Birch Point Find Traditional Cache
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You can drive directly to this location. Stop and enjoy the
view
or take a shuttle ride to the historic Mt. Kineo. You may just want
to stay a while.
You will be standing at the former location of the the Somerset
Railroad (precursor of the Maine Central Railroad). The Somerset
Railroad constructed a line to Kineo Station at Birch Point. The
name Rockwood was believed to have come from Hiram Rockwood Page,
who decided around 1909 that the railroad's Kineo Station needed a
post office. Hence, he named the post office after himself. The
earliest white settlement of the area is not well known, but it is
believe that it was settled prior to the Civil War by families from
the Maritime Provinces, mostly from Nova Scotia. The first bridge
across the Moose River was a floating span that was built in the
late 1800s, near the mouth of the river. Around 1914, another
bridge was built farther upriver, the year that the road to the
Pittston Farm was completed. The current bridge was built later,
and is now the only bridge on the Moose River. In the early 1900s,
the settlement was still known as Birch Point; however, there was
little there but a patch of woods with a small clearing, known as
the Calder Farm. Upon the coming of the railroad, the population
grew rapidly for a short time. A hotel was constructed by a man
named Champagne in the early 1900s, and Guy Whitten moved to
Rockwood in 1908, opening Whitten's Store in 1912, and later the
Moosehead Inn. The original buildings were destroyed by fire in
1941, and rebuilt in 1952. In 1913, a Catholic church was built,
and around the same time, a store owned by Ricker Hotel Company was
in operation, competing with Whitten's store. An inn known as Pig's
Ear was established at the Moose River, near another one known as
the Riverside Inn. The Kineo House, built at the foot of Kineo
bluff, attracted a great many tourists, and created a demand for
milk produced by Rockwood farmers. The lumbering industry brought
some permanent residents, as well as a great many temporary
residents to the area According to records, in 1900 only 76 people
were living in Rockwood. By 1910, the population had grown to 184.
In 1920, Rockwood had 327 residents, but by 1940, only 227 of these
remained; and in 1960, the number was reduced to 137.
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Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Abg sbe gubfr jub ner iregvpnyyl punyyratrq.