August 6-8: Carrying the story of the woods forward.

Forest Heritage Days began in 1991 as a community gathering built around the honest work of the woods. It honored the people who cut, hauled, drove, measured, managed, cooked for, transported, and depended on the forest. In a place like Moosehead, that story is not just local history. It is part of the larger story of the working woods of Maine.

Thirty-five years later, the event still carries that same spirit.

This year’s Forest Heritage Days will be held August 6–8 in Greenville, with three days of programs and activities connected to the Moosehead region’s working forest heritage. For the Moosehead Historical Society, this event matters because forest history is not just one chapter in our regional story. It runs through nearly everything — settlement, transportation, camps, railroads, steamships, mills, town life, recreation, conservation, and the way people understood this landscape.

The Friday program, “By Water and by Land,” is the event we especially hope people will take advantage of. It is a special ticketed experience limited to 100 participants, and it brings together parts of Moosehead history that are usually experienced separately — the lake, the Katahdin, the working forest, and the historic Lily Bay Storehouse.

Two groups of 50 will leave Greenville at the same time. One group will travel aboard the Steamship Katahdin, crossing Moosehead Lake much as earlier generations did when the lake was still one of the region’s great transportation routes. The other group will travel by bus through working timberlands for a look at the forest as it is managed and used today.

Both groups will meet at the historic Lily Bay Storehouse at noon for lunch and a short program.

That trip to Lily Bay gives the day its strongest historical connection. The storehouse itself has been part of this landscape for well over a century. It is believed to have been built by the Shaw family in the mid-1890s — the same family whose lumber operations shaped much of the Moosehead region in that era. When the Shaws sold their interest in Lily Bay Township in 1904, the property passed to Hollingsworth and Whitney. Sometime after 1904, Hollingsworth and Whitney leased the storehouse to Great Northern Paper Company, and Great Northern made it a vital supply point for their North Woods operations.

The system worked like this: supplies, building materials, and equipment would arrive by train into Greenville, then be loaded onto steamers and carried across Moosehead Lake to the storehouse at Lily Bay. From there, Great Northern had a road built into Millinocket in the early 1900s, giving them an overland connection to their operations to the south. The lake was the highway, and the storehouse was where the routes converged.

In 1915, a fire and explosion destroyed most of the buildings at the site. Half a ton of dynamite went off, destroying the large main storehouse and supply base and causing an estimated $25,000 in damage. Arson was suspected, though the investigation never publicly established a cause. The smaller storehouse — the building visible on the right in the accompanying photo — survived. That building is still standing today, now owned by Steve Cole, who has generously made it available for this year’s Forest Heritage Days.

The Katahdin was part of that supply system. From it’s beginning in 1914 and into the 1920s and 1930s, she regularly made runs to Lily Bay, carrying the freight and passengers that kept the North Woods connected. For this year’s Forest Heritage Days, she is expected to dock at Lily Bay again — something that has not been common for decades. That alone makes this a rare opportunity. It is not just a boat ride or a bus tour. It is a chance to follow an old Moosehead route, step ashore at a historic working site, and then see how the forest story continues today.

Boarding will begin at 9:15 a.m., with both the Katahdin and the bus leaving at 9:30 a.m. from the municipal parking lot and dock area next to the Katahdin. After lunch, the groups will switch routes. The group that traveled by water will continue by bus for the woods tour, while the group that traveled by land will return to Greenville aboard the Katahdin. Everyone is expected to return to the parking area by approximately 4:00 p.m.

The Friday experience is limited to 100 participants. Tickets are $60 for adults and $25 for those under 18, available through katahdincruises.com/cruises. Because of the limited number of seats, early registration is strongly encouraged.

Forest Heritage Days opens on Thursday, August 6, with an Appalachian Mountain Club presentation at the Center for Moosehead History at 4:00 p.m. The program will be part of AMC’s 150th anniversary recognition and will be presented by Carolyn Ziegra, Kristen Peat, and Chelsea Daniels. The presentation will end no later than 5:15 p.m.

Following the presentation, the Steamship Katahdin Happy Hour Cruise will leave the Greenville wharf at 5:30 p.m. Attendees of the AMC presentation will be eligible for a 20% discount on the Happy Hour Cruise.

Saturday, August 8, will be the free public community day, with activities centered around the front lawn of the Greenville Consolidated School. AMC will take the lead on Saturday programming and is planning educational programs and family activities from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. and again from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m.

The Colby College Woodsmen demonstration will be held from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on the front lawn of the Greenville Consolidated School. For many people, the Woodsmen demonstration is one of the best parts of Forest Heritage Days — a chance to see traditional woods skills performed up close by a talented college team.

Saturday will also include the Lumbermen’s Breakfast at the American Legion Post, 218 Pritham Avenue, from 7:00 to 10:00 a.m., and the Masonic Lodge chicken barbecue.

Forest Heritage Days is made possible through the work of many local and regional partners, including the Appalachian Mountain Club, Weyerhaeuser, Moosehead Marine Museum, Moosehead Historical Society & Museums, community organizations, volunteers, and supporters.

We are especially grateful to the people who have carried Forest Heritage Days forward over the years, including Steve Pollis and Rocky Rockwell, who have been closely connected to the event for much of its history.

Forest Heritage Days has always been about more than remembering the past. It is about understanding how the forest shaped this region — and how it still shapes the lives, work, recreation, and identity of the Moosehead region today.

More information is available at ForestHeritageDaysMaine.com or by calling Luke Muzzy at the Moosehead Historical Society office at 207-695-2909.

The steamer Louisa at Lily Bay, circa early 1900s. The storehouse on the right is still standing — and this August, the Steamship Katahdin will dock here again for Forest Heritage Days.