Happy Halloween!
Derry
Derry, Maine is an unincorporated community in the US state of Maine. Derry is most famous for the paranormal occurrences that have occurred within its borders.
Location: Situated alongside Interstate 95, Derry is located south of Dexter, southwest of Old Town, and west of Haven and Bangor, with Bangor being the nearest of these cities. Derry is similar in infrastructure, architecture, demographics and geography to Bangor. Kenduskeag Stream runs through Derry’s downtown district. The small Derry Airport is found west of the downtown area.
Due to its location in inland New England, Derry has a humid continental climate of cold and snowy winters and mild summers. Its hardiness zone is 5a. Due to its close proximity to major water tributaries, the town often suffers from flooding issues every few years. The flooding it received during the Great Storm of 1985 were the worst on record, and have not since been surpassed.
Features: Derry contains several sites worthy of note. A popular tourist destination was The Black Spot, a nightclub consisting of primarily African-American patrons, located near the US Army’s military base on the southern side of town; the club was burned down by members of the Ku Klux Klan in 1930. Famed architect Ben Hanscom designed the town’s current Civic Center, after the previous center was destroyed in the town’s infamous flood of 1985. An unpopular feature of Derry is The Barrens, a small heavily-forested tract of land which contains the city’s landfill, gravel pit, and sewer pump stations. This area is considered a “sore spot” that discourages tourism. Environmentalist advocates have repeatedly failed to fully clean up this area of the town since the 1970s. Derry schoolchildren often play in this area despite fences and warning signs.
History: Derry has had a history of misfortune. Originally inhabited by the indigenous Penobscot people, the town of Derry was founded in 1716 in what was once called Derry Township. The fur trade allowed the settlers to survive harsh winters in a land less than ideal for farming.
From 1740 to 1743, over 300 settlers mysteriously disappeared without a trace. The incident is not as widely known nationwide as Roanoke.
The town’s primary sources of income throughout its history have been in the timber/lumber, shipping, manufacturing and iron/steel industries.
Spontaneous periods of unmotivated violence – murder, suicide, disappearances and unsolved murder – occurred in Derry in 1769, 1851, 1877, 1906, 1930, 1958, 1985.
On Easter Monday 1906, the Kitchener Ironworks building just outside of Derry exploded inexplicably, killing 88 children and 102 people in total, whom were there for an Easter Egg hunt. An investigation discovered that every machine in the works had been shut down; the cause of the explosion was never found.
In 1958, the town’s Standpipe water tower was closed to the public after several local children drowned in the water tank. The Standpipe was destroyed in a storm in 1985. It has since been replaced by the Standpipe Memorial, a cast-bronze statue of two children and a plaque dedicating it to the victims of the 1985 flood.
In 1985, Derry was rocked by a series of unsolved murders known locally as the It Killings. The killing spree ended at the onset of the worst storm in Maine history. The Great Storm of 1985 developed unusually swiftly and mainly struck central Maine. In Derry, the storm created a 5-foot flood that killed several residents and destroyed several buildings and local landmarks, especially in the town’s downtown area.
Derry spent much of the next ten years in a state of urban renewal, rebuilding much of the town after the effects of the Great Storm.
In 1994, a small plane crashed and exploded in the parking lot of the town’s Civic Center, killing several people; the plane’s pilot was never identified.
In 2001, US Army helicopters were sighted in the forests north of Derry. After reports of strange behavior in animals, odd lights in the sky, and several Derry residents going missing, the Mayor of Derry demanded an explanation for the presence of Federal troops in the area. A US Army spokesperson later proclaimed they investigated reports of weapons smuggling only to discover a damaged weather balloon, transmitting radio waves that were disturbing the local wildlife. Many Derry residents, however, respond to this explanation with much criticism; a 2011 opinion poll found 61% of Derry residents believe there was a cover-up of some sort.
Derry’s population has slowly increased since 1985, as the amount of violence as subsided since the Great Storm, and construction companies are lowering the town’s employment rate due to the city’s many expansion projects.
Castle Rock
Castle Rock, Maine is a small community in eastern inland Maine located in Castle County (a county near the New Hampshire state border). The town is 18 miles southwest of South Paris, ME and roughly 37 miles north of Portland, ME.
Demographics: According to the United States Census Bureau records, the town had a population of 1,280 in 1959. A 1991 census records its population being at 1,500 that year. Despite developing a reputation of being a dangerous location for paranormal activities, the population has steadily grown; a 2010 census marked its population at 1,820. As of this census, the racial makeup of the town was 92.5% White, 5.5% Native American, 1% African-American, 0.5% Asian-American, and 0.5% from two or more races. People of any Hispanic or Latino race were 0.3% of the population.
History: The town has a colorful history of unfortunate and consistent occurrences, including but not limited to reports of odd lights in the night sky, ghostly apparitions, several haunted houses, and numerous missing persons.
On September 8, 1981, a local St. Bernard named Cujo was somehow infected with rabies, causing him to become violent and vicious, and ultimately kill three Castle Rock residents (including the town’s sheriff, George Bannerman) and wound one more before being killed in self-defense on September 9.
On September 30, 1990, police found wealthy shop owner Reginald “Pop” Merill dead in his antiques shop, eviscerated by some animal, likely a wolf or large wild dog; the animal responsible was never found.
In October 1991, the town’s head selectman, Danforth “Buster” Keeton, set off several dynamite charges across the town in what was, according to the official report, a bizarre attempt to hide the thousands of dollars that he had embezzled from public funds. Keeton was found dead from bullet wounds amidst the debris left in the wake of the explosions; his killer, local jack-of-all-trades Ace Merrill, was killed in a hostage standoff between local police shortly afterwards.
People: Notable residents of Castle Rock have included Johnny Smith (1947-1979), the would-be assassin of Greg Stillson, a US Congressman from New Hampshire (1977-1980); Otto Schenck, a local wealthy businessman, and alleged murderer of fellow local businessman George McCutcheon; longtime Sheriff Alan Pangborn; and Leland Gaunt, a businessman of undetermined origin, expelled from the town and banned from returning in 1991 under suspicious and unusual circumstances.
Well that's completely right, but I was just so happy with how it turned out; honestly, I need to think up a differenced new line of arms anyway seeing as its a bit of a divergence
