lyle said his father had a one and quarter ton truck which he had homemade into a 1927 Dodge tractor equipped with regular tire chains with giant grip horseshoe calks, or cleats, welded to the cross links. The truck had wooden spoked wheels on the front, and Damon fashioned a seat for his passenger. When the day for the big trip arrived, the anglers packed up a lunch and fishing gear and the two headed out travelling the route Lyle described. They crossed to Tom brook and crossed beaver flowage to the Haskell Smith Landing—Haskell had a floating dock that he used there as a make-shift bridge. Just below that was Gilman Dam which caused Gilman Rips where Damon had caught his salmon. Damon and the celebrity fished Saturday, stayed that night, and were back home by Sunday noon, where a great meal awaited them. The visitor, who turned out to be celebrated singer and yodeler Slim Clark, wrote a 3-page letter of thanks for one of his finest time fishing on the Dennys River. He had caught two 14-inch salmon while Damon caught a 16-inch salmon and his limit in trout.” From the minutes of Charlotte Historical Society Meeting on November, 2022.
