“It was a large and typical audience of businessmen that met in the rooms of the Lewiston Chamber of Commerce  Monday evening (Oct. 2, 1915) to listen to an address by Congressman Daniel J. McGillicuddy.”

That’s the opening of a report in the Lewiston Evening Journal that went on to say, “It was an address that made everyone present sit up and take notice.”

That’s putting it mildly.

Congressman McGillicuddy was telling the local businessmen of his plan to make Lewiston a seaport. He envisioned cargo vessels traveling up the Androscoggin River from Brunswick to wharfs on the riverfront where they would offload all kinds of freight and take aboard Maine-made textiles and shoes to be shipped worldwide.

Of course, McGillicuddy’s grand plan never came to fruition. For a few months, the congressman’s idea was the talk of the towns, but there were plenty of doubters. His promises of prosperity generated lots of discussion, but not much excitement. In fact, the news story appeared on Page 6 a few days after the meeting.

At the chamber meeting, McGillicuddy declared, “Those who have investigated in this matter are firm in the faith that the project is feasible.” He explained that the project would dredge the Androscoggin and build locks around the dams and rips.
“The government is continually doing this work for other sections of the country and there is no reason why it should not be done for the people of the Androscoggin valley,” McGillicuddy said.

A Boston Herald editorial scoffed at the proposal, saying, “At first it was looked on as a great joke when Congressman McGillicuddy, Maine’s only Democratic congressman, told his constituents that Lewiston ought to be a seaport and he should be sent back to Congress in order to induce that body to provide the millions necessary for the project.

“It is a joke, all right, but the serious discussion of it pro and con in the Maine newspapers shows that the eloquent and resourceful congressman from the Second Maine district is more than a joker, where his political fortunes are concerned. It is the kind of joke that Congress itself has been known to take seriously in considering the pork barrel bill,” the editorial said.

McGillicuddy brought his plan before a meeting of the Lisbon Board of Trade a few days later, and he got some pretty serious grilling from the members.

Samuel Sylvester asked about the size of vessels that might come up the dredged Androscoggin. The congressman said they might have a draft of eight or nine feet, “similar to those in use on the Kennebec and Penobscot.”

Sylvester was skeptical.

McGillicuddy gave some further arguments about railroad versus waterway freight rates.

“You needn’t lay awake nights worrying about the railroads making money,” McGillicuddy said.

“No, and I won’t lay awake nights worrying about your canal, either,” Sylvester replied. “I won’t vote for any representative who will endorse stealing money from one class of people to benefit another.”

The congressman shot back: “It is not stealing. Other parts of the country have been getting their share and we have been paying for it. Now let’s get what we can, when we can get it.”

McGillicuddy predicted that completion of the seaport project could mean a doubling of the population of the Twin Cities.

Even McGillicuddy admitted that, at first, he didn’t think dredging the Androscoggin from Merrymeeting Bay to Lewiston was possible. He said he changed his mind based on support of the U.S. Board of Engineers.

Brunswick had considered the project at an earlier time, he said.

“It would have been a great boom for the town of Brunswick, but the people there took no interest in the matter at all,” the congressman said. “This is a trouble with us in this eastern country. We are a little slow. Men shrug their shoulders and say, ‘It can’t be done,’ when a big proposition is put up to them.”

The congressman’s approach on the seaport matter seems quite undiplomatic for a politician. He failed to win re-election in 1916 to a fourth term in Congress.

Although McGillicuddy’s plan didn’t spark much serious support,
it is certainly a great “what-if” story.

Dave Sargent is a freelance writer and a native of Auburn. He can be reached by sending email to [email protected].