Talk:Bangor, Maine
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[edit] Naming Bangor
Even as an 8-year-old kid who loved Bangor (I was born and grew up there) I could never believe that ridiculous story about the guy whistling some hymn while he's in a office dedicated to naming the settlement. The bureaucrat says: "What's that?" "Bangor." "Oh, okay. See ya later." So the first guy then walks off without bothering to tell the official what the name is supposed to be? Or wondering why the guy doesn't ask him what it's supposed to called?
Total bullshit. Let's ask Stephen King -- he's another writer: does this sound plausible enough to put into any of his stories? Hayford Peirce 30 June 2005 04:30 (UTC)
I've lived all my life in Bangor, and I agree with you--but the article does note the story as being "apocryphal," which means "probably not true." Here's my theory: I actually heard the settlers wanted the town to be called Sunbury, so I think when the minister went to Boston, he merely chose Bangor as the name instead, in honor of his favorite hymn... and then made up some silly story to cover his, ahem, "mistake." And since we'll never know the answer to this, asking Stephen King merely because he's a writer isn't going to answer it for us. Indy 23:26, 9 October 2005 (UTC)
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- I was being, shall we say, sardonic about asking Stephen King.... Hayford Peirce 19:09, 14 March 2006 (UTC)
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- Ah. My apologies. Hard to tell when someone's being sardonic when reading instead of hearing. Indy 00:28, 20 May 2006 (UTC)
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- Having been born in Belfast, and having lived in Bangor, Northern Ireland for many years, I counted the number of towns in North America with these names. This was a few years ago now, but I seem to remember there having been something like 13 towns in the USA called Bangor, and about 6 towns called Belfast. With the large number of Scots-Irish and Irish-Americans in the USA, would it be surprising if this town wasn't named after the town of Bangor located in Northern Ireland? The only tune I can think of that mentions Bangor refers to the town in Wales. Either way, perhaps one of these towns deserves mention in the article. --Mal 15:15, 18 April 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Is Wiki accurate? Newsgroup discussion.
As I write this (April 3, 2006 8:55pm) I am in a lively discussion with a Bangor, Maine resident and writer of the official Bangor website who takes issue with the accuracy of Wikipedia in general and the Bangor, Maine and Bangor Area Transit articles in particular. He is definitely anti-wiki. I as a avid reader and contributor is of course pro Wiki. Read and decide for yourself.
Sorry for the "longnormous" link, but I don't know how to shorten it. The discussion was in the alt.tv.lost newsgroup and the relevant points begins with Hunter, which is me lamenting about an error I made in regards to when the new Ben Franklin $100 dollar bills debuted. It begins with reply no. 7 in the google group alt.tv.lost and I say:
"Sigh. Never mind. I finally did what I should had done in the first place and looked it up. The large portrait Ben Franklin $100 bill was introduced in 1996. Oh well. Note to self: ALWAS consult Wikipedia before posting"
Then the ant-Wiki guy, Ryan Robbins jumps in.
Enjoy. I hope I acquitted myself and wiki well. The discussion is still going on as I write this
.Hunter2005 00:54, 4 April 2006 (UTC)
As far as I knowk Ryan Robbins's website is not the official Bangor website (unless he himself has given it the "official" designation. His website has some good information, but not all of it is up to date or 100% accurate. He also does not cite any sources of information in his Bangor In Focus articles, so it is difficult to take him seriously. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.222.206.50 (talk) 15:32, 31 August 2007 (UTC)
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- I just read all of that. Hilarious!! I know of this guy, as I am from Bangor, and frankly his childish arguments are embarrassing. He does seem to be nothing more than anti-Wiki--probably watched too many Siegenthaler media interviews. Anyway, the whole point behind Wikipedia is that it's a self-correcting system; the various users work to constantly improve and correct. That's why there are external links all over the place--to support what's there. The BIG QUESTION, of course, is why this guy didn't merely correct the inaccuracies. Apparently he more enjoys crapping on Wikipedia and those who support it, and whining about inaccuracies. I'm sure, as others like him do, he'd argue that he doesn't want any part of such a bad thing... but taking part and correcting errors makes it a better thing, so that's a circular argument. I just realized I'm rambling, so I'll shut up now. Indy 00:28, 20 May 2006 (UTC)
- No, you make some good points, which ought to be brought up from time to time when the frustration level of dealing with idiots all the time becomes too much. A lot of these people end up being identified as trolls, but sometimes it takes a lot of time and wasted effort, as the worse the troll, the most intelligent he/she is in dragging people into their trollish nonsense.... Hayford Peirce 03:10, 20 May 2006 (UTC)
- I just read all of that. Hilarious!! I know of this guy, as I am from Bangor, and frankly his childish arguments are embarrassing. He does seem to be nothing more than anti-Wiki--probably watched too many Siegenthaler media interviews. Anyway, the whole point behind Wikipedia is that it's a self-correcting system; the various users work to constantly improve and correct. That's why there are external links all over the place--to support what's there. The BIG QUESTION, of course, is why this guy didn't merely correct the inaccuracies. Apparently he more enjoys crapping on Wikipedia and those who support it, and whining about inaccuracies. I'm sure, as others like him do, he'd argue that he doesn't want any part of such a bad thing... but taking part and correcting errors makes it a better thing, so that's a circular argument. I just realized I'm rambling, so I'll shut up now. Indy 00:28, 20 May 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Objections to the photographs used in the entry.
I think the historical pictures used in the entry aren't the best choice for representing modern day Bangor. I think we should use modern pictures in the majority of the entry, and save the historical pictures for the "history" part of the entry, or for the bangor historical society. What follows are are my reasons why each picture should be changed, along with a suggestion of what should replace it.
- "Central Park circa 1910" What is pictured here is now a small set of parking spaces next to city hall. There is no park there to take a picture of anymore. Further more, that picture is in the "media" part of the entry. Would it not make more sense to have a picture of "WLBZ", or perhaps even the "Bangor Daily News" office buildings in that spot?
- "Old Post Office circa 1910" This building doesn't exist anymore either, and hasn't since 1911. Why on earth do we have this image representing the city when this building hasn't existed in the city for over 90 years? Why not instead have a picture of the current Downtown area? A picture such as the fountian in front of the wig and couriour.
- "Pickering Square circa 1910" Anyone who may view this website, and see's this picture will be quite shocked by the modern version of Pickering Square. Picking square is now a parking garage, a bus station, and a local hang out for hoodlums. I feel a modern day picture of main street would fit better here.
- "Post Office and Peirce Memorial circa 1945" I have no objection to this picture other than it is outdated. The building pictured is now City Hall and not the post office. I feel that A more modern picture of the Memorial with the Bangor Public Library behind it would be more suited to being the first picture in the "cultural" section of the entry.
- "Chapin Park circa 1906 & Park Street circa 1910" these pictures while very nice have both been put in the "sports and recreation" section of the entry. Neither of these locations are good representations of the modern day "sports and recreation" that occurs in bangor. I feel some more modern pictures of the 13th street stadium, park, andwater park be more suited for this section.
- "Penobscot County Courthouse in 1999, Hammond Street" This is a very nice picture. It's modern, it's clear, but why is it in the "Famous Bangorians" section of the website? Would it not make more sense to have a picture of Stephen King's house instead? Or perhaps maybe just a picture of the Hannibal Hamlin statue downtown?
Now don't get me wrong here i'm all for history and preserving it. But this is wiki, not the "Bangor Historical Society."
- Back on Wikipedia after a long break, and noticed that the picture I took of the Courthouse, which is mentioned above, was removed. How is this photo inappropriate for this article? Maybe its placement within the article was off, but it seems odd to remove it entirely. This is especially so as it is not a historical photo, but rather a non-copyrighted modern one, and there are several otjer photos of this ilk in the article. Maybe I'm just sensitive because I took it, but I'm curious for the rationale. Friejose 17:27, 5 October 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Bangor Salmon Pool
A long article in yesterday's New York Times about the salmon fishing in the Penobscot jogged my memory about the old-time Bangor salmon pool, which, as I recall, was just below the dam. Beginning in 1912, the first salmon caught every year went to the President in Washington. I'm too lazy to do it myself, but there's lotsa info available on the Net for someone to put in a (small) paragraph about this. Hayford Peirce 05:15, 30 September 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Tabitha King or Spruce-King?
As far as I've seen in other articles, Tabitha King's name has always been without Spruce. Why is it hyphenated here? Prometheus-X303- 15:51, 15 December 2006 (UTC)
[edit] External Link
I'm thinking of deleting bangorme.com from the external link list. It seems to be just a news feed and lots of ads and doesn't seem to add much of value. Any objections? Webquest 04:03, 14 February 2007 (UTC) Deleted. Webquest 13:53, 18 February 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Needs some updating
I noticed it has the Mayor's term ending in 2006. As it is now 2007 it would be good to get the new Mayor in there. I'd do it, but I don't live in Bangor anymore.
I also played with some pictures - I've done some photography work on Bangor and thought I'd add some of the nice shots I took here. I didn't want to totally grab all the photo spots, so I left several of them. Just thought it might dress up the article a bit! —The preceding unsigned comment was added by GambitMG (talk • contribs) 23:38, 17 January 2007 (UTC).
[edit] Sources? Accuracy? Paul Wall?
Paul Wall was born in Bangor? I have not been able to verify this; it seems that several sites list his origin as Houston, Texas. I have not found any mention of Bangor anywhere else. Does anyone have a source for this? Spacemanspif 05:37, 3 February 2007 (UTC)
While I don't like to edit articles myself, there are three bridges that connect Bangor to Brewer, the Veterans Memorial Bridge which is I-395, the Joshua Chamberlain Bridge and Penobscot River Bridge (official name?)
[edit] Sources / Accuracy (Never Heard of Paul Wall)
As to the official name of the third bridge: When I was a kid in Bangor (1941-1960), there were two bridges across the Penobscot. The one on the north was the railroad bridge. It still stands and still carries the railroad from Bangor to Ellsworth and beyond with a branch south to Bucksport. Immediately south of it was a highway bridge of similar steel girder truss construction, with a steel grate roadbed to allow snow to fall through. It carried US Rte 1A, and we always called it the Bangor-Brewer Bridge. The steel truss bridge was replaced with a realigned concrete bridge, I think in the 1990's. The Joshua Chamberlain Bridge was open for several years before I left -- I think it opened about 1956. 68.1.43.137 21:25, 28 June 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Location of City Hall and Bangor Public Library (In the Culture section of the Bangor page)
Reading the Wiki Page on Bangor, ME, I noticed one phrase which seems to have two buildings confused. In the Culture heading, there is a reference to the Bangor Public Library, which has since become the City Hall. The article is correct that the Library is next to the Pierce Memorial. It is in fact the next building to your left (northwest) when facing the Pierce Memorial, and is still the Bangor Public Library. It has been much enlarged by additions added to the back of the building as I knew it in the 1960s. The next building to the right when facing the Pierce Memorial (southeast) was the US Post Office in the 1960s. My father worked there for many years. The Post Office has been moved to a site further north. The old Post Office at 73 Harlow St, SE of the Pierce Memorial, is the current city hall. City Hall moved there from the corner of Hammond and Columbia Streets. Bill Blinn 68.1.43.137 21:34, 28 June 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Paul Bunyan Statue
This statue is a Bangor icon. There needs to be a picture of it.--Dj245 (talk) 01:04, 17 November 2007 (UTC)
- Well, since it's an open project feel free to add one! Wikimedia Commons might be a place to start, otherwise you can upload licensed images yourself. ColdmachineTalk 16:26, 17 November 2007 (UTC)
- There is -- it's over on Paul Bunyan :-)--uɐɔlnʌɟoʞǝɹɐs 19:19, 17 November 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Proliferation of redlinks
Can we tone down the infodumps a bit? Not every person who lived in or passed through Bangor and can be found in a RS should be mentioned. Thanks.--uɐɔlnʌɟoʞǝɹɐs 20:14, 2 June 2008 (UTC)
