HISTORY OF ROUTE ONE -

Prior to the construction of the I-295 corridor, U.S. Route One was virtually the only means of traveling between Portland and Brunswick. Commercial development and business was thriving on Brunswick’s southern gateway from the turn of the century to the 1960s. Industry, retail and service based businesses were located on this busy thruway.

The Brunswick Commerce Center was once home to Brunswick Municipal Airport. An airplane hangar still occupies space in the field. In cleaning out the building, we found a large sign that reads Brunswick Flying Service. Faded letters also read Brunswick Municipal Airport. My research found that this group moved to what is now BNAS in the 1950s. The landing strip is still noticeable, even though the 100 acre site was used as a tree farm after the flying service left. Russell Douglas, who sold the property in 1999, told me Lucky Lindy once landed there due to fog. He said Lindbergh was driven back to New Jersey and paid Russell to look after his plane in his absence.

Conducting further research of the Route One corridor, I found that at one time there was quite a bit of business activity. The DRIVE-IN movie theater abutted what is now the Commerce Center, and there was a diner named Boulevard Cafe up on the left side toward town. I'm told there was a grocery store named Ship Shop Groceries. Clive Douglas, who grew up on the Durham Road also told me of a Mustard Factory located across the street from the new Marriott Hotel. Clive's father ran a dairy and cow farm and gave flying lessons. He said many of the flying lessons were given to men returning from WWII under the GI Bill and his father had up to 7 planes.

There was also a drive-in restaurant named the Clam Shell. Many of the old foundations still exist. In the 1950s, Ray Labbe began his business on Route One and from there his children have expanded the operation into Brunswick's largest contracting firm. Then there's the Flanagan building on Route One, surrounded by the Commerce Center property on 3 sides. This property was once Grover Conner's trucking company. I'm told they trucked baby chickens all around the country for Coleman Farms. This site was later Donnelly Trucking and Donnelly Driving School- where I, myself and many classmates learned to drive back in the 70s and 80s. In the late 1980s it became Pelletier and Flanagan Construction and then was used as an auto repair center and contractors space. It's still occupied now by industrial and commercial users.

Other businesses currently located on the Old Portland Road include recently opened C & R Trading Post, Judy’s Hair Biz, Express Way Auto Sales, Linhaven Mobil Sales, Country Inn, and Mabe’s Kitchen and Variety. With the emergence of the new hotel, the new Baptist Church currently being constructed, a new lot closer to town being cleared and several others for sale or lease, it’s evident that the Route One corridor’s commercial viability is once again being recognized. Folks driving from Brunswick to downtown Freeport will notice that Freeport has become very proactive and accommodating in commercial development efforts along their Route One frontage. The long history of U.S. Route One, that 2,000 mile stretch of highway running from Key West, Florida to Fort Kent , Maine is a look back with nostalgia and a look forward to yet another generation of industrious, entrepreneurial Americans.