A century ago, the words "Rockland" and "shoes" were synonymous. On any side road off Union Street, the town's main thoroughfare, were some of the most important shoe-manufacturing facilities in America, among them Emerson Shoe, Wright Shoe, and the Hurley Brothers Shoe Company. As the industrial revolution reigned, Rockland peaked, but Rockland had another side to it. Postals sent from Rockland exported the innate beauty of Reed's Pond, Cushing's Pond, and Whiting's Woods. These images proved to those folks who had never been to the town that even among the brick-and-mortar giants of the shoe industry, Rockland's natural side thrived.

When Rockland was king, shoes were its currency. As part of a seven-town shoe manufacturing district that saw its heyday between the 1880s and 1920s, Rockland helped make one quarter of all the shoes being worn on American feet during that time period. The factory names represented the best the country had to offer: Just Wright, Emerson, Hurley Brothers, and more. Time has changed all that. In Rockland Through Time, we return to those golden days through the collections of the Dyer Memorial Library and the Historical Society of Old Abington, and then fast forward to today, to see what has become of the buildings and homes that made Rockland the South Shore gem that it was.

This wonderful photographic history of Rockland by the Shore Village Historical Society brings to life the story of this dynamic city between 1870 and 1970. Rockland's unique industrial heritage is documented in great detail--particularly lime manufacturing, which has brought national attention to Rockland over the years. Lime burning led to shipbuilding and other commercial endeavors, making Rockland the shipping and quarrying center of Midcoast Maine, and many of the photographs collected here show the proud shipping and quarrying traditions of the city in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Most of the images that have been selected for this book are rare and previously unpublished, and many of them--although they may have seemed commonplace when originally taken--give us a tremendous insight into the way life was lived in the last century. At once comprehensive and accessible, this delightful book will earn a lasting place on the bookshelves of area homes and cottages, as well as in the hearts of Rocklanders young and old alike.

Rockland's roots run deeply into American history. Originally a village of Abington, Rockland broke away in 1874 to form its own economically strong and enterprising shoe-manufacturing community. This book transports the reader back in time to meet six-year-old George Rockland Hunt, the "first citizen of Rockland"; Hulda Barker Loud, the irrepressible editor of the Rockland Independent; and Judge George Kelley leading his parade through the center of town. Rockland captures the lives of the merchants of Union Street, the heyday of the local shoe industry, and the stories of Rockland's past as told through the eyes of the camera.