Mapping Waterville

Mapping Waterville: Urban Renewal examines a period of profound material and economic change in the city of Waterville, Maine. Urban renewal in Waterville was designed to modernize the city by adapting it to the needs of the automobile, boosting downtown commerce, and eradicating what planners called "blight" in the form of obsolete housing and industrial buildings. Urban renewal was launched in Waterville with the advent of the Urban Renewal Authority in late 1959. It was executed through a series of projects in different parts of the city over the course of two decades: downtown (the Charles Street and Head of Falls projects), the North End, and the South End.

Combining maps, timelines, photos, and text, Mapping Waterville reconstructs pre-renewal Waterville, block-by-block, and visualizes the many material and spatial changes wrought by urban renewal during the 1960s and 1970s through a dynamic timeline, interactive maps, and interpretive exhibits.

This is a living project: we invite your feedback and contributions. You can contact us on Facebook or Twitter. If you have materials or memories you'd like to contribute to the site, please contact us via Facebook or Twitter.

Mapping Waterville: Urban Renewal is a Digital Maine project.