BIDDEFORD — From 1845-55, Biddeford’s population grew about 500 percent, from about 1,500 people to 6,500.
With this fast-paced growth, largely brought about by the growth of mill operations, Biddeford outgrew its Town Meeting form of government.
In 1855, citizens applied to the Maine Legislature to grant Biddeford city status.
This was granted the same year. Also that year, residents elected Daniel E. Somes as the new city’s first mayor.
Since then, 65 others have been elected to lead the city and its people.
On Tuesday, descendants of a number of the city’s leaders filled City Hall council chambers to capacity ”“ and then some.
They and other residents were on hand to pay tribute to the men, and three women, who had once provided the vision for the city’s development.
The onlookers watched as photo portraits of all but three of Biddeford’s 65 past mayors were unveiled.
The portraits that once hung in City Hall council chambers were removed in the late 1990s where the council chambers were renovated. They were relocated to a first-floor hallway until about eight years ago when they ended up in storage on the third floor. Today, they once again adorn the hallway in front of the city council chambers.
When the portraits were put in storage, Jerry Lapierre, the facilities manager at the J. Richard Martin Community Center, said he thought something should be done with the portraits because of their historical significance to the city.
The project began in earnest about two years ago when current Mayor Alan Casavant was elected.
Casavant’s portrait is not among those now hanging in the hallway. He said mayoral portraits are usually made at the end of a sitting mayor’s final term.
Lapierre said it was Casavant, who was Lapierre’s history teacher, who “got me hooked on history.”
Lapierre said he worked on the mayoral portrait project on his own time and enlisted the help of others, including Biddeford Historical Society member Raymond Gaudette, McArthur Library Archivist Renee DesRoberts, photographers Joseph McKenney and Bob Therrien, and Raymond Patoine, owner of Westview Framing.
He took on the project, said Lapierre, because “every day we lose more (history.) We see buildings come down and other things disappear. We can’t redo it.”
Many of the original mayoral portraits were in pretty bad shape, said Lapierre. In addition, he said, they were all different sizes.
In the completed project, photos were taken of all the portraits, and they were resized so they are all uniform.
There are five frames and each holds 16, 5-by-7-inch photos. In the fifth frame, the only portrait is of Biddeford’s most recent former mayor, Joanne Twomey. Historical photographs of the city fill the 15 additional slots. These will be replaced with photos of the city’s current and future mayors.
Casavant, a former history teacher, said he supported the project, because, “for me, history is really important.
“It’s important that the pictures be there,” he said, and that residents get a chance to view them.
Five of the city’s former mayors attended the unveiling, including Twomey, retired Gen. Wallace Nutting, Bonita Pothier, Donna Dion and Hon. Michael Cantara.
“It was incredibly powerful to see all of the pictures in that array,” said Dion.
Cantara said he appreciated the re-hanging of the portraits. But, he said, he was even more impressed with the mayoral descendants who attended the proceedings, many of whom continue their ancestors’ commitment to the City of Biddeford by volunteering on boards and committees.
“I was struck by the generations of Biddeford citizens who contributed to the growth, welfare and to develop this city,” said Cantara. “It’s great to see their obvious attachment to the city by being here tonight.”
— Staff Writer Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 324 or dmendros@journaltribune.com.
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