Corinna

Sebasticook River East Branch in Corinna (2014)

  Year Population 1970 1,700 1980 1,887 1990 2,196 2000 2,145 2010 2,198 Geographic Data N. Latitude 44:56:44 W. Longitude 69:15:23 Maine House District 100 Maine Senate District 10 Congress District 2 Area sq. mi. (total) 39.4 Area sq. mi. (land) 38.7 Population/sq.mi. (land) 55.4 County: Penobscot Total=land+water; Land=land only          …

Corinth

Inside the wood pellet mill in Corinth (2010)

in Penobscot County, incorporated in 1811. In 1886 it had three saw-mills, three shingle, one stave, two planing and two grist mills, one cheese-factory, one carriage and sleigh factory. Recently, Corinth Wood Pellets mill has taken advantage of this new form of heating fuel. Its population has had steady growth 1970-2010.

Cornish

in York County, incorporated 1794, probably named for settlers from Cornwall, England. The main street features tourist attractions such as lodging, eating, and antiques. Cornish village is located where the Ossipee River feeds into the Saco River. Little River enters the Ossipee just before its link to the Saco. See photos.

Counties

Maine has sixteen counties, as well as hundreds of local governments. The earliest established was York, in 1652; the latest, Knox in 1860. The structure and functions of county government are similar throughout the state. For a brief sketch of each county, click on its name in the map at right. Aroostook is the largest…

Courts, Judicial Department

Pownalborough Courthouse, Dresden (2000)

The 1761 Pownalborough Courthouse was the first built in Maine and the only one built prior to the Revolution. It was part of the Massachusetts court system, from which Maine separated in 1820. For details of early court history in Maine, see the article History of the Court System of the State of Maine: 1636-1961.…

Cranberry Isles

Baker Island Light (1987)

in Hancock County, incorporated 1830, requires ferries or water taxis to access. The 200 acre cranberry marsh on Great Cranberry Island influenced Governor Bernard in 1762 to name the town as it is. Little Cranberry hosts the Islesford Historical Museum; The Baker Island and Bear Island light stations provide navigation assistance near Acadia National Park. See map.

Crosby, William G.

William G. Crosby (courtesy Maine State Museum)

(1805-1881) was born in Belfast on September 10, 1805. He was educated at Belfast Academy and graduated from Bowdoin College just before his eighteenth birthday. He was the first person born in Belfast to receive a college education. His contemporaries included Franklin Pierce, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry W. Longfellow, and William Pitt Fessenden, among other notables.…

Cross Lake Township

Cross Lake with Cottages (2018)

Cross Lake Township, In Aroostook County is, not surprisingly, named for the long lake in its southwestern quarter. Maine Route 161 from Madawaska to Fort Kent slices diagonally across the township. Route 162 branches northeast along Long Lake to St. Agatha. Ouelette and Guerette are the two principal villages. The township is largely a rural…

Cross, Burton M.

Burton M. Cross (courtesy Maine State Museum)

(1902-  ) Cross was born in Gardiner, on November 15, 1902, graduated from Cony High School in 1920 and became a florist in Augusta in 1926. In 1933 he won a seat on the Augusta Common Council and four years later in 1937 moved up to the Board of Aldermen, presiding over both bodies. Elected…

Crystal

in Aroostook County, organized as a plantation 1878 and incorporated 1901. Its Thousand Acre Bog is considered one of Maine’s “Focus Areas of Statewide Ecological Significance.” See map. A pedestrian trail from Patten to Sherman winds through the bog.

Cumberland

Former Town Hall, now an office building, in Cumberland Center (2005)

in Cumberland County, incorporated 1822, includes two islands in Casco Bay: Sturdivant and Basket. Basket Island, is a nature preserve of .9 acres of mixed forest and shell and gravel beaches. The town, a suburb of Portland, grew by almost 23 percent between 1990 and 2000, and continues its population growth. See photos.

Cumberland County

Map of Maine Counties and Baxter Park

the most populous of Maine’s counties, contains approximately 20% of the state’s population with less than 3% of the state’s land area.  Four of the ten largest communities by population are in Cumberland County. See an 1857 map of the county in the Map Cabinet. The City of Portland dominates the cultural and commercial environment…

Cundys Harbor

A Summer Day at Holbrook

Cundys Harbor is a village within the town of Harpswell, in the area known as East Harpswell. It is located in the southeastern portion of this sprawling coastal town, on Sebascodegan Island. In 1985 the Maine Historic Preservation Commission described it thus: “Cundy’s Harbor is a small fishing village on a narrow peninsula of hilly…

Curtis, Kenneth M.

Governor Ken Curtis, wife Polly, and daughter Angel (from a Christmas card sent to friends while governor.)

(1931- ) was governor of Maine from 1967 to 1975, and was Chair of the Democratic National Committee in 1977. William Curtis moved to the to the Town of Leeds in 1800 in what is now Curtis Corner, once a post office and railroad stop, both of which are now gone. Generations of Curtis families…

Curtis, Oakley C.

Oakley C. Curtis (courtesy Maine State Museum)

(1865-1924) of Portland was born March 29, 1865 and attended local public schools. He began work as a clerk for the Grand Trunk Railroad, then worked for a wholesale coal dealership, becoming its manager then president. Curtis later focused on banking, emerging as president to two banks and serving on the boards of two others.…

Cushing

Olson House and Barns on Hathorn Point in Cushing (2005)

in Knox County, incorporated in 1789, is just south of Thomaston and lies on the western shore of the St. George River. It is famous as the home of Anna “Christina” Olson, Andrew Wyeth’s subject in his now classic “Christina’s World.” The weather beaten house overlooks the Georges River and the family cemetery.

Cutler

in Washington County, incorporated 1826, is east of East Machias and boasts a large, protected harbor known as Little Machias Bay. A U.S. Navy communication base is on the Bay. Cutler Coast Public Preserved Land, in Cutler and Whiting, has almost five miles of dramatic cliff-bound ocean shore.