IN THE CITY
by Lisa Neal Shaw and Sonja Plummer-Morgan
A recent status update on Facebook mentioning the opening of a new business in Presque Isle said, “Go, Star City.” This prompted a friend of this user from Nebraska to ask: “Lincoln, NE is Star City as well, since it is the Capitol. How did Presque Isle earn that name?” Great question!
The answer was found in the vertical files in Reference at Mark and Emily Turner Memorial Library: The Presque Isle Star-Herald from Oct. 14, 1965 featured an article titled “Presque Isle: ‘Star City of the Northeast.’” According to this story, “Sidney K. Graves, chairman of the slogan selection committee announced today that the Presque Isle Chamber of Commerce has selected a new slogan. It will be ‘Star City of the Northeast.’ This slogan was submitted by Bill McKeen, art director of WAGM TV who has donated the savings bond to the Advertising Committee of the Chamber of Commerce. The $50 savings bond was donated by Maine Public Service Company as a prize for the winning entry. … McKeen said his reasons for selecting and presenting the slogan … were: The slogan ‘Star City of the Northeast’ could, and probably would, evolve into a nickname for Presque Isle such as ‘Star City.’ … The word “Star’ might portray the following images: (A) according to Webster, pre-eminence, etc. (B) name for famous people (sports, movies, etc.) (C) something to look up to (leadership) (D) something to navigate by (look to for direction) (E) something that influences destiny (F) has five points (five roads entering and five points of leadership). … The key word in the slogan, ‘Star,’ is easily transferred to a visual symbol. …”
In support of that last point, the Star City will soon be unveiling a new logo which reflects the nickname and the intent behind the slogan as first presented. This logo has been chosen from a wide variety of proposed submissions to reflect Presque Isle’s heritage as well as its course for the future. The graphic designer was given the city’s Vision Statement, a lengthy description of our respect for tradition yet looking to the future philosophy. We will be presenting this logo choice to our Presque Isle City Council and hope to gain their full endorsement of the concept.
Further research into these same files tells us from where the name “Presque Isle” originated. In a story published in the Sept. 22, 1993, Star-Herald, John Begin writes: “… In the Star City’s case, the name was given by the early French explorers who settled here. Surrounded almost entirely by water from the Presque Isle Stream and Aroostook River, the town’s French name of Presque Isle, meaning “almost a river” [sic (I believe it should be “almost an island”)], seemed particularly appropriate. …” Begin also wrote that only three other areas in the United States share the name: Presque Isle, Michigan (which pronounces its name “Presque Eel”); Presque Isle State Park in Erie, Pennsylvania; and Presque Isle, Wisconsin.
A reprint of a June 25, 1959, edition of the Star-Herald lists Presque Isle’s original name as Letter F, Range 2. “The pioneer settler in Presque Isle, or Letter F, was Dennis Fairbanks, who came here from Troy in 1828 and made a clearing on the banks of the Presque Isle Stream. …”
On Oct. 20, 1966, the Star-Herald ran a story announcing, “Presque Isle Reaches Finals In All America City Contest; Eleven of 22 Will Be Honored.” The story reads, “… This is the third time Presque Isle has reached the finals in the All-America City competition. In both 1957 and 1958 the Star City made it to the final round, receiving honorable mention. The only other New England city to make it to the final round is Malden, Mass. … The awards are given for ‘citizen action’ leading to major civic improvements in such areas as government, education, housing, jobs, industry, health, central city renewal and human relations. …” Presque Isle application made specific mention of the “transformation of the air base into a busy industrial park after being closed in October, 1961” and “the spanking new library.”
That same library is proud to be able to house archives of Presque Isle’s story throughout the years. We are able to access news clippings, diaries, photographs, and microfilm as well as newer digitized materials to answer research questions for those coming through our brick-and-mortar doors as well as the ones coming in on newer virtual roads to Presque Isle, Maine, via social networking. Thanks to a combination of old-school archiving and new media, someone in Nebraska now knows that our city shares the same nickname as their capital city, and knows why we have that nickname. It’s also a great local reminder of what our community had in mind for itself when it adopted “Star City of the Northeast” as its slogan.
If you’d like to learn more about the city’s history, please feel free to visit the Reference Department at the library. You needn’t be doing any particular in-depth research to access our files; it really is fun just to browse through them and see what’s there. You can also send inquiries to us via e-mail, Facebook, and Twitter. Contact information is on our current Web site at http://www.presqueisle.lib.me.us, and will be more easily accessible when we unveil our new website very soon.
We look forward to making and recording more Presque Isle history, brought to you by Mark & Emily Turner Memorial Library, the Star City of the Northeast, and the Letter F.
This week’s In the City article was written by Reference Librarian Lisa Neal Shaw and Library Director Sonja Plummer-Morgan of the Mark and Emily Turner Library in Presque Isle. They can be reached at 764-2571.
