This Building in Bangor’s Mt. Hope Cemetery Once Had a Surprising Use

Remember holding your breath going by cemeteries?

We used to do it all the time when I was a kid. There are mixed reasons as to why. When I was a kid, I thought it was so you wouldn't be buried there. A quick search also says people did it so they wouldn't breathe in any spirits. In the town I lived in when I was a kid, all the cemeteries were pretty small, so it was no problem.

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But we all used to dread driving by Mount Hope Cemetery in Bangor. It's frikkin' huge. You'd be squirming in the backseat of the car, kicking your feet around trying to keep that last tiny bit of air in your lungs before you just gave up. These days if I drive by there, I just like to look at all the old buildings and headstones.

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But there's one little building there, and you'd never guess what it was for.

There's a little building on the State Street side of the cemetery. If you travel through there much, you've definitely seen this little gazebo-looking thing. It's a little circular granite structure with a pointed roof. Initially, you'd probably assume it was some kind of mausoleum for storing people in the winters, back in the day.

While that's an absolutely logical conclusion, it was actually built to store the living, so to speak. According to a Facebook post from the Bangor Historical Society, the little building was actually a shelter for people who were waiting for the trolley to come through the area. Even cooler, it was designed by George Mansur, who was the brother of Wilfred Mansur, legendary architect.

What's it used for these days?

Probably not much. It would likely be a target for ongoing vandalism or something. But it's a stunning little building. It's rumored that it once may have even had Tiffany stained glass windows in it. Probably not anymore. There was also once and identical building further down the road, but that actually had a house built around it! Both structures still stand, 100 years later.

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History is so cool. And it's a rare time on social media where you can learn a little. There's so much bull in social media these days, moments like this stick out because it's actually fun and useful information. But next time you drive by it, you can go into full Cliff Claven mode, and get everyone up to speed on the real deal.

I wonder how much the house that other tower was built into is worth?