Abandoned

Abandoned Farmhouse in Westfield (2003)

Relics of farmhouses hint at the glory days of Maine’s agricultural tradition. In remote villages, scenes of abandoned homes, churches, and vehicles mark changes in communities as populations ebb. The landscape is littered with these ghosts of Maine’s past, recalling a lost civilization but evoking questions of their secrets.            …

Agricultural Fairs

Team of Mules at the Common Ground Fair in Unity (2003)

2018 Acton Aug 23-26 Augusta Athens Aug 7-9 Bangor State Fair July 27-Aug 5 Blue Hill Aug 30 – Sept 3 Clinton Maine Farm Days Aug 22-23; Lions Fair Sept 6-9 Common Ground (Unity) Sept 21-23 Cumberland Sept 23-29 Farmington Sept 16-22 Fryeburg Sept 30 – Oct 7 Harmony Free Fair Aug 31 – Sept 3 Houlton June 30-July…

Agricultural Subsidies

Farm in Sabattus

The federal government provides a “safety net” to agricultural producers to help them through the variations in agricultural production and profitability from year to year – due to variations in weather, market prices, and other factors – while ensuring a stable food supply. However, this support is mostly for five major “program” commodities of corn,…

Agriculture

As Maine communities began to lose some of their frontier aspects in the early 19th century and assumed a more settled appearance, civic improvements were initiated. Among these was the regulation of livestock which, in contrast to earlier times, were becoming numerous. Swine, although useful for consuming garbage, in themselves provided a health hazard. No…

Airline, The

is an east-west transportation route from Bangor to Calais, currently a portion of state highway Route 9. Crossing Penobscot, Hancock, and Washington counties, it was planned as a military road in 1838-1839 during the Aroostook War, but remained unfinished 20 years after the “War” was settled. The Airline passes through mostly small communities, West to…

Airports

In 2006 Maine had 50 airports, 36 publicly owned.  Of the publicly owned, only 6  were served by regularly scheduled passenger service.  The other 30 serve the general aviation community which flies smaller, unscheduled aircraft.  There are some others reserved for private use only. According to an economic impact study by the Alliance for Aviation…

Alewife Landings

Seagulls feasting on Alewives (2008)

Alewife landings crashed in 1981 and have yet to recover to any of the 1950-1980 levels.  While both the catch and value were depressed through 2000, more recent years have shown a rise in total value and price per pound. Latest data are preliminary. YEAR POUNDS POUNDS (millions) VALUE PRICE/LB 1950 3,165,600 3.1656 $28,294 $0.01…

Allagash

in Aroostook County, is at the mouth of the Allagash River as it enters the St, John. Large in area, small in population, hunting and camping is an economic asset. The Allagash River flows through the town and is the tenth longest in the State. At 69 miles, it drains 1,240 square miles in northern Maine. Across the St. John lies the small Canadian town of Connors.

American Eel Landings

American Eel Landings 1964-2016

Otherwise known as the Common Eel or Freshwater Eel, they range in size of up to 6 feet for females and up to 2 feet for males. Color is olive-green to brown on the back, with yellow-green on the sides and gray-white below. Adults leave freshwater for the ocean to spawn, changing color to black…

American Plaice Landings

Place price per pound 1950-2016

American Plaice had modest landings by commercial fishermen of one to two million pounds from 1950 through 1976.  It then jumped to six million per year that, with a few exceptions, was the minimum landing amount until 1995.  It then began to slip, again with a few exeptions, until landngs hit a six decade low…

Atlantic Pollock Landings

Pollock Price per Pound 1950-2016

From 1950 to about 1974, commercial fishermen saw relatively low total value and prices per pound when landing American Pollock.  Then the landings increased and so did the total value and the per pound price. As the big landings began to decline, the price per pound climbed to a range between $.60 and $.80.  With…

Atlantic Redfish

Redfish Price per Pound 1950-2016

The once substantial landings of Atlantic Redfish by commercial fishermen began a severe, and as yet unending, decline, in 1962.  The many years of landings exceeding 60 million pounds has ended, with recent catches well below 200,000 pounds. The higher prices per pound are undoubtedly little comfort to those who have few fish to sell.…

Atlantic Salmon Landings

Cultured Atlantic Salmon Production 1990-2010

  The following is abridged from Maine’s Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife internet site at http://www.maine.gov/ifw/wildlife/species/endangered_species/atlantic_salmon/ (accessed December 2, 2012) In Maine, Atlantic salmon were historically found in all major river systems and many of their tributaries with suitable spawning habitat. Today, they have disappeared from much of their historic range. In Maine they…

Black Bridge

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The 1909, 318-foot long truss bridge was built by Pennsylvania Steel Company of Steelton, Pennsylvania, replacing an earlier double-decker bridge.  It spans the Androscoggin River between Brunswick and Topsham. According to the website HistoricBridges.org: This double deck bridge is one of the most unusual and unique bridges in Maine due to its suspended highway deck…