A Factory Behind Main Street: The Industrial History of 38½ Main Street, Ellsworth, Maine, 1884–1907

Introduction

Behind the storefronts of Main Street in Ellsworth, Maine, stood a small industrial building that reveals a larger story about technology, labor, commerce, and economic change. Located at 38½ Main Street, this building occupied a unique position within the downtown landscape. It was close to the commercial center of town, yet its primary purpose was manufacturing.

The history of this building can be traced through three Sanborn fire insurance maps created between 1884 and 1907. These maps document changes in building use, businesses, and the surrounding commercial environment, providing a detailed record of how one location adapted as Ellsworth’s economy changed.¹

The names Campbell and Joy were familiar within Ellsworth history, representing families with long-standing connections to the community. While the surviving records examined for this study do not yet establish the exact identities of the individuals associated with the Campbell & Joy Coat Factory, their names connect them to one of Ellsworth’s late nineteenth-century manufacturing enterprises. The appearance of the Campbell & Joy name on the 1895 Sanborn map provides evidence that a manufacturing operation existed at this location during the period.²

The September 1895 Sanborn map identifies 38½ Main Street as the location of the Campbell & Joy Coat Factory. The map records a mixed-use building: a bowling alley occupied the first floor, while the coat factory occupied the second floor. The factory was identified as water-powered, indicating that mechanical power was used in the manufacturing process.³

By January 1907, the building had entered another phase of its industrial history. The Sanborn map identifies the same location as the Ellsworth Shoe Factory Factory. The first floor was used for storage and shipping, while the second floor contained cutting, stitching, and finishing operations.⁴

Although the surviving records do not establish a direct connection between Campbell & Joy and the Ellsworth Shoe Factory, the maps demonstrate a clear continuity: the building remained a place of manufacturing as the products and businesses changed.

The history of 38½ Main Street is therefore not only the history of one company. It is the history of a building adapting to changing economic conditions. Through the Sanborn maps of 1884, 1895, and 1907, the development of the site can be traced from two unoccupied wooden structures, to a water-powered coat factory, and finally to a dedicated shoe manufacturing facility.⁵

The story of this building provides a window into a changing Ellsworth—a community where commerce, skilled trades, recreation, and manufacturing existed side by side. It demonstrates how small-town industrial spaces could adapt to new technologies, new products, and new markets while remaining connected to the daily life of the downtown district.

Three Sanborn Maps, One Changing Site: 1884–1907

The history of 38½ Main Street becomes clearer when viewed through three Sanborn fire insurance maps created over a twenty-three-year period. Together, these maps document the transformation of a single downtown location and reveal how buildings changed as the needs of the community changed.

Sanborn maps were created primarily for fire insurance purposes, documenting building construction, materials, occupancy, and potential hazards. Although they were not created as historical narratives, they provide valuable evidence of commercial and industrial development.

1884: An Unused Site Within a Busy Commercial District

The earliest record comes from the Sanborn Map Company’s Insurance Map of Ellsworth, Maine, October 1884, Sheet 1. At that time, the property later identified as 38½ Main Street consisted of two wooden structures, both unoccupied.⁶

Although the future factory location was unused, the surrounding Main Street block was already an active commercial area.

The 1884 Sanborn map identifies:

• 32 Main Street — first floor, cabinet shop; second floor, coffin showroom.

• 34 Main Street — D.G. Clothing & Hats.

• 36 Main Street — first floor, millinery; second floor, dentist.

• 38–40 Main Street — first floor, harness business; second floor, photographer.

• 38½ Main Street — two wooden structures; both unoccupied.

• 42 Main Street — first floor, grocery store; second floor, barber; third floor, billiard hall.

• 44–46 Main Street — first floor, millinery; second floor, cobbler; third floor, billiard hall.

• 48 Main Street — fruit store.

• 52 Main Street — fruit store and Boston & Express Office.⁷

The 1884 map establishes an important starting point. The location that would later become a manufacturing site was not originally built around industrial use. Instead, it existed within a mixed commercial district of shops, professional services, skilled trades, and entertainment.

1895: The Arrival of Manufacturing

By September 1895, the property had undergone a major transformation. The Sanborn map identifies 38½ Main Street as the location of the Campbell & Joy Coat Factory. The first floor contained a bowling alley, while the second floor contained the coat factory. The factory was identified as water-powered.⁸

This change represented a significant shift in the use of the property. Within eleven years, an unused location had become a functioning manufacturing site.

The surrounding commercial environment in 1895 included:

• 32 Main Street — coffin maker.

• 34 Main Street — stationery store.

• 36 Main Street — fruit store; second floor, dentist.

• 38–40 Main Street — harness business; second floor, photographer.

• 42 Main Street — pharmacy; second floor, barber.

• 44–46 Main Street — music hall on the first floor; cobbler on the second floor; billiard hall on the third floor.

• 48 Main Street — feed store.

• 52 Main Street — bakery with brick oven.⁹

The 1895 map presents a downtown economy that combined retail, skilled trades, recreation, and manufacturing. The Campbell & Joy Coat Factory was not located outside the community; it existed within the center of daily commercial life.

1907: A New Industrial Chapter

By January 1907, the building had entered another stage of its history. The Sanborn map identifies 38½ Main Street as the Ellsworth Shoe Factory.¹⁰

The building’s arrangement reflected a more specialized manufacturing operation:

• First floor — storage and shipping.

• Second floor — cutting, stitching, and finishing.¹¹

The surrounding block had also changed:

• 32 Main Street — first floor, coffin maker showroom; second floor, workshop.

• 34 Main Street — grocery store.

• 36 Main Street — fruit store.

• 38–40 Main Street — candy and tobacco store.

• 42 Main Street — harness business.

• 44–46 Main Street — B. & S. Company; billiard hall on third floor.

• 48 Main Street — unoccupied.

• 52 Main Street — unoccupied.¹²

The transition from Campbell & Joy Coat Factory to Ellsworth Shoe Factory demonstrates that the importance of the building extended beyond any single business. Its value came from its ability to support manufacturing over time.

A Factory Behind the Storefronts: The Place of 38½ Main Street in Downtown Ellsworth

The location of 38½ Main Street is central to understanding the significance of the building. Unlike large industrial complexes that were often located away from commercial centers, this factory operated within the heart of Ellsworth’s downtown district.

The Sanborn maps reveal that nineteenth-century downtown Ellsworth was not divided into separate commercial and industrial areas. Instead, businesses serving different purposes existed together within a compact area. Retail stores, professional offices, entertainment spaces, skilled trades, and manufacturing operations shared the same streetscape.¹³

The Campbell & Joy Coat Factory was part of this mixed-use environment. In 1895, the building supported two very different activities: a bowling alley occupied the first floor, while a manufacturing operation occupied the second floor. This arrangement reflects the practical use of downtown buildings during the late nineteenth century, when available space could support several economic activities at the same location.¹⁴

The factory’s position behind the Main Street storefronts is especially important. The public-facing businesses along the street represented only one part of the downtown economy. Behind those storefronts were workplaces where people produced goods, repaired equipment, and carried out skilled labor.

The Sanborn maps make this hidden industrial landscape visible.

The Mixed Economy of Main Street

The Main Street block surrounding 38½ Main Street demonstrates the diversity of Ellsworth’s economy during the period between 1884 and 1907.

The 1884 map records a district dominated by small businesses and skilled trades:

• cabinet making;

• clothing sales;

• millinery;

• harness making;

• photography;

• food sales;

• professional services;

• entertainment.¹⁵

By 1895, the block had continued to support a wide range of activities while adding manufacturing. The Campbell & Joy Coat Factory existed alongside a pharmacy, harness business, photographer, music hall, cobbler, bakery, and feed store.¹⁶

This combination demonstrates that manufacturing was not separate from community life. It was part of the same economic network that supported residents, merchants, and customers.

The factory was integrated into the daily rhythm of downtown Ellsworth. Workers entered the same streets used by merchants and customers, and the goods produced inside the building connected the local economy to markets beyond the immediate community.

The Workers Behind the Machines: Labor and Production at Campbell & Joy Coat Factory

The history of Campbell & Joy is not only the history of a building or a manufacturing process. It is also the history of the people who worked inside that building.

The Sanborn maps provide important evidence about the factory’s location and operation, but they do not identify employees, ownership details, or the number of workers employed. What they do reveal is that the building contained a dedicated manufacturing space.¹⁷

The identification of a coat factory suggests an organized production process requiring multiple stages of work. Late nineteenth-century garment manufacturing depended on specialized labor rather than one person completing every step of production.

Workers would have been involved in activities such as:

• cutting materials;

• preparing garment pieces;

• sewing and assembling sections;

• adding finishing details;

• preparing completed coats for delivery.

The factory’s identification as water-powered indicates that production relied on mechanical assistance rather than entirely manual methods.¹⁸

A Small Manufacturing Operation

The Campbell & Joy Coat Factory was not a large industrial complex comparable to major textile mills found in larger cities. Instead, it represented a smaller-scale manufacturing operation integrated into the downtown environment.

Its location provided several advantages:

• access to local workers;

• proximity to suppliers and merchants;

• connection to transportation routes;

• integration with the commercial activity of Main Street.

Small factories like Campbell & Joy allowed communities such as Ellsworth to participate in industrial production without requiring large factory districts.

The building’s second-floor manufacturing space demonstrates how existing structures could be adapted to industrial purposes.

The Invisible Workforce

The Sanborn maps preserve the physical evidence of the factory, but the workers themselves remain largely unnamed.

The available records used for this study do not provide:

• employee names;

• wages;

• working hours;

• working conditions;

• the size of the workforce.

However, the building itself provides evidence that workers were present.

The cutting, stitching, finishing, and shipping activities later documented at the same location demonstrate the type of specialized labor associated with small manufacturing operations.¹⁹

The history of 38½ Main Street is therefore not only a history of businesses. It is also a history of labor.

From Campbell & Joy Coat Factory to Ellsworth Shoe Factory: A Building That Continued to Produce

The transition from Campbell & Joy Coat Factory to Ellsworth Shoe Factory represents one of the most significant changes documented by the Sanborn maps.

The building changed industries, but it did not lose its industrial purpose.

In 1895, the building supported coat production. By 1907, it supported shoe manufacturing. Although the products differed, both operations relied on organized production systems and specialized labor.

The 1907 Sanborn map identifies the Ellsworth Shoe Factory with separate areas for:

• storage and shipping;

• cutting;

• stitching;

• finishing.²⁰

This arrangement suggests a manufacturing process organized by stages.

A Building Adapted to New Economic Needs

The history of 38½ Main Street illustrates an important characteristic of small-town industrial buildings: adaptability.

The building was not permanently defined by one company or one product. Instead, it continued to serve the community by accommodating new manufacturing activity.

The transition from coats to shoes reflects broader economic changes occurring during the early twentieth century. Businesses required buildings that could support organized production, storage, and distribution.

The continued use of 38½ Main Street demonstrates that downtown industrial buildings could evolve along with the economy around them.

Storage and Shipping: Connecting Local Production to Wider Markets

One important detail in the 1907 Sanborn map is the identification of the first floor as storage and shipping.²¹

This indicates that the factory’s work extended beyond production.

A manufacturing operation required a larger system that included:

• receiving materials;

• storing supplies;

• organizing completed goods;

• preparing products for transportation.

The first floor served as the connection between the factory and the larger marketplace beyond Ellsworth.

The building was not simply a workplace where goods were made. It was part of a production and distribution network.

A Downtown in Transition: Main Street, Transportation, and Changing Technology, 1895–1907

The transformation of 38½ Main Street from the Campbell & Joy Coat Factory to the Ellsworth Shoe Factory occurred during a period of broader change in downtown Ellsworth. The Sanborn maps from 1895 and 1907 document a commercial district adapting to changing economic conditions, shifting businesses, and emerging technologies.

The changes recorded on the maps do not represent a sudden replacement of one economic system by another. Instead, they reveal a community in transition, where older trades continued while newer forms of manufacturing and commerce developed.

Ellsworth’s downtown remained a place where traditional businesses, skilled trades, entertainment, and industrial production existed together.

The Main Street Block in 1895

The 1895 Sanborn map shows a diverse commercial environment surrounding 38½ Main Street.

The block contained businesses connected to many aspects of daily life:

• 32 Main Street — coffin maker.

• 34 Main Street — stationery store.

• 36 Main Street — fruit store; second floor, dentist.

• 38–40 Main Street — harness business; second floor, photographer.

• 42 Main Street — pharmacy; second floor, barber.

• 44–46 Main Street — music hall on the first floor; cobbler on the second floor; billiard hall on the third floor.

• 48 Main Street — feed store.

• 52 Main Street — bakery with brick oven.²²

Within this environment, the Campbell & Joy Coat Factory represented a different form of economic activity: organized manufacturing.

The block was not divided into separate areas for industry and commerce. Instead, production, retail, services, and recreation existed side by side.

The Main Street Block in 1907

By 1907, the same block reflected both continuity and change.

The Sanborn map identifies:

• 32 Main Street — first floor, coffin maker showroom; second floor, workshop.

• 34 Main Street — grocery store.

• 36 Main Street — fruit store.

• 38–40 Main Street — candy and tobacco store.

• 42 Main Street — harness business.

• 44–46 Main Street — B. & S. Company; billiard hall on the third floor.

• 48 Main Street — unoccupied.

• 52 Main Street — unoccupied.²³

Several businesses remained, while others changed or disappeared.

This pattern suggests a downtown responding to shifting economic conditions rather than simply declining.

48 Main Street and Changing Transportation Patterns

One of the most interesting changes appears at 48 Main Street.

In 1895, the location was identified as a feed store. By 1907, the building was listed as unoccupied.²⁴

A feed store was closely connected to a horse-based transportation system. Such businesses supported the needs of horses used for transportation, farming, delivery, and local hauling.

The disappearance of the feed store occurred during a period when transportation technology was changing. Around the turn of the twentieth century, automobiles began appearing in American communities, gradually altering transportation patterns.

However, the Sanborn maps alone cannot establish that automobile adoption caused the change at 48 Main Street. The vacancy could have resulted from many factors, including relocation, ownership changes, or changing business conditions.

The timing does suggest that the change occurred during a broader period of transportation transition.

The Harness Business and Gradual Change

The continued presence of the harness business at 42 Main Street provides an important contrast.

If horse transportation had disappeared immediately, businesses connected to horses would have rapidly vanished. Instead, the harness business remained active in 1907.²⁵

This indicates that Ellsworth experienced a gradual transition rather than a sudden technological replacement.

During this period, multiple transportation systems likely existed together:

• horses;

• wagons;

• carriages;

• early automobiles.

The downtown economy adapted by continuing to support older systems while responding to new ones.

Manufacturing and Economic Adaptation

While some businesses changed, manufacturing continued at 38½ Main Street.

The transition from coat production to shoe production reflects another form of adaptation: the ability of local buildings and workers to support changing industries.

By 1907, the Ellsworth Shoe Factory included:

• storage;

• shipping;

• cutting;

• stitching;

• finishing.²⁶

This arrangement connected local labor with broader markets.

The factory represented a more organized form of production, where goods moved through several stages before leaving the building.

A Downtown Between Two Eras

The years between 1895 and 1907 represent a transitional period in Ellsworth’s history.

The community still depended on older systems:

• horse transportation;

• traditional trades;

• small retail businesses.

At the same time, it was moving toward newer systems:

• specialized manufacturing;

• factory production;

• expanded distribution networks;

• emerging transportation technology.

The Sanborn maps capture this moment of overlap.

They show a downtown where the past had not disappeared and the future had not fully arrived.

Conclusion: 38½ Main Street and the Industrial Transformation of Ellsworth

The history of 38½ Main Street provides a rare view into the development of a small-town industrial economy.

Through the Sanborn maps of 1884, 1895, and 1907, one building reveals a larger story about technology, labor, commerce, and adaptation in Ellsworth, Maine.

The earliest record, from 1884, shows the property as two unoccupied wooden structures. The surrounding block was already commercially active, but the location itself had not yet become part of Ellsworth’s manufacturing landscape.²⁷

By 1895, the property had been transformed. The Sanborn map identified the second floor as the Campbell & Joy Coat Factory, with a bowling alley below. The factory was identified as water-powered, demonstrating that industrial production had entered the downtown environment.²⁸

By 1907, the building had entered another phase. The Sanborn map identified the location as the Ellsworth Shoe Factory, with storage and shipping on the first floor and cutting, stitching, and finishing on the second floor.²⁹

The surviving records do not establish a direct connection between Campbell & Joy and the Ellsworth Shoe Factory. However, they clearly demonstrate continuity: the building remained a productive industrial workplace.

A Building That Adapted

The significance of 38½ Main Street does not come from its size or from a single company. Its importance comes from its ability to adapt.

The timeline demonstrates:

1884

• Two wooden structures.

• Unoccupied.

1895

• Campbell & Joy Coat Factory.

• Water-powered manufacturing.

• Bowling alley on the first floor.

1907

• Ellsworth Shoe Factory.

• Storage and shipping.

• Cutting, stitching, and finishing operations.

Each stage reflects a different period in Ellsworth’s economic development.

A Hidden Industrial Landscape

The history of 38½ Main Street also changes how downtown Ellsworth should be understood.

Main Street is often remembered as a place of storefronts and commerce. The Sanborn maps reveal another layer: workplaces hidden behind those storefronts.

Manufacturing existed alongside:

• merchants;

• tradespeople;

• professionals;

• entertainment businesses.

Industry was not separate from community life. It was woven into the same downtown landscape.

Final Interpretation

Between 1884 and 1907, 38½ Main Street evolved from unused structures into a productive industrial workplace that reflected the changing economy of Ellsworth.

The building’s history includes:

• the emergence of local manufacturing;

• mechanical production;

• specialized labor;

• changing businesses;

• evolving transportation systems;

• the relationship between industry and downtown life.

The Campbell & Joy Coat Factory and the later Ellsworth Shoe Factory demonstrate that important industrial stories are often found in ordinary places.

Behind the familiar storefronts of Main Street was another world: a world of machinery, workers, production, and adaptation.

The history of 38½ Main Street preserves a moment when Ellsworth stood between two eras—carrying forward older traditions while adapting to the industrial future of the twentieth century.

Footnotes

1. Sanborn Map Company, Insurance Map of Ellsworth, Maine, October 1884, sheet 1; September 1895, sheet 2; January 1907, sheet 3.

2. Sanborn Map Company, Insurance Map of Ellsworth, Maine, September 1895, sheet 2.

3. Ibid.

4. Sanborn Map Company, Insurance Map of Ellsworth, Maine, January 1907, sheet 3.

5. Sanborn Map Company, Insurance Map of Ellsworth, Maine, October 1884, sheet 1; September 1895, sheet 2; January 1907, sheet 3.

6. Sanborn Map Company, Insurance Map of Ellsworth, Maine, October 1884, sheet 1.

7. Ibid.

8. Sanborn Map Company, Insurance Map of Ellsworth, Maine, September 1895, sheet 2.

9. Ibid.

10. Sanborn Map Company, Insurance Map of Ellsworth, Maine, January 1907, sheet 3.

11. Ibid.

12. Ibid.

13. Sanborn Map Company, Insurance Map of Ellsworth, Maine, October 1884, sheet 1; September 1895, sheet 2.

14. Sanborn Map Company, Insurance Map of Ellsworth, Maine, September 1895, sheet 2.

15. Sanborn Map Company, Insurance Map of Ellsworth, Maine, October 1884, sheet 1.

16. Sanborn Map Company, Insurance Map of Ellsworth, Maine, September 1895, sheet 2.

17. Ibid.

18. Ibid.

19. Sanborn Map Company, Insurance Map of Ellsworth, Maine, January 1907, sheet 3.

20. Ibid.

21. Ibid. Sanborn Map Company, Insurance Map of Ellsworth, Maine, September 1895, sheet 2.

22. Sanborn Map Company, Insurance Map of Ellsworth, Maine, January 1907, sheet 3.

23. Ibid.

24. Ibid.

25. Ibid.

26. Sanborn Map Company, Insurance Map of Ellsworth, Maine, October 1884, sheet 1.

27. Sanborn Map Company, Insurance Map of Ellsworth, Maine, September 1895, sheet 2.

28. Sanborn Map Company, Insurance Map of Ellsworth, Maine, January 1907, sheet 3.

Bibliography

Sanborn Map Company. Insurance Map of Ellsworth, Maine. October 1884. Sheet 1. Pelham, NY: Sanborn Map Company.

Sanborn Map Company. Insurance Map of Ellsworth, Maine. September 1895. Sheet 2. Pelham, NY: Sanborn Map Company.

Sanborn Map Company. Insurance Map of Ellsworth, Maine. January 1907. Sheet 3. Pelham, NY: Sanborn Map Company.