Bangor, on account of its rapid growth, as well as its important position, and the beauty of its situation, is the place of the greatest note in the interior of the state. The Kenduskeag enters the Penobscot nearly at right-angles, dividing the town into two parts, and diversifying the surface in the environs with high and picturesque banks. The town appears to great advantage on approaching it from down the valley of the Penobscot, as it is gradually disclosed to view, displaying its numerous clusters of houses spread up the rising grounds and over the more level surface on the summit of the bank. On the northwest side of the town the eminence commands an extensive and charming view, Mount Katahdin appearing in the distance, in clear weather, though more than seventy miles off, its head often capped with

Judge Williamson's History of Maine informs us, that the first settlement was made in this place in the year 1769, when only one family became the inhabitants. A second followed in the course of 1770; and two years later there were twelve families. In 1787, the first public meeting was held, to procure a pastor and a place for public worship; when the Rev. Seth Noble, a whig refugee from Nova Scotia, was appointed, and received his ordination under the shade of an oak-tree. He received a salary of four hundred dollars from the people residing on both sides of the river, and remained there twelve years. He was appointed, in 1791, to procure an act of incorporation from the Massachusetts legislature; and, although the people proposed to call the place Sunbury, the present name was chosen.

The courthouse (now the city-hall) was the first public building erected in the place, in 1812. It was occupied for public worship, as well as for various other public purposes, until 1822. That year the first meetinghouse was built, by the only religious society existing there. The Rev. Harvey Loomis, who was ordained in 1811, officiated in it until 1822, when, having preached a newyear's sermon, on the 2d of January, from the text, "This year thou shalt

die," on leaving the pulpit he dropped down dead. Five years afterward the building was destroyed by fire; and, in 1831, a handsome brick edifice was erected in its place.

In 1828, three houses for public worship were commenced, by societies of methodists, baptists, and unitarians, and several others were erected a few years later; and, in 1832, a large courthouse, with county offices, and a jail.

The Theological Seminary has three professors, about fifty students, and a library of seven thousand volumes. The classical and theological course occupies four years. It was instituted, in 1815, to prepare young men to preach the gospel. A tract of five acres of land was given to the institution by Isaac Davenport, of Milton, Massachusetts, on which the present fine building stands. It is of brick, four stories high, and enjoys an elevated and commanding situation. A second edifice, of a similar description, with houses for the professors, was afterward planned. The institution is under the direction of a board of trustees, and has a fund of about a hundred and twenty thousand dollars.

The Bangor House is one of the ornaments of the town. It is constructed on a plan resembling that of the Tremont house in Boston, and was built in 1836.

There is a bridge across the Penobscot, and three across the Kenduskeag. Two of the latter were built by individuals.

The first printing-office was opened in Bangor in the year 1815, by Peter Edes. The first bank was established in 1818; and banks have since been multiplied to supply the demands of the extensive lumber-business and navigation carried on here. The ice interrupts the river-trade during four or five months in the year; but the river is generally open to Frankfort, twelve miles below.

The first railroad in the state was that from Bangor to Oldtown, in Oxford county, twelve miles of which was opened in 1836, at an expense of $250,000.

The market-house is large, and well planned. A rural cemetery, on the plan of that of Mount Auburn, near Boston, was laid out in 1836, two miles from the