Benjamin M. Ridlon
Biddeford, early 1870s
Ridlon made small quantities of small beer at 61 Elm St., Biddeford in the early 1870s. Not much else is known about him. There are records of a Benjamin M. Ridlon who worked as a joiner in 1877 in Portland, but is unclear if this was the brewer.
This image is of the Loom Picker Company building at the corner of Pearl and Elm streets in Biddeford, a few blocks from Ridlon’s brewing location (Frank Allen, 1873, Biddeford Historical Society, Maine Memory Network).
Locations are true to 19th-century street addresses, not current numbering.
Sources
Will Anderson, The Great State of Maine Beer Book (Portland: Anderson & Sons’ Publishing Co., 1996) 43-47.
Biddeford City Directory, 1872.
Portland City Directory, 1877.