Eagle Island Lighthouse

The Penobscot River originates deep in the forested wilderness of Maine and nearly splits the state in half. Early settlers found the river a ready-made highway to harvest the great wealth of timber in the region. In the period from 1832 to 1888, nearly 9 billion board feet went downriver to Bangor, making the city the "Lumber Port of the World" and later, the "Queen City." Nearly a hundred sawmills operating on the river cut the logs into standardized lengths which were then floated downriver to the falls where Bangor was built, then loaded aboard ships and sent around the world. In 1860, some 3,376 vessels arrived at Bangor. There were so many sawmills on the river in this time that a large island of sawdust was created. The river even inspired a choral symphony by local composer Thomas Oboe Lee.