Saco City Historian hosting series of in-depth walking tours
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Saco City Historian Peter Scontras talks through a megaphone on a recent history tour. Saco Mayor Jodi MacPhail holds up a map. PHOTO COURTESY OF ALEX ST. CYR, CITY OF SACO COMMUNICATIONS
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Following a captivating walking tour last month that brought centuries of local history to life, Saco City Historian Peter Scontras invites the community to explore the fascinating stories of Saco’s past through two additional walking tours this year:
• Factory Island Tour: 9 – 11 a.m. on Nov. 30.
• Main Street, Pepperell Square, Pepperell Park, and its Neighborhoods Tour: 9-11 a.m. on Dec. 14
Scontras, equipped with a wealth of knowledge about Saco’s history, hosted a walking tour on Oct. 26 focused on the early and evolving landscape of Factory Island. In that tour, participants traveled through time as Scontras shared insights about the city’s indigenous roots, its industrial rise through the power of the Saco River, and the social and cultural transformations that shaped the Saco we know today.
The Factory Island tour later this month will expand on some of the topics Scontras covered in the previous tour, offering a glimpse into the mill town’s early days, from its origins as a hub of indigenous trade to the bustling center of industry driven by the iconic red brick mills. In October, through vivid storytelling and visual aids, attendees envisioned a Factory Island from the past: wooden dormitories for mill workers, ferry crossings before bridges connected the island, and moments of courage like the 1841 millworker strike for fair labor practices for women amid dangerous working conditions, long hours, and disputes with management.
While the upcoming Factory Island Tour on Nov. 30 will continue to explore these themes, the Dec. 14 tour will shift focus to Saco’s Main Street, Pepperell Square, Pepperell Park, and its historic neighborhoods.
Community members are invited to join the upcoming tours on Nov. 30 and Dec. 14, but registration is limited to 30 participants per event. To RSVP, email pscontras@sacomaine.org. Groups will meet at the Saco Transportation Center (138 Main Street). In the event of inclement weather, tours will be pushed back one day (to Sunday) and run from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. instead.