In the 1800's, it was a common practice for local political parties to rally around an extremely large flag pole during election years.  Political parties became competitive trying to see who could raise the largest pole, most of which were in excess of 100 feet.  The above photo was published in the Bangor Advance several times over the years, but the story behind it had long been forgotten.  In September of 1896, Republicans cut down two large tamarack trees; one was 52 feet and the other was 60 feet long.  They were spliced together and placed by the town hall on the south east corner of Monroe Street and Division Street.  The town hall is the building on the right.  The photo is looking east from about where the front of the current library is today.  An American flag, 18X25 feet, was placed at the top along with a 40 foot long streamer bearing the names of McKinley and Hobart.  The photographer would have had to have backed up another block to get the entire flag pole in the picture.  In 1884, the Democrats in Bangor conceived an ingenious idea of crowing after Grover Cleveland won the election.  Get the upcoming book and find out about the hilarious outcome.