To the Editor,
I have been the town historian for twelve years, and in that time I have read every letter to the editor this newspaper has published on the subject of development — which is to say, on the subject of whether Willow Creek should change.
The arguments on both sides have become predictable. The “keepers” argue that any change is a threat to what makes the town special. The “growthers” argue that without change, the town will simply die. And the two sides talk past each other, because neither is entirely wrong.
I would like to offer a third view, drawn from the town’s history.
When the Bangor & Aroostook Railroad reached Willow Creek in 1884, the shipbuilders declared it the end of the world. The river sloop was, to them, not merely an industry but an identity. And they were right — the railroad did kill the shipbuilding trade. But it also connected us to markets and ideas that the old economy could never reach. The mill era that followed employed more people than the shipyards ever did.
The mill closed in 1972. The tourist economy that followed was derided by the mill workers as a “foliage circus.” And yet The Dry Dock, which occupies the remains of Thorne & Sons Shipworks, draws more visitors to Willow Creek in a good month than the shipyard ever served in a year.
Change is not betrayal. It is adaptation. The question is not whether Willow Creek will change, but whether we will change intentionally or change by default.
I believe we can have broadband without losing the sight lines to Homan’s Pond. We can have a vibrant Main Street without tearing down the Carnegie Library. We can welcome new people without forgetting what brought our ancestors here.
But it takes work. And that work begins with a feasibility study.
Jedidiah Thorne, Town Historian