We hope you enjoy the following three stories taken from the pages of the August 6, 1896, edition of the RANGELEY LAKES NEWSPAPER. The first shares information about Cascade Stream Gorge, which today is conserved by the Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust and remains to this day an absolute must see natural wonder. The next shares the ‘news’ of a major edition to Captain Fred Barkers’ fleet of steamers, and the last an interesting historical glimpse into the early roads, trails and Civil War draft dodgers of the Kennebago region. So please take a moment to spur your imagination as to what Rangeley was like 139 years ago and be sure to get outside and make some outdoor history of your own!

Commentary is in Italics, otherwise the copy has been reprinted just as it appeared in 1896.

A Gem of the Rangeleys

Now “set” too thickly with brush and blowdowns to sparkle. One of the most attractive spots about Rangeley, and one that very few visitors know about, is the Cascade Stream at Greenvale. In the palmy days of the Greenvale House, a nice path was cut and kept open and the guests and borders at that house made frequent visits to that romantic resort. For nearly a mile the stream is a series of cascades and chasms, the water tumbles down in immense leaps and through gorges down whose perpendicular sides one can but tremblingly gaze. The wildness of the scene adds grandeur to the whole and the visitor is silent while watching its beauties. The Greenvale House is gone, the paths are grown up or obstructed by windfalls, there is no one to care for them, and only now and then does a visitor venture to climb the rough road now necessary to obtain the grandest of sights in Franklin County. The picturesqueness of those falls is unrivaled in New England and if located amid the White Mountain region would be heralded as one of the greatest attractions. Here, within a half hours drive, it is unknown, no mention of it is made in guidebook or elsewhere. How true is Tenny son’s “The Brook.” “For men may come, and men may go, But I go on forever.” Thousands come and go but they know not this little charm. For picnic parties there is no place that has its equal, icy cool water is found trick ling from the ledges through beds of ferns, the rocks cushioned with soft springy moss, the growth of ages, and wild berries grow in abundance everywhere. Why cannot this gem he thrown open to the public eye? May Rangeley Lakes offer a suggestion? It is this: Let a volunteer corps be organized, by citizens, hotel men, railroad men steamboat men, proprietors of liveries, guides and everyone interested, appoint someday to meet and then begin the work of opening up the gateway to a place nearly equal to the “Garden of the Gods.” Who will lead off?

If you do go, don’t stop at the lower falls as many make the mistake of doing. Follow the trail along the back side of the first fall that leads into the even more breathtaking upper gorge. Bring a bathing suit (or not) and take a refreshing dip.

Captain Barker’s New Steamer

Capt. Barker is to name his new steamer “Florence Ella” in memory of his late wife and for his little daughter. The new steamer is to be launched a week from next Monday, August 17. There should be an excursion to witness it.

This was a large vessel by inland waters standards. It is a pity that none of these graceful ships remain.

Kennebago and Seven Ponds

The road that was cut and built through the Kennebago township in 1860 by Maj. Dill, known as the “Dill Road,” and which has been impassable for many years, has been cleared out by the Berlin Falls Co. and is used by them for transporting their supplies. The workmen are building a dam on the first pitch of the Kennebago Falls, which will raise the level of the lake probably two feet. The dams to be built above Little Kennebago will flow the stream and shorten one of the carrys on Grant’s Road to two miles. Rufe Crosby says he guided the first lady over the road that ever went to Kennebago, Mrs. John W. Rodgers, of Mans field, N. Y. She was accompanied by her husband. This was in 1875. Two years later he guided the same party to Seven Ponds, and Mrs. Rodgers was the first lady to visit that resort. Rufe says he would like to have some of the “skedaddlers” who went through to Canada to escape the draft in the sixties, tell him about the route they took at that time. Last winter he and Ed. Grant found an old “spotted line” which they followed for some distance and it led them in the direction of the boundary line. It was in the winter that they found it and they could not tell whether it had been used in the summer or not, but they think this was the “underground railroad” that those who didn’t-want-to- die for one’s country took. He says when the four rods strip, defining the line, was being cut an error was discovered after quite a distance had been cleared. They then returned and swung off fully a mile to the west, which gave Uncle Sam quite a nice little slice of land that he nearly lost.

Halfway down the north shore of Kennebago Lake lies “Skeddadler’s Cove” where many of the civil war’s draft dodgers took up residence. Most were relatively poor and could not afford to purchase a replacement to take their place in the army which was permitted and exactly what many wealthy men did rather than skedaddle off to the wilderness. Have a great week everyone!