Mapping Waterville is currently Being reworked: stay tuned for updates.
Urban renewal was one of the most significant federal programs of the twentieth century. It was also among the most controversial. The program was designed to rehabilitate and modernize American cities that had suffered disinvestment through decades of war and economic depression. Enormous investments of federal, state, and local money dramatically reshaped cities in the 1950s and 60s, with mixed results. Urban renewal in Waterville shared many characteristics with urban renewal elsewhere. And yet, urban renewal in Waterville was also quite distinctive given local conditions and social relations.
This exhibit explains what urban renewal was and how it worked — across the nation, the state, and in Waterville. It complements other interpretive exhibits on the site and provides historical context for the interpretation of the site’s archival materials.