Join us for our Grand Opening celebration!

September 6, 2025

After years of preparation and planning, the Bucksport Paper Mill Museum will be holding a Grand Opening event on Sunday, October 12, 1-4pm at 4 Mariner Way, Bucksport. The restoration crew has been hard at work, transforming the former mill gatehouse building into a museum celebrating Bucksport’s papermaking heritage.

The paper mill in Bucksport, Maine was built in 1930 and closed in December 2014. The mill became known for producing high quality paper that was used in many national and international publications.

Items on display at the museum include historical photographs and artifacts from throughout the mill’s history. Educational displays will teach visitors about the history of the mill, how paper was made, and the people who were a part of the papermaking process. Among the artifacts on display at the museum are heirloom lunch baskets and pails carried by former mill workers.

The museum will be a space for former mill workers and their families, community members, and visitors to gather and remember the paper mill and the important role it played in the Bucksport community for many years.

Scroll through the images above to see the incredible work that the restoration crew has done to transform the gatehouse building into an inviting museum space.

The origins of the mill museum

From the time the Bucksport paper mill closed in 2014, people began saving material connected to the mill, including stories for Still Mill which was published in 2017. At the BookStacks launch for Still Mill, editor Pat Ranzoni presented a copy to Gary Bagley for the Bucksport Historical Society, announcing all royalties would be donated to them for the purpose of collecting and exhibiting mill history.

Ray Seamans rescued items during the mill demolition and donated a truckload of artifacts to the Still Mill Project at the end of May 2019. The Seamans collection was presented to the Bucksport Historical Society, and the historical society voted to accept the paper mill museum under their nonprofit umbrella. Gary proposed that the mill museum working group look into the availability of the gatehouse, the last building left of the mill. 

In 2019, the mill museum group was invited to partner with Bucksport Wednesday on Main and other local and state civic groups for a special event at the Alamo Theatre for “our show of remembrance and respect for the 5th anniversary of our mill’s closing.” Julia Gray curated an exhibit of artifacts and Pat Ranzoni presented a program of readings and music from Still Mill involving mill-connected people. 

After a four plus years effort with four different owners, JERA Americas, the latest owner of the Bucksport Generation power plant, sold the gatehouse to the Bucksport Historical Society for $1.

Restoration Foreman Chip Stubbs and his crew went to work on the interior and exterior of the gatehouse building, transforming it into a space where the history of the paper mill can be preserved and where the stories of the papermakers can be shared.

Throughout this time, former millworkers and their families, and other community members have donated artifacts and made financial donations to support the effort.

The Bucksport Paper Mill Museum Working Group would like to thank everyone who has been a part of making the mill museum a reality!