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…

Hyde, Thomas W.

Thomas W. Hyde (1841-1899) was the founder of what is now Bath Iron Works. He graduated with the Bowdoin College class of 1861 and later from the University of Chicago. A Civil War Brigadier General, Thomas Worcester Hyde was involved in several key battles of the conflict, and was recognized by the U.S. Congress with…

Lewiston Historic Register

Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Lewiston (2001)

National Register of Historic Places – Listings – Lewiston Photos by James Henderson, and edited text are from nominations to the National Register of Historic Places researched by Maine. Historic Preservation Commission. Full text and National Register photos are at https://npgallery.nps.gov/nrhp Androscoggin Mill Block [269-271 Park Street] Due primarily to demands for an increasing labor…

Sewall, Arthur

(1896-1900) was born in Bath, son of one of the City’s first shipbuilders, in whose shipyards he worked learning the trade. In 1854, he and his brother Edward formed E. & A. Sewall continuing their father’s business. It became Arthur Sewall & Co. when his brother died. Arthur Sewall’s firm built 80 ships over 50…

Haskell Island

Great Harbor Cove on Haskell Island (2010)

Haskell is an island in the town of Harpswell, not accessible by land. It lies at the edge of Casco Bay on the south end of Merriconeag Sound. A summer home to seasonal residents, the island retains many features of its earlier history. Once known as New Damariscove Island, then Pulpit, it was finally named…

Fuller, Melville W.

Maine’s only native to serve as Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Count was born in Augusta on January 11, 1833. Melville Weston Fuller was appointed to that post by president Grover Cleavland, taking the oath of office on October 8, 1888. After graduating from Bowdoin College Phi Beta Kappa in 1853, he studied…

Peaks Island

An Informal Stone Art Site along Seashore Avenue on Peaks Island

The Island is a City of Portland neighborhood in Casco Bay, accessible by ferry from the terminal on Portland’s waterfront.  The brief trip carries freight, vehicles, bicycles and tourists. Little Diamond Island and Great Diamond Island are just to the west. While the population is about 900, the number of people on this 720-acre island…

Livermore

Livermore, the main village, fronts on Brettuns Pond. A boat launch is located off Route 4. Near Livermore village several old community buildings suggest an earlier location for the village center. North Livermore village is centered on twin water bodies, Round Pond and Long Pond. North Livermore Baptist Church graces the community, just north of “The Norlands” a living history center.

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…

Spear, Ellis

Ellis Spear

Ellis Spear (1834-1917) was second in command to then Colonel Joshua L. Chamberlain at the famous Civil War battle of Little Round Top at Gettysburg in July of 1863. He was born in Warren on October 15, 1834. Spear was graduated from Bowdoin College in 1858 and taught school in Wiscasset. Spear entered the Union…

Gettysburg

Maine’s 20th Regiment, led by Joshua L. Chamberlain and assisted by his second in command Ellis Spear, played a major role in the victory of the Union forces on July 3, 1863 at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. This farming town with a wooded ridge was the scene of a pivotal battle of the American Civil War. The…

Grange, The

Large, grange-like attached barn and farmhouse in Troy (2006)

Why “Grange“? Its origin is likely from the British English. The Oxford English Dictionary notes “British: a country house with farm buildings attached. Historical an outlying farm with tithe barns belonging to a monastery or feudal lord. Archaic: a barn. From Latin granum “grain”. by Stanley R. Howe* The National Grange came into being in 1867…

Civil War, Confederate Raiders

The United States’ Fort Sumpter in South Carolina fell to the Confederates on April 13, 1861, effectively initiating the Civil War. Four days later Confederate President Jefferson Davis authorized private vessels to capture or destroy Union commercial sailing vessels. This decision had a severe impact on Maine’s seafaring fleet and the coastal economy.  During the…

Howard, Oliver O.

Oliver O. Howard

Oliver Otis Howard was born in Leeds, November 8, 1830. He graduated from Bowdoin College in 1850 and from the U.S. Military Academy in 1855. On the outbreak of the Civil War, Howard, an opponent of slavery, resigned his regular army commission and became colonel of the Third Maine Volunteers. During the battle at Fair…

York

1787-1794 John Hancock Warehouse and Wharf in York (2018)

Most of the town’s inhabitants are located between U.S. Route 1 (inland) and U.S. Route 1A which runs along the coast. Its population has more than doubled in the past thirty years, and grew by nearly 31 percent between 1990 and 2000. Beaches and cottages characterize the coast.

Yarmouth

Yarmouth is a coastal town northeast of Portland on I-295 and U.S. Route 1. See photos. It is home to the Delorme Mapping Company and North Yarmouth Academy. Cousin’s Island is home to a large, oil fueled electric power plant known as Wyman Station. The Island has ferry terminal for Chebeague Island.

Woodstock

Not the site of the 1960’s rock concert (that was New York), Woodstock’s major village is Bryant Pond, named from the adjacent water body. The Pond outlet is the source of the Little Androscoggin River. See photos. South Woodstock is home to the small South Woodstock Meetinghouse and is the site of an old mill pond and mill on Andrews Brook.

Wiscasset

is on U.S. Route 1 and the Sheepscot River. See photos and videos. With many historic structures, the town was host to “The Greenland Expedition of 1925,” which included explorers Richard Byrd and Donald McDonald. Since 1918 Camp Chewonki has been offering outdoor programs here. The town was once best known for its Maine Yankee Atomic Power plant.