THE COMMON
Castonguay Square At City Hall

The Common was a key location on the course that Benedict Arnold's troops followed on their expedition to Quebec in 1775. The troops carried around Ticonic Falls and entered the Kennebec again in the area of The Common. The Daughters of the American Revolution erected a boulder monument to this event in 1917.

Because of its central location, the Common in the center of the city was a popular meeting place. The adjacent photo shows a fireman's muster in 1855.

The arrival of the mills to Waterville between 1860 and the early 1900s gave the city a great business development boost and many buildings in the center of the city were improved. Notice the “City Opera House” sign that was added to the Common.

The photo on the left shows people gathered for the opening celebration of the new pavement in the center of the city in 1923. It also shows one of the only elm trees still existing in the city today.

“The Common” was renamed Castonguay Square in 1921 for the first soldier from Waterville to be killed in action during World War I. Arthur L. Castonguay was a 1 st Sergeant in Company H of the 103rd infantry. He was wounded at Xivary, France on June 16 and died on June 18, 1918.