The quiet ruins of Riceville, Maine speak volumes about Maine’s dynamic history. Once a place of ambition and daily life, this ghost town now serves as a historical landmark, inviting visitors to imagine the community that once flourished here.
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Remarks: The abandonment of Riceville reflects broader economic and social changes that swept across Maine during this era. Today, it stands as a testament to the resilience required of early settlers and the impermanence of human establishments.
Riceville: Maine’s Vanished Tannery Town
Deep in the woods of eastern Maine, between Milford and Township 39 on the border of Penobscot and Hancock counties, lies the forgotten settlement of Riceville. Unlike many ghost towns that slowly declined over decades, Riceville experienced a rapid rise and fall, transforming from a bustling industrial village to a completely abandoned site in just over three decades. The story of this vanished community offers a fascinating glimpse into Maine’s industrial past and the ephemeral nature of settlements built around single industries.
Origins and Establishment
Riceville’s story begins in 1879 when the F. Shaw and Brothers Company established a bark extract works along Buffalo Stream in Township 39, an unincorporated territory in northern Hancock County. The Shaw brothers were prominent figures in Maine’s leather industry, operating multiple tanneries throughout the state during the late 19th century. Their decision to build a facility in this remote location was driven by the abundant natural resources essential for their operation: water from Buffalo Stream, vast forests providing hemlock bark (a crucial ingredient in the tanning process), and ample wood to fuel the boilers.
The bark extract works was designed to process hemlock bark into a concentrated tannin solution, which was then used in the leather tanning process. This operation represented an important step in the industrialization of leather production, as the extract could be more easily transported to tanneries than raw bark. The facility’s strategic location in the midst of Maine’s vast forests ensured a steady supply of raw materials.
Initially, the settlement consisted of little more than the industrial facility and basic housing for workers. However, as operations expanded, a small community began to take shape around the extract works. The remote location necessitated the development of a self-sufficient village, as workers and their families needed access to essential goods and services far from established towns.
Growth and Development
A significant turning point in Riceville’s development came in the 1880s when the F. Shaw and Brothers Company faced financial difficulties. The company’s operations were acquired by Buzzell and Rice, with James Rice becoming a prominent figure in the town’s history. It was during this period that the settlement became known as ‘Riceville,’ taking its name from its new proprietor.
Under the new ownership, the industrial operations expanded from bark extraction to a full-fledged tannery. This expansion represented a significant evolution in the site’s industrial capacity, as the facility could now process raw hides into finished leather rather than merely producing tanning extract. The tannery specialized in processing buffalo hides, which were shipped to Riceville from the American West. These hides were transformed into leather primarily used for shoe manufacturing, connecting this remote Maine settlement to the broader national economy and the growing footwear industry in New England.
As the industrial operations grew, so did the community. By 1900, census records indicate that approximately 75 people lived in Riceville proper, with additional residents likely living in the surrounding area. The village developed the infrastructure necessary for community life, including a post office that provided an official connection to the outside world. Historical accounts suggest that the community also had a schoolhouse, with records indicating an enrollment of 21 pupils in 1900.
The physical layout of Riceville followed patterns common to many industrial villages of the era. The tannery facility was positioned along Buffalo Stream to harness water power and provide access to water for industrial processes. Workers’ housing was constructed in proximity to the tannery, minimizing commuting time in an era before automobiles. The community likely included a company store where workers could purchase necessities, potentially operating on a credit system tied to employment at the tannery.
Transportation links were crucial for Riceville’s industrial operations. Raw materials and finished products needed to move in and out of this relatively isolated location. Historical maps from the period show tote roads connecting Riceville to nearby settlements and eventually to larger transportation networks. These rudimentary roads would have accommodated horse-drawn wagons carrying supplies, raw materials, and finished leather.
Daily Life in Riceville
Life in Riceville would have been dominated by the rhythms of industrial work. The tannery likely operated six days a week, with workers putting in long hours under challenging conditions. Tannery work was notoriously difficult and hazardous, involving exposure to caustic chemicals, unpleasant odors, and physically demanding tasks. The process of transforming raw hides into finished leather required multiple steps: soaking, liming, deharing, bating, tanning, and finishing. Each stage involved specific skills and presented particular challenges.
The community’s social life would have centered around shared experiences and the close quarters of a small industrial village. With limited entertainment options and no easy access to larger towns, residents would have created their own diversions through community gatherings, religious services, and seasonal celebrations. The schoolhouse would have served not only as an educational institution but also as a community center for various events.
The environmental impact of the tannery on the surrounding area was likely significant. Tanneries of this era typically discharged waste directly into adjacent waterways, introducing chemicals and organic matter that could affect water quality and aquatic life. The extraction of hemlock bark for tanning involved stripping the bark from trees, which were often left to die standing, creating ‘ghost forests’ of dead hemlocks. The operation also required substantial quantities of wood for fuel, contributing to deforestation in the surrounding area.
Despite these environmental costs, the tannery provided economic opportunities in a region where such opportunities were limited. For the workers and families of Riceville, the tannery represented not just employment but a way of life—a community built around a shared industrial purpose in the Maine wilderness.
Mysterious Abandonment
The decline and abandonment of Riceville came swiftly and dramatically. By 1910, census records indicate that the once-active community had been completely abandoned, with its population dropping from approximately 75 residents to zero in just a decade. This rapid depopulation has fueled speculation and local legends about what exactly happened to the people of Riceville.
Historical records provide some concrete facts about the town’s decline. In 1906, the tannery—the economic heart of the community—burned down. This catastrophic event effectively eliminated the town’s sole industry and primary employer. The same year, the post office was disincorporated, severing an important official connection to the outside world. Without the tannery and with no alternative economic opportunities in the immediate area, residents had little choice but to relocate in search of employment elsewhere.
However, the speed and completeness of Riceville’s abandonment have given rise to alternative explanations and local legends. One persistent story suggests that the town’s population was decimated by a cholera outbreak around 1908. According to this narrative, the disease spread rapidly through the small community, possibly exacerbated by contaminated water supplies. Some versions of the legend claim that outsiders who came to do business in Riceville discovered the entire population deceased, hastily buried the dead in a mass grave, and left the town to be reclaimed by nature.
Another theory connects the town’s abandonment to environmental contamination from the tannery itself. Tanneries used various chemicals in the leather-making process, including mercury compounds, which could have leached into the local water supply. A 2011 field report by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on mercury levels in nearby Brandy Pond mentions the ‘Thirty-Nine Tannery’ on Buffalo Stream, suggesting potential long-term environmental impacts from the operation.
While dramatic stories of disease outbreaks make for compelling local legends, the documented burning of the tannery in 1906 provides a more prosaic but historically supported explanation for the town’s abandonment. The loss of the sole industry in a remote location would have been economically devastating, making relocation the most practical option for residents. The timing aligns with census records showing the town empty by 1910, allowing a reasonable period for the community to disperse following the industrial collapse.
The truth likely involves elements of multiple factors. The tannery fire certainly precipitated the town’s economic collapse, but health concerns—whether from disease outbreaks or industrial contamination—may have accelerated the abandonment or discouraged any attempts to rebuild. The remote location and changing economic conditions in the early 20th century would have made reestablishing the community impractical, especially as the leather industry evolved and transportation networks improved elsewhere.
Riceville Today
More than a century after its abandonment, Riceville exists today primarily as a memory and a collection of deteriorating remnants in the Maine woods. The site has been largely reclaimed by nature, with forest growth covering much of what was once a bustling industrial village. Unlike ghost towns in arid western states where buildings often remain standing for decades, Maine’s climate and vegetation have accelerated the decay and disappearance of Riceville’s structures.
For those who venture to find the site, access is challenging. The location can be reached by hiking several miles northeast of Old Town along overgrown tote roads, though wet conditions and dense vegetation often make the journey difficult. The first sign of the former settlement that visitors typically encounter is the Riceville Cemetery, marked by a crooked white picket fence and a sign nailed to a tree. Curiously, the cemetery contains no visible markers, leaving the identities of those buried there a mystery. The maintenance of the fence suggests that some connection to the site persists, with individuals or groups occasionally tending to this remnant of the lost community.
Beyond the cemetery, explorers might find a clearing that once formed the center of the village. This area contains scattered metal artifacts—wagon axles, pipes, barrel hoops—that hint at the industrial and domestic activities once conducted there. A well, now surrounded by safety fencing, provides another tangible connection to the former community. Foundation holes and cellar depressions mark the locations of former structures, though these are increasingly difficult to discern as nature continues to reclaim the site.
The environmental legacy of the tannery operation may still be present in the area. Studies of similar historical tannery sites have found persistent contamination decades or even centuries after operations ceased. The 2011 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service report on mercury levels in nearby Brandy Pond suggests potential long-term impacts from industrial activities in the region, though the specific contribution from the Riceville tannery is difficult to isolate after so many years.
In recent decades, Riceville has attracted interest from various groups. The Bangor Ghost Hunters investigated the site in the late 1990s, drawn by reports of unusual activity in the area. Their investigations led to collaboration with Lost Treasures Magazine, which explored local legends about gold coins supposedly found on the ground in the abandoned town. While such stories add to the mystique of Riceville, they likely represent embellishments to the historical record rather than documented facts.
More recently, organizations like Abandonment of Maine have worked to document and preserve the history of Riceville and similar lost communities. Their efforts include attempting to reconstruct maps of the village based on historical topographical maps and physical evidence, creating a more accurate record of this vanished settlement for future generations.
Historical Significance
Though Riceville existed for only a brief period and left few physical remains, its story holds significance for understanding Maine’s industrial history and the dynamics of resource-based communities. The rise and fall of Riceville exemplifies patterns seen in many extractive industry towns, where prosperity depends on specific natural resources and economic conditions that may prove temporary.
The tannery operations at Riceville connected this remote Maine location to national economic networks and the industrial revolution transforming America in the late 19th century. Buffalo hides from the western plains were processed in the Maine woods to produce leather for shoes manufactured in New England factories—a supply chain spanning the continent and linking frontier resource extraction to industrial production and consumer markets.
Riceville’s brief existence coincided with significant transitions in American industry and society. The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw increasing industrialization, urbanization, and integration of formerly isolated regions into national economic networks. The town’s abandonment around 1910 came during a period when many rural areas were losing population to growing urban centers, as agricultural and extractive industries became more mechanized and consolidated.
The environmental history of Riceville also offers insights into the ecological impacts of industrial activities in rural areas. The tannery’s operations involved harvesting hemlock bark from surrounding forests, potentially altering forest composition, and introducing industrial pollutants into local waterways. These impacts, common to many industrial sites of the era, occurred before the development of environmental regulations and often left lasting legacies in affected ecosystems.
For modern visitors, Riceville provides a tangible connection to this industrial past and a reminder of the transient nature of human settlements. The site’s gradual return to nature illustrates the resilience of ecosystems and the ultimately temporary nature of human modifications to the landscape when not continuously maintained.
Legends and Folklore
Like many abandoned places, Riceville has accumulated a body of legends and folklore that blend historical facts with imaginative embellishments. These stories reflect both the human tendency to mythologize the past and the genuine mysteries surrounding the town’s rapid abandonment.
The most persistent legend concerns the fate of Riceville’s residents. While historical records indicate a gradual dispersal following the tannery fire, local stories often describe a more dramatic and tragic end. The cholera outbreak narrative, with its imagery of an entire community suddenly struck down and outsiders discovering a town of the dead, has particular resonance. Such stories echo broader cultural anxieties about disease, isolation, and the fragility of human communities.
Another strand of folklore involves supposed treasures left behind in the abandoned town. Stories of gold coins found on the ground suggest sudden abandonment with valuables left behind, reinforcing the image of a community fleeing in haste or succumbing to disaster. While such tales likely represent exaggerations or misinterpretations of actual finds, they add to Riceville’s mystique and continue to draw treasure hunters and curiosity seekers to the area.
The unmarked cemetery contributes significantly to the town’s ghostly reputation. The absence of grave markers raises questions about who lies buried there and why their identities were not preserved. This mystery, combined with the cemetery’s continued maintenance by unknown caretakers, creates a powerful symbol of the community’s unresolved ending and lingering presence in local memory.
Paranormal investigators have been drawn to Riceville by reports of unusual experiences in the area. The Bangor Ghost Hunters’ interest in the site during the 1990s reflects the town’s association with supernatural phenomena in local imagination. Whether such reports stem from actual paranormal activity, the power of suggestion in an atmospheric abandoned location, or natural phenomena misinterpreted in an unfamiliar environment, they contribute to the ongoing cultural significance of Riceville as a ‘haunted’ place.
These legends and folklore, while not always historically accurate, serve important cultural functions. They transform Riceville from a simple case of industrial decline into a more compelling narrative about human vulnerability, the mysteries of the past, and the thin line between presence and absence. The stories keep the memory of Riceville alive in regional consciousness long after its physical structures have largely disappeared.
Preservation and Documentation Efforts
As Riceville’s physical remains continue to deteriorate, various individuals and organizations have undertaken efforts to document and preserve the town’s history before it disappears entirely. These initiatives represent attempts to salvage the historical record of a community that left few written accounts or official archives.
The Abandonment of Maine project has been particularly active in researching Riceville’s history and physical layout. Their work includes attempting to create accurate maps of the village based on historical topographical sources and field investigations of remaining features like cellar holes and industrial remnants. By documenting these rapidly disappearing traces, they hope to create a more complete picture of the town’s organization and daily life.
Historical researchers have combed through census records, maps, and newspaper accounts to establish a factual timeline of Riceville’s existence. The 1894 J. Stuart and Co. map of Hancock County and the 1908 (revised 1914) Maine State Map provide valuable cartographic evidence of the town’s location and status at different points in time. These official records help separate historical fact from folklore in understanding Riceville’s development and decline.
Media coverage has also played a role in preserving Riceville’s story. News Center Maine’s ‘Maine Mysteries’ series featured the town in a segment that brought wider attention to this forgotten community. Such coverage helps integrate Riceville into broader narratives about Maine’s history and cultural heritage, ensuring that knowledge of the town extends beyond local memory.
The maintenance of the Riceville Cemetery, though carried out quietly and without formal organization, represents perhaps the most direct and personal form of preservation. The continued care of this site suggests ongoing connections to the community, whether through family ties to former residents or a sense of responsibility to honor those who lived and died there.
These preservation efforts face significant challenges. The remote location and deteriorating condition of the site make comprehensive documentation difficult. The lack of surviving written records from the community itself means that many aspects of daily life and individual experiences in Riceville remain inaccessible to modern researchers. The blending of factual history with local legend further complicates attempts to establish a definitive account of the town’s existence and end.
Despite these challenges, the work to document and remember Riceville continues. Each investigation, article, or maintained tradition adds to our understanding of this brief but significant chapter in Maine’s industrial and social history. Through these efforts, Riceville persists as more than just a point on old maps or a clearing in the woods—it remains a community worth remembering and a story worth telling.
Conclusion
The story of Riceville encapsulates themes common to many ghost towns: the boom-and-bust cycle of resource-based economies, the vulnerability of single-industry communities, and the eventual return of human settlements to nature when their economic purpose ends. Yet Riceville’s particular history—its rapid rise and equally rapid abandonment, the mysteries surrounding its end, and its almost complete physical disappearance—gives it a unique place in Maine’s historical landscape.
Today, Riceville exists in multiple dimensions: as scattered physical remnants in the Maine woods, as entries in historical records and maps, as stories and legends in local memory, and as a subject of ongoing research and documentation. Each of these manifestations captures different aspects of the town’s reality and significance.
For those who venture to find its remains, Riceville offers a tangible connection to a vanished way of life and a reminder of the transient nature of human endeavors. The journey through overgrown paths to discover cellar holes, rusted artifacts, and the silent cemetery provides an experience that cannot be replicated through books or digital media—a direct encounter with history gradually returning to the earth.
In historical records, Riceville appears as a brief but significant node in networks of industrial production and resource extraction that shaped Maine and the nation in the late 19th century. Its rise and fall coincided with important transitions in American economic and social development, making it a window into broader historical processes.
In local memory and folklore, Riceville lives on as a place of mystery and legend, its abandoned buildings and unmarked graves inspiring stories that reflect cultural anxieties and fascinations. These narratives, while not always historically accurate, keep the town’s memory alive and invest its remains with meaning beyond their physical reality.
Through ongoing research and documentation, Riceville continues to reveal new aspects of its history and significance. Each investigation adds details to our understanding of this community and its place in Maine’s past, preserving knowledge that might otherwise disappear as physical evidence deteriorates and firsthand accounts become increasingly remote.
In all these dimensions, Riceville reminds us that places—even those that exist briefly and leave few traces—matter in human experience and historical understanding. The town’s story, with its unanswered questions and gradual return to nature, speaks to fundamental aspects of the human condition: our creation of communities, our dependence on economic systems and natural resources, our vulnerability to disaster and change, and ultimately, the impermanence of our marks upon the landscape.
Sources:
https://strangenewengland.com/podcast/the-lost-village-of-riceville-maine/
https://www.newscentermaine.com/article/news/local/maine-mysteries-the-disappearance-of-riceville/97-213524898
http://abandonmentofmaine.weebly.com/riceville-maine.html
https://b985.fm/maines-ghost-town-the-story-of-riceville/
https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog_posts/9867666-riceville-a-real-maine-ghost-town
