Finding Fort Andross: A closer look inside Brunswick’s former textile mill

Sitting squarely at the end of Maine Street, Fort Andross anchors our town’s commercial district.

Bowdoin students don’t make too many trips to the Fort. We go for the flea market—some for the farmers’ market—and often to Frontier for movies and coffee. But throughout the building, one finds over 100 of businesses of all types. It might be Brunswick’s premiere office building—but it’s also mixed use, home to artists’ studios, a soda manufacturer, three exercise businesses and a multi-floor self storage business.

We are fascinated by the mill’s present residents but also by the mill’s history and its continual role as an economic engine in our community. In this issue, we hope to bring you inside the Fort.   You’ll find stories that cover the scope—profiles of businesses, spaces and artists, a visual timeline —but don’t cover everything. There’s so much to explore.

We hope this special edition sheds some light on this important element of our community.

A special thank you to all those who helped make this possible. We would like to acknowledge Anthony Gatti and Coleman Burke of Waterfront Maine, Scott Hanson and the everyone who works in Fort Andross and keeps it a lively place.