Virtue, Vice, Fire & Ice: Forces that Formed the Lumber Capital of the World
Virtue, Vice, Fire & Ice: This lively, costumed tour shines a light on the city’s complex history while showcasing some of the monuments and architecture of Bangor, Maine, the great city on the Penobscot. The program is 75-90 minutes and may include walking on paved paths, brick, grass, moderate hills, and stairs. This tour can be adjusted for those with mobility issues, please discuss at time of booking.
How to book: Arrange a private tour by contacting me via email to schedule or by calling (207) 200-1583 and leaving a message.
Bangor, Maine was a city shaped by opposing forces: a mighty river and great industry that brought prosperity and destruction, and people who did the same, bringing their virtues and vices to the Queen City.
19th-century Bangor was a city of dramatic contrasts. Settlers and Indigenous. Abolitionists and rum runners. Preachers and prostitutes. Working-class and the gentry. Know-nothings and Catholics. And of course, the Irish. See this historic city of contrasts in a whole new light as we walk through the dark and the light of the lumber capital of the world.
While the lumber barons, politicians, and other members of polite society spent time in their well-appointed offices and fine estates, those in their employ toiled deep in the woods, out on the river, or in their factories. Lumbermen, river drivers, sailors, Irish laborers, and other members of the working class worked hard –and played harder– entertaining themselves with booze, brawls, and brothels before stumbling back to tenements, ships, and the woods.