Beginning in 1905, farmers delivered potato harvests to the many potato houses lining the tracks, and millions of tons of potatoes were shipped by rail on the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad, whose potato haul grew from 47,500 tons in 1894 to 300,000 in 1914 and peaked at 899,000 tons in 1930. Along those rail lines, water towers were once common, and Frenchville’s 55,000 gallon 1910 water tower, kept from freezing by coal heat, is one of the last remaining in the U.S. After diesel engines replaced steam-powered locomotives, such towers were no longer needed, but from 1958 to 1981 the redwood tank was repurposed as a reservoir for the Frenchville fire department. Interstate 95 reached Houlton in 1968, truck shipment of crops increased, and Frenchville’s station closed in 1971.