Horror Author Stephen King and Maine Lumbermen—What They Have in Common

Stephen and Tabitha King were contemplating which Maine city to set down their roots, back in the late 1970s: either the seaport of Portland or the inland, more northerly city of Bangor. The final decision was Bangor for a number of reasons: beautiful house, tree-lined street, and their children could walk to school.

But Stephen, the famed horror fiction author, also listed other reasons, including Bangor’s lumber history and reputation as a tough place where lumberjacks walked the streets in the 1800s, and later, loggers congregated along waterfront bars. Called the lumber capital of the world in the 1800s, Bangor ships laden with lumber sailed the Penobscot River to the Atlantic and beyond. In the 20th Century, trees to the north of Bangor continued to be harvested by Maine pulp and paper companies.

The fictional town of Derry, Maine, admittedly is Stephen’s take on the more modern Bangor.

Although the Kings now live elsewhere and converted their Bangor property into the nonprofit Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation, a number of Stephen’s earlier works, including It, were composed at 47 West Broadway in an office above the mansion’s converted stable.

That house—and the neighboring one later purchased by the Kings—were historically the homes of several lumbermen and their families—not the rough lumberjack kind but wealthy owners of timberland companies and other wood-related industries.

The Kings’ 1850s red house was designed by a popular local architect, Benjamin S. Deane. A rare Italianate villa, the mansion was first owned by a wealthy livery stable entrepreneur, William Arnold. The property was soon sold to William H. Smith of Old Town, president of the Lumberman’s Bank, perhaps because Arnold could not afford living there. Smith did not stay there long, either, eventually ending up in Brooklyn, New York, where he reportedly lost most of his money.

But along came a lumberman’s family who could afford and enjoy the lovely, Victorian home: the Webbers. Charles P. Webber operated a sawmill, lumberjack operations, and a general store in the town of Lincoln before moving south to Bangor in the latter 1800s. He opened a wholesale grocery store and then concentrated more on his timberland and lumbering operations, at one time owning property in six counties. He resided at the red mansion until about 1909, when he moved to Boston.

His son, Charles J., opened his Bangor office in 1905. The third generation to manage the Webber timberlands, Charles worked there until his death in 1961.

He and his wife, Ruth Peirce, eventually had four children: Grace, Florence, George P. and Charles P. The family lived at 47 West Broadway most of that time and employed a cook and a maid.

Charles J. Webber’s Bangor office, 1905.

Ruth died in 1928. Charles then married Rilla Gillman of Bangor, and the couple continued living on West Broadway.

Next door at the 1872 Second Empire-styled white house lived another well-off lumberman, Charles W. Mullen, who graduated from the University of Maine with a degree in civil engineering. He resided at 39 West Broadway with his wife, Helen, sons Charles and Joseph, and also employed a maid and a cook.

Charles Mullen was Bangor’s mayor in 1911 when the Great Fire broke out that consumed 267 buildings in the downtown area and damaged 100 more. When he saw that Bangor’s firemen could not contain the flames, he sent telegraph messages to Waterville, August, Lewiston, and Portland asking for help. Many men answered the call, traveling to Bangor by train.

Charles is best known for discovering a great location for a pulp and paper mill. He discussed the plan with others and was one of the founders of the Great Northern Paper Company, which built the world’s largest pulp and paper mill in Millinocket, Maine, in 1900. Run by electricity, the mill was the first of several constructed by Great Northern.

Others came and went at the mansions, and eventually Stephen and Tabitha purchased the Italianate villa in 1980. They bought the Second Empire house in 2004.

Soon after they moved in, the Kings commissioned Maryland-native Terry Steel, then based in Bridgton, Maine, to craft a handmade wrought iron fence and two gates that include a spider web and bats, goat head handles, and a dragon.

A few years ago, a large ash tree to the left of the mansion had to be cut down, and Tabitha, also an author, was inspired to have a portion of the stump transformed into a sculpture featuring books and animals. Chainsaw artist Josh Landry of North Anson created a bookcase with feet, books, birds, a frog, cats, a dragon in the back, and the likeness of one of the Kings’ Corgis, possibly Molly.

Ash trees can grow a long time and possibly this former tree was one of the saplings that can be seen in the 1870 image of the house and grounds.

Trees, logs, lumberjacks and loggers—and lumber barons with their homes—shaped in many ways what Bangor is today. Fitting that a once vibrant tree which graced a lumbermen’s property for well over 100 years was turned into a work of art, a gift for passersby to enjoy from the writing family who continues to influence Bangor’s reputation and history.