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Waterville Area |
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Waterville - Central Maine is the home of prominent higher education
institutions including Colby College, Thomas College, Unity College, and Kennebec
Valley Technical College. The Mid-Maine region has the state's strongest base of
trained workers. Local CEOs of major companies benefit from productivity levels
that exceed national standards. The Chinet plate is but one of the items produced
locally. The City of Waterville is rich in history and traditions. 
Waterville is
located along the banks of the Kennebec River and, before the white man came, it
was known as Ticonic Falls, where the Abenaki Indians held tribal councils and
had summer campsites. In 1888, Waterville received a city charter. It is a city
with deep cultural roots, where, today, direct descendants of Franco-American
immigrants from Quebec leave their marks on local affairs. Early English,
Scottish, Irish, and German settlers first came to the west bank of the Kennebec
River because it was a major trading post in the early Seventeenth Century. The
Lebanese heritage became significant late in the Nineteenth Century and has
become an integral part of Waterville's diversified culture. Benedict Arnold
camped here on his march to Quebec City. In 1849, the Maine Central Railroad was
established and by 1860, hundreds of Union Army boxcars were leaving monthly
loaded with Union Civil War uniforms made by the C. F. Hathaway Company, a
company that still manufactures the finest quality shirts in the entire world and
employs over 600 people. The first tractor for hauling logs, the Lombard Tractor,
was built in a factory that today houses the world's leading molded pulp company,
Huhtamaki, formerly The Chinet Company. Ralph Waldo Emerson gave lectures at
Waterville College, now known as Colby College, which is the nation's
twenty-sixth oldest college. Waterville is loaded with tradition and rich
heritage and is one of the most progressive cities in the entire New England
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