Saco Town Hall

Saco City Hall stands in the middle of Main Street among all the downtown shops and restaurants. The hall has large stone steps leading to the entrance, and also a steeple with a bell and a large clock. When I visited the town hall to take pictures and look at the detail of the building it was a Sunday so the town hall was closed. I drive by it everyday though, and it always seems very quiet and I never see a lot of people entering it or leaving it. Even though I have not noticed a lot of traffic around city hall it is still a big part of the community. It houses all of the information for the city like any other town hall, the city also makes a point to provide lots of activities for the youth of Saco such as the Pumpkinfest and the decorating of the holiday tree. The mayor as well as the city council have also been very active in making Saco a Main Street community and a preserve America community. I think that the growing age of technology has also contributed to the lack of people that need to take their business right to City Hall. When visiting the City Hall website you can search for answers to many questions as well as obtain forms and mail them in or submit them electronially.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
The City Hall is the center of the town, and has been since its completion in 1856. In 1950 a comprehensive history of the town hall was written as part of the Saco annual report inaugural address. It states that the cost of the original building was 19,950 dollars. This original building did not inlcude the clock tower or the present entrance. Throughout the late 1850's and 1860's the building was used for all town functions as well as the municipal court. In the 1870's there began to be complaints of overcrowding in the town hall and by 1880 the city had voted to add an addition to the hall. The total cost of this addition which included the present clock tower came to $6,930.76 . The biggest event to hit City Hall was the fire of 1895. It occured at 11:30 p.m. and a passerby noticed the smoke and called the fire department. unfortunately the fire engine that Saco had could not put out the flames, so they called in the Biddeford Fire Department who took a very long time to arrive due to a miscommunication. It took the entire Biddeford Fire Department and most of the Saco Fire Department to finally put out the fire. The fire happened in March and City Hall was closed until October with a total cost of $5,347.53. Most of the building was damaged and to this day the most original part of the building is the auditorium.
Overall Saco City Hall has had lots of excitement in the almost 150 years that is has been around. City Hall is important to the town of Saco as well as the State of Maine because it holds historical facts about one of the earliest settled towns in Maine. Without the creation of City Hall a lot of information from the early Saco settlement would be lost.

The War Memorial

The top two pictures are of the World War One memorial in Saco. The memorial is a list of all the men from Saco who served in World War One. This memorial is so important to the town because it is such a comprehensive list of names. This is a resource for geneology as well as town records. Also because this is made of stone is will last much longer than any piece of paper. this monument is unique because it is a comprehensive list of all the men that served in the war and not just those who died in it.


The picutres to the left represent the other two War memorials on Main Street in Saco. The first photo is of the monument that is dedicated to the soldiers who fought in the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, and the War of 1812. The soldier in the photo is being crowned by the Goddess of victory upon his return. John Haley, who was a member of the 17th Maine Volunteer regiment, insisted on the memorial, as well as the idea of having a woman represented in it to honor the women who helped on the home front. This monument is important to Saco and Maine as a reminder of the soldiers that died for their country. It is also important because it recognizes women and their role in war efforts.

The second photo is of the memorial that is dedicated to the USS Maine that was sunk in Havana, Cuba. The plaque is made out of bronze that was salvaged from the ship. The plaque has a warrior with a shield in hand. While this monument is much smaller than the first it has a huge piece of Maine history within it. The bronze from the ship is now saved as a permanent artifact. another important piece of this monument is the dates that are present. It has the years of the war as well as the year that the ship was salvaged. And on the bottom under the wreath it also has the date that the monument was put up.
All of these monuments are very important to the town of Saco. they represent the town's commitent to the rememerance of the people who gave ther lives for our country as well as the others who sacrifced during a time of war. The monuments in Saco are set up in a very similar way to the ones in Scarborough; they both have two smaller monuments and one large one as the focal point. I think that the World War One monument in Saco is the most useful of all of them because it is such a comprehensive list of names of people who served. It could prove to be very useful in the future.