Byer of Maine was founded in 1880 in Bangor, Maine by a Russian immigrant family as a maker of slippers and textile products. In 1925, the company relocated to a century-old frame building near the village center of Orono, Maine. The central portion of our building was originally built as a Catholic church and later served as a movie theater and community center. The site, at the confluence of the Stillwater and Penobscot Rivers, had been the location of a large sawmill in the early 1800’s. The original church structure was renovated, reinforced for industrial use and expanded in traditional New England fashion over the years by the Byer family and today has 33,000 sq. ft. under roof.