Bowdoinham

settled originally as early as 1623, but Indian raids precluded a permanent presence. Reportedly named for Dr. Peter Bowdoin, an early proprietor, it occupies the western shore of Merrymeeting Bay. The Cathance River runs through it and into the Bay. A fast growing community, Bowdoinham has attracted commuters and retirees to its still rural open spaces. See photos.

Bath Historic Register

“The Sewall Mansion,” 963 Washington Street, was built in 1844, in a late Federal Style. Redone in 1894 by John Calvin Stevens in Colonial Revival Style. (2013)

National Register of Historic Places – Listings Photos, and edited text are from nominations to the National Register of Historic Places researched by Maine. Historic Preservation Commission. Full text and photos are at https://npgallery.nps.gov/nrhp  Bath Historic District [Roughly bounded by High, Beacon, and Court Streets, U.S. 1 and Kennebec River] In this area Bath’s prospering…

Brewer

Brewer Along the Penobscot (2003)

Year Population 1970 9,300 1980 9,017 1990 9,021 2000 8,987 2010 9,482 Geographic Data N. Latitude 44:46:44 W. Longitude 69:25:29 Maine House Dists 128,129 Maine Senate District 8 Congress District 2 Area sq. mi. (total) 15.6 Area sq. mi. (land) 15.1 Population/sq.mi. (land) 628.0 County: Penobscot Total=land+water; Land=land only  Brewer is a city in Penobscot…

Barnard Township

This is a small, irregular boot-shaped township north of Sebec in Piscataquis County. Barnard Corner is a modest village in the southeast.  The only improved road is a north-south stretch of about four miles with three names: Sebec Village Road (south), Barnard Road (middle) and Austin Road (north). The landscape contains no lakes, ponds, or mountains.…

Brassua Township

West of Moosehead Lake and north of Rockwood Strip, this township has several miles of frontage on the northwestern shore of Brassua Lake.  The only improved road is the north-south Demo Road between Rockwood Strip and Soldiertown Township (T2 R3 NBKP). The township has miles of unimproved roads, apparently to support the logging industry. NBKP…

Brunswick Landing

Control Tower and Building at former Naval Air Station (2010)

Brunswick Landing is a multi-purpose site on the former Brunswick Naval Air Station in the Town of Brunswick. Brunswick Executive Airport (BXM) at Brunswick Landing has two 8,000 foot runways, 650,000 square feet of hangar space and maintenance facilities, over 103 acres of taxiways and aircraft parking apron space. It also has an advanced glycol…

Insects, Browntail Moth

Browntail Moth Larva (2017)

According to the Maine Forest Service the browntail moth was accidentally introduced into Somerville, Massachusetts from Europe in 1897.  By 1913, the insect had spread to all New England states, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.  Populations of this pest slowly decreased due to natural controls until the 1960s, when browntail moth was limited to Cape…

Bass, George H.

(1843- c. 1926) In 1911 Wilton was a thriving community whose merchants and factories supplied a wide variety of goods and services from automobiles to granite and steel. Like many of its contemporaries, Wilton had a free public library, an electric light and power company and a private academy. The town’s development was greatly facilitated…

Brown-headed Cowbird

Female Brown-headed Cowbird in Nobleboro (2015)

This Cowbird, 6 to eight inches beak to tail,  is a spring and summer visitor to Maine.  Once a follower of bison on the great plains, these birds now inhabit the edges of woods, roadsides, and towns across the United States. Females lay their eggs in the nests of other birds, then abandon them to…

Butterflies

Butterflies in Maine Monarchs The colorful and common Monarchs range throughout the United States, including all of Maine, especially in rural areas with fields thick with milkweed. Wingspan ranges from 3½ to 4 inches. As forests reclaim abandoned farms and the remaining cropland displaces milkweed and similar plants, this butterfly has become less abundant in…

Bangs Island

East Shore of Bangs Island (2015)

East Shore of Bangs Island (2015) On Casco Bay in the town of Chebeague Island, narrow Bangs Island is just short of a mile long. It is owned by the Maine Department of Conservation and was managed by the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife in 2013. An aquaculture lease for suspended culture of blue…

Boston Post Cane

On August 2, 1909,  Mr. Edwin A. Grozier, Publisher of the Boston Post, a newspaper, forwarded to the Board of Selectmen in 700 towns* (no cities included) in New England a gold-headed ebony cane with the request that it be presented with the compliments of the Boston Post to the oldest male citizen of the…

Brown, Harrison Bird

Harrison B. Brown House (2015)

Harrison Bird Brown was a widely recognized 19th century marine and landscape painter. Born in Portland in 1831 and orphaned at an early age, he was apprenticed to a house and ship painting firm. His best work dates from the 1860’s and early 70’s when his style was delicate and detailed and his colors rich…

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…

Bald Mountain Township T4 R3 NBKP

Mud Pond with view of Boundary Bald Mountain near the Bald Mountain Road in Bald Mountain Township (2014)

The township is north of Moose River in northwestern Somerset County. It should not be confused with Bald Mountain Township T2 R3 BKP EKR, which contains a section of the Appalachian Trail, in northeastern Somerset County east of Caratunk. The township apparently was once a Plantation. The U.S. Census reports four years of population counts:…

Bradstreet Township

Bradstreet Township (right) from Hardscrabble Road in Parlin Pond Township (2016)

Attean Falls on the Moose River and the nearby Attean Falls Campground are probably the biggest features that draw visitors to the township. For those taking the Moose River Bow Canoe Trip, this is the last campsite before entering Attean Pond. The Falls are basically a challenging group of rapids, usually successfully navigated by canoeists. …

Batchelders Grant Township

Forest Protection Area in the White Mountain National Forest on Maine Route 113, Wild River at Right (2013)

This township in Oxford County was named for the original grantee, Josiah
Batchelder. It borders New Hampshire in the White Mountain National Forest.

Maine Route 113 runs north-south through the township. Portions of the road, also known as the Evans Notch Road, are closed during the winter. Access is then from Gilead in the north or from Stow in the south.

Evans Notch, in the southern portion of the township, is a deep cut among the White Mountains. It is a popular hiking location using the East Royce Mountain Trail to that mountain from two points on Route 113.

Brookton Township

Panoramic View from U.S. 1 in Brookton (2013)

    Panoramic View  of wind turbines from U.S.  Route 1 in Brookton (2013)   Brookton is an unorganized township just south of Danforth on U.S. Route 1, one of its only two improved roads. The other, Forest City Road in the southeastern corner, passes by Brook Lake, half of which is in Brookton. A…