Lewiston, Maine

Maine’s second largest city is Lewiston, with around 36,000 residents. Lewiston is a twin city with Auburn. The area is sometimes called L-A because they’re both part of the Lewiston-Auburn Metropolitan Statistical Area. Lewiston is a city rich in culture and history. It has deep roots tying it to French-Quebec culture that are still prevalent today.

History

The original Lewiston inhabitants can be traced back to sometime before 1669 as members of the Androscoggin tribe of the Abenaki nation. In the late 17th century, tribe members were facing certain sickness and death from diseases brought over by English settlers. They decided to emigrate north up to Quebec, Canada. Funnily enough, more than a century later, this was where most of Lewiston’s new settlers were coming from—more on this later.

Lewiston’s early economic development was largely from saw and textile mills. Bates Mill was a huge producer of textiles for the Union Army during the Civil War. Shortly after the first World War, mill profits dropped and many of the businesses moved South due to cheaper manufacturing costs. The former mills still stand today and some have been transformed into new shops and businesses, like the Bates Mill Complex. What stands there today is TD Bank, Baxter Brewing Co., Davinchi’s Italian Restaurant, Cross Insurance, Northeast Bank, Grand Rounds, and more.

French Origins and Culture

Lewiston is historically a French cultural mecca. In the late 18th century, Lewiston (known then as Lewistown) saw an influx of settlers from Quebec that eventually made up a good chunk of the town’s population. These settlers built a Little Canada town along the Androscoggin River that’s still there today. They aimed to preserve their French culture by forming a society called The Institut Jacques Cartier that bought and built buildings to become cultural areas and institutes in the neighborhood.

In the late 19th century there was another rush of settlers from Quebec, which resulted in a huge population boom. Lewiston’s population went from around 7,500 in 1860 to almost 24,000 by 1900. Today in the 21st century, Lewiston still has a huge proportion of French speakers in comparison to its population. According to the American Community Survey’s 2015 findings, the city of Lewiston has the highest number in population of fluent French speakers than any other area in the country—close to 15% of its population, which is over 5,000 people.

Exploring Lewiston Maine

As a well-populated city, Lewiston has many businesses to cater to the needs of all of its people. The city offers public transportation on the citylink bus service from Monday to Friday. They have a good public school system, a few college campuses, lots of parks, restaurants, and different entertainment venues. For hospitals, there’s Central Maine Medical Center and Saint Mary’s Regional Medical Center. You can have your pick of banks, as well as fast food places and restaurants—some of them all within walking distance of each other.

The city of Lewiston has enough to be attractive to families and single people, and even to those in retirement. In fact, Lewiston was actually named as one of the best spots in America to retire in by Forbes Magazine in 2017.

Bates College

Lewiston is home to Bates College, the third oldest college in Maine. It has a small student body and a selective admittance rate. The Bates College campus is centered around history and nature. Many of the residential halls are built around Lake Andrews (“the puddle”, to some locals), giving students a lovely nature view from their dorms. The college buildings have very distinguishable architectural designs pulling from the Neoclassical and Gothic Revival movements, among others. Many of the lecture halls and residential dorms are named after notable history figures like Andrew Carnegie and John Bertram. The campus also holds the Bates College Museum of Art, a beautiful art gallery that’s definitely worth a visit when you’re in Lewiston.

Cultural Attractions

As mentioned, Lewiston is deeply rooted in French culture due to its large number of settlers from Quebec. There are several French cultural centers here, some dating back to and established by early Quebec settlers.

Museum L-A

The Museum L-A has several exhibits of Lewiston history, some permanent and some temporary. There are permanent displays of artifacts and machinery from the textile mill days, including from Bates Mill. Past exhibits have included shoemaking and various handiworks.

Marsden Hartley Cultural Center

This cultural center is located in Lewiston’s library on the third floor. It is not an ongoing exhibit of anything, but a multi use area that hosts what it calls cultural enrichment activities, which include films, lectures, and more. On the days that they’re not doing anything, the rest of the Lewiston Public Library is a nice place to visit too.

Franco Center

The Franco Center is a performing arts center housed in what used to be St. Mary’s Church, which was closed in 2000. Its history as a once popular church, as well as one that most townspeople had a personal connection to, led to some residents buying it to preserve as a space for Franco-American culture. Today it hosts lots of different events, like orchestras, comedy shows, dances, and more.

Androscoggin Bank Colisée

The Colisée is a multipurpose arena usually used for hockey games, and sometimes other sports games and concerts. It can hold over 4,000 people for concerts and over 2,500 for hockey games. They have scheduled public skating times, and they offer lessons to people of all ages and skills. Whether you like to watch or skate, it’s a great venue for hockey and ice skating. Check out their schedule here.

Restaurants

Lewiston has a variety of restaurants serving all types of food, especially ethnic. If you’re looking to eat seafood (many people are when they come to Maine), go to Chick-a-Dee of Lewiston or Fish Bones Grill, two highly rated American seafood restaurants in the city. There are plenty of non-American food restaurants in Lewiston, like Jamaican, Thai, Chinese, Vietnamese, Mexican, and Italian. Try Orchid Lewiston, BOBA, Tina Thai Express, or Sea40 for a good mix of Thai and Asian cuisine.

For American food, there’s Gridiron Restaurant Sports Pub, Fran’s Restaurant, and Station Grill Restaurant. And if you’re just looking for familiarity, a small local Maine diner chain has a spot here in Lewiston—Governor’s.

Visitors to Lewiston can stay at the Ramada, Motel 6, or Super 8, all just a couple of minutes away from I-95. First-timers in the area will have lots to look at. Lewiston has more things than you could do in a week or even a month, making it a perfect repeat destination for your future trips. Of course, if you live here you’ll get to experience the magic of Lewiston every day!

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