Riceville, Maine Explained

45.0525°N -68.3078°WRiceville (also known as Hancock Tannery, Thirty-Nine Tannery, #39 Tannery, Riceville Plantation) is a ghost town in East Hancock, Maine, specifically in Township 39 Middle Division.^[1] It was once home to a bark extract works owned by F. Shaw and Brothers Company, which owned many tanneries in the state of Maine.^[2] Later, the extract works was bought by James Rice and transferred to his company, Buzzell and Rice Tanning, which converted the plant into a tannery and began manufacturing sole leather from buffalo hides for shoemaking out of the township.^[3] Eventually Buzzell and Rice transferred the land back to Rice as an individual and he formed a new company, Hancock Leather, after which he began manufacturing sole leather once again.^{[4] [5] [6]} The community which sprang up around the tannery was home to 136 residents in 1890, eventually declining to 75 residents in 1900.^{[7] [8]}

Notes and References

1. News: Bangor Ghost Hunters probe site of former tannery town. Gagnon. Dawn. 30 Oct 2009. Bangor Daily News. 11 Dec 2014.
2. Deed of Sale from George Nixon Black to F. Shaw and Brothers, 11 November 1879, Hancock County, Maine, Book 167, page 393. Hancock County Registry of Deeds, Ellsworth, Maine.
3. Maine Bureau of Industrial and Labor Statistics. Annual Report of the Bureau of Industrial and Labor Statistics. N.p.: n.p., 1896, n.d. Print.
4. Deed of Sale from James Rice to Buzzell and Rice Tanning Company, 30 November 1898, Hancock County, Maine, Book 330, page 284. Hancock County Registry of Deeds, Ellsworth, Maine.
5. Deed of Sale from Buzzell & Rice Tanning Company to James Rice, 4 October 1900, Hancock County, Maine, Book 356, page 43. Hancock County Registry of Deeds, Ellsworth, Maine.
6. Deed of Sale from James Rice and wife to Hancock Leather Company, 16 August 1902, Hancock County, Maine, Book 381, page 117. Hancock County Registry of Deeds, Ellsworth, Maine.
7. Maine Bureau of Industrial and Labor Statistics. "Populations by Cities, Towns, Plantations and Unorganized Places in the State of Maine; Hancock County; Township 39." Annual Report of the Bureau of Industrial and Labor Statistics. N.p.: n.p., 1910, n.d. 148. Print.
8. Web site: A Chronicle of Riceville. Prescott. Ryan. Abandonment of Maine.
9. News: Tannery Burned; Plant of Hancock Leather Co. Destroyed at Riceville.. 1 January 1906. Bangor Daily Commercial.
10. Book: Dow, Sterling. Maine Postal History And Postmarks. Severn-Wylie-Jewett Co.. 1943. Portland, Maine.
11. Book: Fourteenth Census of the United States Taken in the Year 1920. Govt. Print. Off.. 1921. Washington. "Population of Counties by Minor Civil Divisions: 1920, 1910, and 1900.".
12. Web site: Riceville | Township 39|date = 29 Oct 2014|access-date = 10 Dec 2014|website = Century Maine}} The Riceville school had an enrollment of 21 pupils in 1900.[8] In 1905, the tannery burned down and the town was abandoned shortly after.^[9] A post office existed from 1898 to 1906.^[10] There was nobody living in the township in 1910 and 1920.^[11]

    See also

    • List of ghost towns in Maine
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    References

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