Bucksport Paper Mill Museum holds grand opening event
Photo by Arline Smart Lamarche
October 23, 2025
On October 12, 2025, the Bucksport Paper Mill Museum hosted a grand opening event, welcoming the public to see the museum that has been built inside the former mill gatehouse building in Bucksport, Maine to preserve the history of the paper mill that operated in Bucksport from 1930-2014. The Bucksport Paper Mill Museum operates under the umbrella of the Bucksport Historical Society.
The event began with the sounding the Number 1 Paper Machine wet end break alarm that was used to alert mill workers that there was a break in the paper. The event continued with words and music celebrating the creation of the paper mill museum.
Bucksport Paper Mill Museum Working Group Co-Chair Gary Bagley speaking at the grand opening. Photo by Arline Smart Lamarche
Bucksport Paper Mill Museum Working Group Co-Chairs Gary Bagley and Patricia Ranzoni shared some of the history of the effort to create the museum and also offered words of gratitude to those who played a role in making the dream of opening a paper mill museum become a reality. Patricia spoke about the Still Mill project that was the initial effort to preserve the history of the Bucksport paper mill, and the book she edited and published Still Mill: Poems, Stories & Songs of Making Paper in Bucksport, Maine 1930-2014. Patricia also invited Sherri Mitchell of the Penobscot Nation to speak on the complicated history between the mills and the Penobscot Nation. Sherri is an attorney, author, and executive director of the Land Peace Foundation. She also told of the role her grandfather, the late Ted Mitchell, of the Penobscot Reservation, played in constructing the mill as superintendent of the steel workers.
Gary relayed the multiyear effort to obtain the deed to the gatehouse building through multiple owners. Both Patricia and Gary paid tribute to the people who donated artifacts and money or who supported the mill museum effort in other ways, including the Bucksport Historical Society who agreed to welcome the mill museum as a part of the organization.
Throughout the event, the highest congratulations and appreciations were paid Wesley “Chip” Stubbs, restoration foreman, and his crew of Leo Grunwald, Larry Wahl, Rick Gilley, Herb Gilley, Arline Lamarche, Marie Stubbs, Ed Ranzoni, Steve Bishop and Paul Tibbetts and others who are listed with the Working Group in a framed tribute in the museum as are the founding donors. The restoration crew were instrumental to the successful creation of the museum. The have volunteered more than 750 hours this year.
The ceremony include two musical performances. Chris Soper performed his song “Small Town America” that he wrote following the closing of the Bucksport paper mill in 2014. Later in the event, Ernie Smith piped a song he composed called "Papermaker's Lament. A Scottish Air". Both pieces were published in the book Still Mill.
The formal part of the event ended with the unveiling of the museum sign by Ernie Smith and Wesley “Chip” Stubbs. Ernie created the sign with assistance from Chip.
Ernie Smith and Wesley “Chip” Stubbs unveiling the new sign. Photo by Arline Smart Lamarche
When the formal part of the event concluded, people were welcomed to tour the museum. Inside the museum, visitors found a collection of artifacts and informational signage, including a scale model of the Bucksport paper mill and an exhibit devoted to the history of labor unions at the mill. There is an exhibit devoted to the Still Mill project that was the genesis for the museum. A collection of vertical banners, created by Julia Gray, Executive Director of the Wilson Museum, cover topics such as the history of the mill and how paper was made.
The mill museum is located at 4 Mariner Way in Bucksport and is open Tuesday mornings, 8am-noon, through November 25, 2025. Look for information about updated hours when the museum reopens in the spring of 2026.
