Little, Edward, House

This house derives primary significance from its builder, Edward Little, one of the commanding figures in the development of the cities of Lewiston and Auburn and the surrounding area. Born in Newbury, Massachusetts, on March 12, 1773, he came to Auburn (then part of the Town of Minot) in 1826, built this house, and there spent the last twenty-three years of his life.

Edward Little was the son of Josiah Little, a wealthymerchant and land owner of Newbury who was the last clerk of the Pejepscot Company, which, since 1714, had held title to a vast tract of land in the lower Androscoggin River Valley running northward from Brunswick and Topsham. Josiah Little passed on to his son extensive holdings inherited from his father, Col. Moses Little, a distinguished Revolutionary soldier. These lands included much of what eventually became the cities of Lewiston and Auburn as well as the towns of Greene, Leeds, land, Minot, and Mechanic Falls.

Educated at Phillips Exeter Academy and Dartmouth College, where he took his degree in 1797, Edward Little studied law with Chief Justice Parsons of Newbury-Port and practiced this profession for several years. He also served as County Attorney for Essex County, and representative to the Massachusetts Legislature for a number of sessions.

After the destruction of most of his property in Newburyport by a disastrous fire in 1811, Edward Little moved to Portland, Maine, where, for a time, he was engaged in the book trade. The responsibilities connected with his real estate ownership caused him to move in 1826 to Auburn where, in the following year, he built the house on Main Street.

For the remainder of his life, Edward Little was profoundly influential in directing the character and growth of the new town. He gave the land for the first church, paid one-half the cost of the building, and for some time provided for the ministry largely at his own expense. He established and endowed Lewiston Falls Academy which gained a high reputation in the state and, when later it became a public high school, it was named for him and his life-sized statue was placed before the entrance.

He was the original owner of the water power which later gave rise to the busy manufacturing city of Lewiston and which he sold at a low price to secure the introduction of outside capital for industrial development. He aided new industry to the extent of his power and held out inducements to attract the highest quality workers.

As much to Edward Little as to any other individual can be accorded the title of "father" to what is now one of Maine's most important urban centers.