Temperature Normals

by the month for forty-nine locations in Maine, one aspect of the climate, are calculated by taking the mean (average) of the maximum and minimum temperatures for a location, in a given month, over the thirty-year period. “Normal” temperatures are calculated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on a thirty-year basis. The data, available…

Civilian Conservation Corps

"In apple trees" near Acton, 1934

The CCC was established by Congress on April 5, 1933 as recommended by President Franklin B. Roosevelt. On April 27th Maine received its first quota for 1,800 men, mostly youths between 18 and 24. The quota was divided proportionately among the counties based on population, with Cumberland getting 256 and heavily forested Piscataquis receiving only…

Bar Harbor

The Harbor from Newport House (c. 1901)

After Newport, Rhode Island, Bar Harbor was the resort of choice for wealthy eastern Americans until the great fire of 1947 destroyed many homes and forested areas. Acadia National Park dominates tourists’ itineraries when the town’s population swells each summer. The College of the Atlantic is located here.

Mount Desert, Fires of 1947

Through the summer and into the fall of 1947 Maine received only 50% of its normal rainfall. Vegetation dries; water supplies dwindled. But the autumn rains never came and by mid-October, Mount Desert Island was experiencing the driest conditions ever recorded. The stage was set for a disastrous blaze in the state’s history of forest…

Mount Desert Island

Location Map for Mount Desert Island

[mount dez-ERT] is an island in Hancock County, containing the towns of Mount Desert, Bar Harbor, Tremont, and Southwest Harbor. Though only 400 years have passed since Europeans first viewed it, the island has been visited by native people for thousands of years. The first were the ancestors of the so-called “Red Paint People.” Later…

Isle au Haut

Location Map of Isle-au-Haut

Samuel de Champlain apparently named it in 1604 from the French for “high island.” About half the island is incorporated into Acadia National Park. Isle au Haut is both a lobstering community and a retreat for seasonal cottage owners. It has also been home to author-fisherman Linda Greenlaw.