LEWISTON- For the first time since the late 1960’s, the city’s historic Wiseman Bridge will be lit.
The bridge, which is on Chestnut Street and goes over the canal, has been undergoing restoration work at the direction of City Administrator Bryan Kaenrath.
Kaenrath, who began in his role earlier this year, announced shortly thereafter that relighting the bridge would be something that the city would pursue.
At the September 16th City Council meeting, Kaenrath reported that the project was still going to happen, but that it had “taken a little bit longer than we anticipated.” He lauded Public Works staff for their ongoing efforts and said he was optimistic about finishing before winter.
The bridge lighting restoration work is just one of many projects Kaenrath is pursuing as a way to improve the city’s image.
Countless mill workers and city residents have used the bridge since its construction almost a century ago, and it holds significant cultural value in Lewiston.
The bridge was constructed in 1927 and named shortly thereafter for Dr. Robert J. Wiseman, a beloved local doctor and former mayor. Despite having an English last name, Wiseman was Lewiston’s first mayor of French-Canadian descent.
According to “Historic Lewiston: Its Government” (produced by Geneva Kirk and Gridley Barrows in 1982), Wiseman was born in Quebec in 1871. He came to Lewiston two years later in 1873 and grew up speaking French.
Wiseman was educated in Lewiston schools and began working in local mills at the age of 13. Not long after, he began working for a dry goods store, then for six years as a clerk for a drug store.
He then bought three buildings on Cedar Street to operate his own drug store/grocery, which he gave up six years later to pursue a doctoral degree from Bowdoin College Medical School. Graduating with high honors in 1903, he also became a registered druggist the following year. Wiseman opened a practice at the corner of Chestnut Street and Lincoln Street (not far from the bridge).
Wiseman joined Lewiston politics as a member of the School Board in 1908, then was elected to the Board of Aldermen two years later. He unsuccessfully ran for mayor twice before winning the seat in 1914.
Mayoral terms were only one-year during those times, and Wiseman declined to run for reelection in 1915. He would return to the Board of Aldermen in 1921 and then held the mayor’s seat from 1925 until 1929, and from 1933 until 1935.
This means that Wiseman was the sitting mayor when the bridge was named for him.
Remaining an active member of the community following his nine terms as mayor, Wiseman passed away in Lewiston in 1942. He has been a beloved figure in the city, particularly by residents of French-Canadian descent.
Wiseman’s election as mayor would mark a turning point in Lewiston politics, demonstrating the rise in power of Franco voters. After his election in 1914 and until the election of Robert Clifford in 1971, Lewiston would only have three mayors who weren’t of French-Canadian descent.
Aside from sentimental value, the Wiseman Bridge is very unique in design. The bridge is considered a rainbow arch bridge, which is extremely uncommon nationwide, according to a profile page on historicbridges.org.