Westbrook Paper Mill, Maine

The Westbrook Paper Mill is a sprawling network of interconnected buildings, spanning the Presumpscot River, in the suburbs of Portland. A paper plant has operated on the site as far back as the 1730s, they say, and many innovations in large-scale paper making were made here over the years, especially by the S.D. Warren Paper Mill Company, which operated and expanded the plant from 1867 to 1967, when it was purchased by the Scott Paper Company. In 1995, Scott sold it for $300 million to Sappi Fine Paper of North America, part of South African Pulp and Paper Industries Limited, now simply called Sappi. It is one of two paper plants owned by Sappi in Maine. The plant is the nation’s largest manufacturer of “casting and release papers,” which are used to make textured surfaces, like synthetic leather and other decorative laminated products. It employs around 320 people. There are a half dozen or so major paper mills like this one still operating in Maine.