Lower Main Street in Fort Kent, seen here from the direction of St. Francis, included a commercial sector with French-owned businesses.

The first building on the left was Henri Nadeau’s millinery store. Nadeau was married to Zeline Audibert, whose nephew, William J. Audibert, served in the state legislature. Both Zeline and their daughter Jeannette were milliners. The second building was Henri Nadeau’s forge. The third building was a shed.

The fourth building was the Fort Kent Telephone Company, also referred to as “la centrale.” F. W. Mallet managed this business. The cables between the forge and the Fort Kent Telephone Company building anchored the footbridge crossing the St. John River between Clair, New Brunswick and Fort Kent.

The fifth building was the F. W. Mallet hardware store. By 1920, Mallet owned a garage.

The sixth building was the Masonic Lodge (demolished in 2011 in preparation of a new international bridge). On the right side of the street, the Fort Kent Trust Company is located across from the foot bridge; at the time of the photograph, the president of the company was Cyrus Henry Dickey.

The back of the card does not provide a publisher, but carries a small image of a bee.