100 Years Ago: 1924

Jewish inhabitants of Lewiston are making plans for a new synagogue. The present synagogue is at 165 Lisbon street, but members of the congregation Beth Jacob desire a structure for their place of worship.

It has not been decided whether to purchase a building already standing, and to remodel it, or to erect a new structure according to specific plans.

Prominent Jewish citizens in Lewiston have promised to contribute liberally.

50 Years Ago: 1974

Grandmothers and one great-grandmother representing 16 country clubs in the area, attended Martindale’s first Maine’s Grandmothers’  Tourney Tuesday at the country club, Auburn.

Mrs. Wilfred Benoit of Norway as the only great-grandmother took home a special prize and another special prize for “survival” went to Mrs. Donald Knowles who came to the Tournament on Auburn’s first cold Fall day, clad in the most summery of golf togs and lasted the entire tourney!

Representative clubs included in addition to the hostess club, Fairlawn and Springbrook, all from the local area, Augusta Country Club, Bath Country Club, Grandview, Oakdale, Norway, Paris Hill, Purpoodock, Rockland, Valhalla, Waterville, Wawenook, Westernview and Wilson Lake.

25 Years Ago: 1999

Fire gutted the vacant W.S. Libbey Mill Friday afternoon in a blaze that officials called suspicious even as crews worked to control the flames late into the evening.

Lewiston fire investigator Dan Roy Jr. said the fire was almost certainly caused by “human element.” There is no electricity in the mill and no natural causes involved, he said. Investigators were expected to start looking for the cause at 8 a.m. Saturday.

“I’m not letting anyone go in there tonight; not anyone at all,” said Lewiston Fire Chief Michel Lajoie late Friday night.

Firefighters from more than a dozen towns battled the blaze that consumed the interior of the four- story brick mill, located between Main Street and the Androscoggin River.

No injuries were reported but fire crews surrounded the building to keep the flames from spreading to nearby buildings.

The mill was broken into Sept. 9 and flammable liquids poured on stairways and into the elevator shaft, according to Rita Jean, who operates the Miracle of Living Waters, which owns the building. Police have been investigating since that break-in and another that occurred shortly after.

Fire officials said there was no insurance on the former cotton and wool textile manufacturing plant, which the city assessed at more than $200,000.

The material used in Looking Back is produced exactly as it originally appeared although misspellings and errors may be corrected.