by Mary Grow The next town north of Windsor is China, which, like Windsor, began life as a plantation and did not acquire its present name for some years after the first Europeans settled there. A dominant feature of the town is what is now China Lake, earlier known as Twelve Mile Pond because it […]
by Mary Grow The former China Dine-ah, on Lakeview Drive (Route 202), which was closed by the pandemic in the spring of 2020, is moving toward becoming a daycare called Grace’s Busy Bees, directed by Grace McIntyre. McIntyre, building owner Norman Elvin and architect David Landmann described plans to the China Planning Board at its […]
by Mary Grow This article continues the subseries on how the dozen towns in this history series got their names. So far, names have been traced up the Kennebec River on the east bank, from Augusta to Clinton, inclusive. There are two other groups: on the east, four towns – from south to north, Windsor, […]
by Mary Grow At their June 18 meeting, Vassalboro School Board members heard positive reports about the end of the current school year and continued planning for the next one. Principal Ira Michaud said end-of-school events, including field trips, the spring concert, a field day and the eighth-grade promotion exercises, went very well. He and […]
by Mary Grow At their June 18 meeting, China Transfer Station Committee members continued to work on three items: straightening out China’s relations with Palermo, enforcing regulations and promoting recycling. Under a 2016 inter-town agreement, Palermo residents use China’s transfer station, with a proper pass and special blue bags for which they pay. Palermo also […]
by Mary Grow The town of Clinton, Benton’s ancestor and northern neighbor, is the northernmost Kennebec County town on the east bank of the Kennebec River. Historian Carleton Edward Fisher wrote that Clinton’s first white settler was probably Ezekiel Chase, Jr., who might have arrived by 1761, before the Kennebec Proprietors claimed the area. Fisher […]
by Mary Grow Vassalboro select board members began their June 13 meeting by electing Frederick “Rick” Denico, Jr., board chairman, succeeding newly re-elected member Christopher French. After a very sparsely attended public hearing on Vassalboro Sanitary District (VSD) Treasurer Rebecca Goodrich’s request for Tax Increment Financing (TIF) funds, board members unanimously approved: — An allocation […]
by Mary Grow China select board members and Town Manager Rebecca Hapgood began the June 17 select board meeting with a motor tour of Thurston Park, in northeastern China. Afterwards, board member Blane Casey expressed approval of the way the park is being maintained. Others agreed. In the town office meeting room, board members: — […]
by Mary Grow At their June 10 meeting, China’s Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Committee members completed recommendations on revising the document that governs the use of TIF funds. (See also the June 6 issue of The Town Line, p.8.) They recommended deleting two accounts: the revolving loan fund intended to help businesses in town, which […]
by Mary Grow Continuing north on the east side of the Kennebec River, the next town after Winslow is Benton. Next north of Benton is Clinton. These two towns share with Winslow not just the Kennebec, but the Sebasticook River as well. The Sebasticook meanders a bit west of south through Clinton’s town center, and […]