Store in Greenville

GREENVILLE

[GREEN-vil] is a town in Piscataquis County, incorporated on February 6, 1836 from Haskell Plantation.  It annexed land on August 10, 1848 from Wilson, whose remains were distributed to Shirley and Elliotsville.

Nathaniel Haskell of Westbrook bought the Thornton Academy Grant, the southern part of the township, began clearing trees in 1824, and moved his family there in 1827.

In 1836, Henry Gower built the first store in Greenville village, located at the southern end of Moosehead Lake, the largest in New England.  After a small steamboat was launched in 1836 to tow logs, the first large lake steamer went into operation in 1838.  Several steamers by the name of Katahdin plied the waters in later years.

The town serves as the gateway to Lily Bay State Park and to the upper reaches of the lake via combined Maine Routes 6 and 15.  Travel east along a private logging road to visit the Gulf Hagas canyon, the Hermitage preserve and Katahdin Iron Works.

National Register of Historic Places - Listings

KATAHDIN (Lake Boat) 9/13/78, Moosehead Lake 
Tramway Historic District 5/7/79, northeast of Greenville 

Additional resources

Chadbourne, Ava Harriet. Maine Place Names and The Peopling of its Towns.