Bangor's heritage has been preserved in the painstakingly restored mansions of the lumber barons in the Broadway Historic District, one of several local districts. A popular way to explore the city is by way of a historic walking tour, which takes the visitor through a number of Bangor's finest buildings representing a variety of architectural styles ranging from Colonial, Federal, Greek Revival, and Second Empire Italian.
At Fields Pond Audubon Center, visitors can take a variety of walks and canoe tours through the area's 192 acres of wetlands and forest, 1,600 feet of lakeshore, a 22-acre island, a beach, a brook, and a ravine. The recently opened Maine Discovery Museum is the largest children's museum north of Boston, and features seven major interactive exhibit areas on three levels. Located in the historic Freeses building downtown, the museum promotes the learning and discovery of nature, geography, children's literature, music, art, science, and anatomy.
Visitors who travel farther afield into the Maine countryside will find charming villages and towns such as Old Town, where they may observe crafters constructing canoes at the Old Town Canoe Company. The Penobscot Indian Reservation at Old Town is home to members of that tribe. The town of Canaan displays Charles Lindbergh memorabilia housed in the crate that carried his plane back to America from Paris in 1927. Devotees of American domestic architecture can explore five turn-of-the century summer cottages furnished as they were by the families who lived in them at Roosevelt Campobello International Park, summer home of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. The park also boasts 10 miles of walking trails, bird watching, flower gardens, a lighthouse, sea kayaking, and a number of beaches.
Bangor Symphony Orchestra, the country's oldest continuous community orchestra, has been performing since 1896. Comprised of 60 to 90 members, the orchestra performs 6 classical concerts, special events, and pops concerts during its September-May season. At the Maine Center for the Arts on the campus of the University of Maine at Orono, musical and dance events are presented throughout the year at the acoustically heralded Hutchins Concert Hall. In late spring and throughout the summer, the Bangor Band offers free weekly outdoor concerts at the Paul Bunyan Park grandstand. Other musical concert series in Bangor include the Cool Sounds of Summer concerts, held weekly at Riverfront Park, and the Arcady Music Festival, featuring international musicians.
Penobscot Theatre Company, housed in the Banger Opera House downtown, performs Broadway hits and contemporary drama during the winter months; in July and August it presents the Maine Shakespeare Festival. Recent productions include "Dracula," "The Crucible," and "Long Day's Journey into Night." Theater students at the University of Maine present contemporary and classical works at Maine Masque Theatre from October through April.
The Bangor Museum and Center for History, exhibiting historic memorabilia from the Penobscot Valley, is housed downtown adjacent to the Maine Discovery Museum. At the Cole Land Transportation Museum visitors can learn about and view a cross section of Maine's land transportation equipment, as well as U.S. military memorabilia. The Old Town Museum commemorates the area's lumbering history, and the Penobscot Marine Museum, a 13-building complex, preserves and exhibits the history of Penobscot Bay and the maritime history of Maine. Art studios and galleries are clustered in downtown Bangor.
Anthropological exhibits relating to Native Americans are on display at the Hudson Museum on the campus of the University of Maine at Orono, which also maintains greenhouses and ornamental test gardens that can be viewed by appointment, as well as a planetarium. The university's Museum of Art, one of the country's oldest land grant university art collections, displays more than 5,700 works including an extensive collection of nineteenth- and twentieth-century European and American prints. Its collection also celebrates Maine art and artists, with works by Berenice Abbott, Winslow Homer, and Andrew Wyeth. The Maine Forest and Logging Museum in Bradley is a living history museum dedicated to the mighty Maine woods. The museum's 400-acre Leonard's Mills contains the site of a pioneer settlement, and the area comes alive every summer and fall when volunteers in period dress recreate the daily life of a logging and milling community of the 1790s.
Summer festivals in Bangor include a Sidewalk Arts Festival in August, and a celebration of the Fourth of July with fireworks and a parade. Bass Park is the site of a ten-day celebration of agriculture at the State Fair, held in early August. During June and July, the park is also the site for harness racing. The Music in the Park series is presented throughout the summer. October brings Octoberfest, and downtown art studios and galleries are open for touring every November. The traditional Christmas tree lighting in December is followed by a parade the next day. A winter carnival is held in February.
The 27-hole Bangor Municipal Golf Course presents many tournaments each year, including the Greater Bangor Open held in July. Bangor Raceway at Bass Park offers harness racing in June and July; the sport has been conducted continuously at Bass Park since 1893. The raceway hosts several legs of the Maine Breeders Stakes, the Anah Temple Shrine Trot and Parade, and the Billings Amateur Driving Series. The University of Maine's Black Bears play baseball at Mahaney Diamond; the university also fields football, basketball, and hockey teams. Husson College also has successful baseball and basketball teams.
Recreational opportunities in and around Bangor are almost limitless. Boating and fishing on the Penobscot, golfing at several courses, camping at sites within and outside the city limits, ice skating and hockey at local arenas, and downhill and cross-country skiing are only some of the activities available. The Bangor Municipal Golf Course has been rated by the magazine Golf Digest as one of the top 75 public golf courses in the country. The course offers a 15-tee driving range, 2 practice greens, a complete pro shop, and restaurant. PGA professionals give group and private lessons.
Bangor Creative Playground is a specially designed park for children. Grotto Cascade Park, with its lighted water fountain and a 20-foot-high waterfall, is popular with picnickers and hikers; opposite the park, at Salmon Pool, Atlantic salmon headed upstream are a favorite catch for anglers in May and June. Sewall Park in nearby Old Town consists of 30 acres, some wooded, offering hiking, picnicking, camping, canoeing, sports facilities, fishing, and boat launching. Bangor is located not far from Acadia National Park, the second most visited national park in the country, and Baxter State Park, site of Mt. Katahdin, Maine's highest peak.
Shopping is serious business in Bangor, a major outlet store center and home to numerous department stores, shopping centers, and malls. Downtown Bangor features specialty shops, bookstores, restaurants, and parks on the waterfront. Woven baskets and leather goods are offered at the Penobscot Indian Reservation on Indian Island, Old Town. Shoppers from a wide area are attracted to the department stores and specialty shops at Bangor Mall, the state's second-largest shopping mall. Restaurants and a 10-screen theater flank the Bangor Mall area. Airport Mall was Maine's first indoor shopping center when it opened in 1972; today it offers more than a dozen stores selling a variety of products. Antiques and collectibles are the focus at Center Mall in Brewer; within driving distance of Bangor are scores of antique shops, potteries, and gift shops.
Dining opportunities range from regional establishments specializing in lobster to ethnic restaurants specializing in Mexican, Italian, Indian, Asian, and Pakistani foods. Coffee-houses, pubs, and taverns round out Bangor's offerings.
Visitor Information: Greater Bangor Convention & Visitors Bureau, 1 Cumberland Pl., Ste. 300, Bangor, ME 04401; telephone (207)947-5205; toll-free (800)91-MOOSE