Union & Journal (Biddeford, Me.), 24 June 1864
After the war ended both the business and people of Biddeford began to recover. Biddeford was well-represented in various industries, including ice harvesting and granite quarrying. Ice cutting would become an important industry, and remained so until the turn of the century. Around 1861 the first two schooners specially equipped for carrying ice, were loaded in the Saco River with ice cut during the long winter and sent out. During the 1870s the ice trade was very active. Huge ice-storage houses were built along the river, and the harvest was stored packed in hay as well as sawdust, which would have been available in quantity from the numerous sawmills in the area.
Schooner and tug at Quarry Wharf, Saco River, ca. 1910
McArthur Public Library
Biddeford is full of granite ledge, and one family in particular profited greatly from the bounty. The Andrews family were the most prominent of the local granite pioneers, with the largest quarries in Biddeford, located out along the Pool Road. In 1866 they furnished the granite for the rebuilding of the breakwaters at the mouth of the Saco River and Union forts at Portland Harbor. There is Biddeford granite in the Lincoln monument in Springfield, Illinois and the foundations of the Brooklyn Bridge. The Andrews' supplied granite to big local projects as well. The quarry on South Street was opened to supply stone for the Western Division Railroad built in 1872. By this time they had a railroad that stretched a mile long complete with cars and 30 ton engine to accomodate their huge business. They also had their own wharf along the Saco River, known as Quarry Wharf or Andrews Wharf.
From "Romance of Pepperell" (1921)
The textile manufacture industry, however, was the largest employer and the heart of the local economy. The Pepperell and Laconia Mills continued to grow and expand, especially overseas.
Pepperell Mills boarding houses, Biddeford, ca. 1875
McArthur Public Library
The "China Trade", started in 1852, was integral to the success. Half of their business was in the Far East: particularly China, India, and Southeast Asia. Tremendous numbers of workers were needed for the textile mills, and Biddeford began to experience an intense level of immigration, first of Irish and other west European workers; then later French-Canadian, east and southern Europeans.