Not a big park, the land was apparently donated to the city by Luther H. Peirce, a man who made his fortune in the lumber business. The centerpiece of the park is the larger than life-size sculpture described below. At the sculpture are benches for resting while gazing at it, while the rest of the park is grass and scattered mature trees.
Known as the The Luther H. Peirce Memorial and also as
The Last Drive, this sculpture was created in 1925 by sculptor
Charles (Carl) Eugene Tefft (1874-1951) and dedicated in July of 1926. Of bronze on a granite base, the sculpture depicts "
Three heroic-sized rivermen in the act of breaking up a log jam using an ax, a cant-dog, and a peavey to free up the jammed logs for their journey down-stream.". The models included legendary river driver Pat Connors and a young logger named David Preble.
Quote is from The Smithsonian
The sculpture is in Peirce Park, on Harlow Street at the north end of Franklin Street, and immediately southeast of the Bangor Public Library on Harlow. It was a a gift to the city of Bangor from the descendants of lumber baron Luther H. Peirce. The sculpture is in the Smithsonian Art Inventory, identity number
IAS 77006363
When the American Guide Series writers of the book
Maine, A 'Guide Down East' were visiting Bangor they made note of this sculpture and made it number eight on their list of points of interest in Bangor. The short entry from the book, Page 137, is reproduced below.
See a
postcard of the memorial, made in 1935.
8. Peirce Memorial, Harlow St. opposite Franklin St., is a bronze statue of three river-drivers, equipped with peaveys and cant-hooks, breaking a log-jam. It commemorates Bangor's lumber industry. The memorial, the work of Charles E. Tefft of Brewer, was presented to Bangor by Luther M. Peirce (sic - it was presented by his descendants).
From Maine, A Guide 'Down East', Page 137