Saco and its twin city of Biddeford were among the first Maine communities to become large-scale textile manufacturing centers, harnessing the water power of the Saco River to enter the Industrial Revolution.
By the early 1900s, Saco’s Main Street featured several substantial commercial buildings, including the Odd Fellows Hall, third from the right.
This handsome brick block was built in 1896 from designs by the noted Portland architect John Calvin Stevens.
To the left of the hall is the Saco House of 1837, a hotel which burned on December 9, 1912, thus dating this photograph to before the fire. The remains of the Saco House were rebuilt with a flat roof to house the Atkinson Furniture Company.