7:00 pm
*Event is on Zoom
In 1890, paper magnate Hugh Chisholm finished purchasing 1100 acres along the Androscoggin River at Rumford Falls, Maine, a waterpower source so profound it was nicknamed “New England’s Niagara.” The falls offered more power than Chisholm needed for his own manufacturing and so it provided him the opportunity to transform this so-called wilderness into a thriving urban oasis. By 1906, one Boston newspaper dubbed Rumford Falls “Magic Town,” indicating the fulfillment of Chisholm’s vision and the apex of capitalism. Join historian C. Ian Stevenson as he explores how Chisholm used visual media to sell his idea through a combination of printed promotional materials, such as illustrated pamphlets and postcards, and physical infrastructure, such as repeating railroad station architecture, to convince investors to purchase lots and build there.
About the presenter: C. Ian Stevenson is a Lecturer in the Preservation Studies Program at Boston University. Ian holds a PhD in American & New England Studies and an MA in Preservation Studies from Boston University and was a recipient of the P.D. Merrill Research Fellowship from the Maine Historical Society in 2024-2025.