Webster Mill/Striar Textile | Orono

On a dead end street in the community of Orono, surrounded by upscale beige duplex condominiums is a nice little cul de sac that used to be the site of significant industrial activity. Driving by, you'd never know that it used to be the site of a building that was eligible to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places due to its extensive history dating back to the late 1700s according to some.

The mill building you see above was built in 1892 after the original built in 1875 burned. An article from the Lewiston Evening Journal from late 1895 indicates that the mill was 'new' when an iron bridge was constructed for it. By 1900 it was mentioned in the same paper as being one of the mills immersed in a glut of timber industry activity. (At the time, Bangor was the Pittsburgh of plant cellulose.)

WWII brought the necessity for the mill to begin casting parts for anti aircraft and anti-tank weaponry [citation], and the paper component met its end due to failure to modernize according to this 1972 Bangor Daily story. Shortly thereafter it was purchased by Strair Textile for use as a warehouse for its Ayers Island factory just across the river. Striar Textile operated until 1992, when it file for bankruptcy to the tune of almost 10 million dollars.
It sat abandoned for ten years, out of the news and with the next web footprint being visible in the early 2000's, when the Bangor Explorer's Guild decided to venture inside:

"We found out about this building near the begining of March, 2002, and have so far, only done a little scouting of the outside because we did not have lights at the time. Walley climbed the steel ladder and crouched in the opening, trying to get a look into the back entrance but could only see a large, dark, expansive room; so he hucked a brick across the room, hoping to distinguish the flooring material by the sound of it landing. It sounded like a cement floor, but it was still too dark to investigate any further."

- Bangor Explorer's Guild

You can 'tour' the building, with extensive descriptions and quite a number of interesting photos here.

Apart from being explored by the Bangor Explorers Guild, the next web footprint found was when it was later to be the site of a 200 person rave held in 2003 and was boarded up shortly thereafter.

Cleanup started in 2008, the site was demolished some time between 2011 and 2012 and it now serves as housing for well off suburbanites, despite having been eligible to be included in the National Register of Historic Places.