Portraits of past mayors rehung at City Hall
By Scott Taylor
Staff Writer

LEWISTON – Lewiston mayors favored bow ties for the first dozen years of the city’s history. And they didn’t smile much before 1958 – at least not in their official portraits.

Sixty-four grim-faced mayors once again grace the walls of Lewiston City Hall, after two and a half years of storage and a $7,000 effort to get their portraits rehung in newer frames.

The portraits have moved from the second floor to the first, and are much closer to the ground, making it easier to see every grim, bow-tie-clad city father and mother.

“Originally, they were hung much higher, like 13 feet off of the ground,” said City Purchasing Director Norm Beauparlant. “They put them up there to keep people from reaching them. You also couldn’t see them. Now they’re hung right at eye level.”

For the record, the first 15 mayors of Lewiston favored bow ties in their official portraits, with the possible exception of H.H. Dickey in 1874. His long beard covers his collar, so it’s not clear what he’s wearing.

A few mayors sported ascot ties in the decade before the turn of the century. The modern tie also appears at about that time, and is the hands-down favorite for the 20th century. Only Mayor Lillian Caron, the city’s first female mayor (1976-79) isn’t wearing one.

Some mayors might have flirted with a smile before the 1940s, letting a hint of a grin tease at the corners of their mouths. But Armand Sansoucy, mayor in 1949 and 1950, was the first to show his teeth. Mayor Romeo Boisvert, 1958-59, is the first to break out in an unmistakable grin. Except for a few holdouts, smiles have been de rigueur since.

Beauparlant said the mayors’ portraits traditionally graced the City Hall’s second floor until 2000, when they were taken down for building maintenance. City Carpenter Tony Kelly was tapped to design and build new frames for the portraits. Frame makers at Craft-Mania in Auburn were hired to put the portraits together.

Crews began hanging the frames last week and work is finished, except for some mistaken identities.

Mayor Harold Skelton’s portrait from 1930 was inadvertently switched with Mayor Henry Paradis’ 1932 portrait. A few more portraits were mixed up as well, but Beauparlant said staff is working to get them back in order.

Almost every mayor is there, from Jacob B. Ham in 1863 to John Jenkins in 1997. There’s an empty frame waiting to be filled with Kaileigh Tara’s portrait and room and frames for 13 more, from Larry Raymond and beyond.

“Who knows how long that’ll last?” Beauparlant said. “We could have room for another 30 years. My grandson might get to see that last portrait being hung.”

Until then, Beauparlant hopes to fill the frames with some existing drawings of buildings around Lewiston.

staylor@sunjournal.com