THE BERLIN 

 R EPORTER 



BERLIN, NEW HAMPSHIRE, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 1916 



HISTORY OF THE 



SAM PAINE BRIDGE 



Sam Paine Bridge relegated to 

 "Has Beens" Reminiscences 

 of Early Days. 



The razing of the "Sam Paine" 

 bridge removes from Berlin almost the 

 last one of the old-time structures of 

 the City. So far as occurs to mind at 

 the moment the only one left is the 

 house at 153 Main street occupied by 

 Mrs. Wardwell. 



The Beporter gratefully acknow- 

 ledge its obligation to Mr. Chester L. 

 Bean of Milan, who got out every 

 stick of timber for the bridge frame, 

 for the history of the old landmark. 



Mr. Bean was born in Milan in 1839 

 and recalls his first trip to Berlin with 

 lis father to procure supplies for the 

 family. There were then three build- 

 ings at the Falls, one of them being 

 Daniel Green's store. The stock of 

 this establishment Mr. Bean numerates 

 as consisting of molasses, tea, codfish, 

 flour and a barrel of rum. Mr. Bean 

 Senior's purchases were a gallon of 

 molasses and a pound of tea. While 

 they were there another customer en- 

 tered and bought a gallon of rum, pay- 

 ing fifty cents for it. 



When Mr. Bean was a boy six years 

 of age his father moved to Berlin and 

 for thirty-five years young Bean was a 

 resident of the town. 'When he came to 

 Berlin the falls began at Harvey 

 Smith's and the woods were full of 

 Moose and the streams abounded.ini 

 trout. 



The first bridge was a trestle affair 

 at the Frank Cross place. The first 

 high water and floating logs jammed 

 it out of shape and the Sam Paine 

 bridge was decided upon. 



Until the Grand Trunk Bailway was 

 built the waters of the Androscoggin 

 flowed by without the interruption of 

 a sawmill. The first sawmill was built 

 by Timothy H. Hutchinson, late of 

 Gorham, known as the "crooked" mill 

 from the fact that every curved timber 

 was hewed from a naturally bent tree.' 

 Afterwards Winslow and Little built 

 another mill where the Berlin Mills 

 Company succeeded to their rights and 

 property. 



The Winslow-Little dam flooded Mr. 

 Hutchinson's property and there was 

 litigation over it for about forty years, 

 the Berlin Mills eventually settling 

 Hutchinson 's claim. 



In those early days the present spur 

 track was an unimagined luxury. The 

 product of the mills was hauled to the 

 railway on wagons whose motive power 

 was four oxen. At the "narrows" 

 the road ran at the bank of. the river, 

 and was so narrow that the driver had 

 to keep at the heads of his team to 

 guide them so as to avoid hitting the 

 ledge on' the one side or tipping the en- 

 tire outfit into the river on the other. 



The Hutchinson mill was rented by 

 Eeuben H. Wheeler, who lived where 

 Mark Twitchell's residence now stands. 

 At a very early age Mr. Bean started 

 to work for Mr. Wheeler, after a per- 

 iod of farm work for Hiram Wheelef 

 for the wage of three dollars per 

 month. 



He began work at the sawmill as the 

 operator of the edging saw, and was 

 soon promoted to run the single board 

 saw that was the leading feature of 

 the mill. 



In 1858 the Sam Paine bridge was 

 projected. 



Moses Mason of Bethel got out the 

 stone from a quarry about six miles 

 distant in Success, where even now may 

 be found split stone that was got out 

 in excess of what was needed. Ma- 

 son also erected the abutments ready 

 for the frame. 



A Mr. Davis took the contract to 

 get out the timber and B. H. Wheeler 

 had the contract to saw it. As Mr. 

 Bean was operating the board saw at 

 the Wheeler mill, he handled every 

 stick of timber in the bridge. 



The framing and erection was done 

 by Nay Mason of Bethel. , Twice a 

 new roof has been put on and thirty 

 years ago the bridge was struck by 

 lightning, necessitating putting in 

 trusses; and this was done by the same 

 Nay Mason who orginally built the 

 bridge. 



And now the old bridge has out- 

 lasted its usefulness and gives way 

 for a modern structure as Sam Paine, 

 Nay Davis and others have given 

 place to a newer generation; so that in 

 a few short years there will be few 

 who will recall the time when the site 

 of the Berlin House was Tom Green's 

 field, and where the Gerrish Block 

 stands was "Tom Green's farm" and 

 even the "Sam Paine" bridge will be 

 only a hazy memory. 



