Lignetics of Maine Toothpick Plant Site, Maine

Lignetics of Maine makes wood pellets out of sawdust shipped from wood mills in the region. It is one of 13 of the company’s plants doing this across the country, enabling Lignetics to claim to be the largest such company in the nation. The Maine plant took over the site of the Strong Wood Products plant, in Strong, Maine, which was the biggest toothpick manufacturing plant in the United States, enabling the town to proudly make the claim of being “the toothpick capital of the world.” The toothpick plant operated for more than a century, and at its peak was highly automated, and able to produce more than 15 million toothpicks a day, packed into boxes with 250 picks inside. The plant closed in 2003.