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…

Fruits

Pick Your Own Tray with strawberries (2017)

Berries Strawberries Strawberries are a high value crop in Maine agriculture with net profit potential of $6,000 or more per acre. The number of farms raising strawberries and the acreage dedicated to them increased substantially in recent years, with more demand for locally grown fresh fruit. Strawberries are the most widely grown small fruit crop…

Prisoners of War in Maine

The Spencer Lake camp was built to accommodate 250 prisoners, though it later had to handle 310 men.  Schoolchildren from Forest Hills School 8th Grade Class of 2007 for their service learning project in nearby Jackman have placed a plaque marking the spot near an apparent cooking structure. (See photo above.) Maine’s forest and potato…

Harpswell, North

Otter Brook Preserve Trails in North Harpswell (2018)

In Harpswell, this is the northern most village on Harpswell Neck, the others being West and South Harpswell. It centers on the intersection of Route 123 from Brunswick and the Mountain Road, which links North Harpswell to the islands via the Ewing Narrows Bridge. Near the intersection: the Merriconeag Grange, the Vegetable Corner grocery, a…

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.

Herseytown Township

Mount Katahdin from Herseytown (2012)

Herseytown Township should not be confused with the town of Hersey about 25 miles north on Route 11 in Penobscot County. Davidson, the only village in the township, was in the north at Davidson Pond on the Davidson Road off Route 11. A 1942 USGS Topographic map shows Davidson with several buildings (small squares). Other…

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.            …

Pittston Academy Grant

Pittston Farm Sign on the Northern Road (2008)

This township is mostly south of the Golden Road where the Northern Road turns down toward the Pittston Farm, established by the Great Northern Paper Company. According to John Gould, In lumber camp lingo a “farm” is a depot and base of operations serving a considerable area of working timberland.  Pittston Farm had storage sheds,…

Benedicta Township

Plunkett Pond, locally known as Perry Pond, in Benedicta (2015)

Benedicta is located in southern Aroostook County. It was established as a plantation on February 1, 1873 with a population of about 400. Just over one-hundred years later, in 1987, it surrendered its plantation status and became an unorganized township administered by the State.     By 1970 it had reached a historic low of…

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.

Woolwich

Woolwich Shore on the Kennebec River from Thorne Head in North Bath (2010)

Woolwich, across the Kennebec River from Bath and with long shores on Merrymeeting Bay, is home to two nature preserves. Settled in the 1600s, it has several historic buildings. Alewives have been a historic part of the community.

Woodland

Long view in Woodland on the Colby Siding Road (2003)

With little in the way of a central village, the town lies west of Caribou served by Maine Routes 161 and 228. See photos. Unable to find enough land in New Sweden, members of the Swedish Colony were granted 100 acre lots in Woodland. This northern community, in the heart of potato and forest product country, is not to be confused with the village of Woodland in the town of Baileyville.

Winn

Location Map for Winn

Winn village is on U.S. Route 2 between Lincoln and Mattawamkeag on the east bank of the Penobscot River. See photos. During the 19th century, International Paper Company harvested wood to supply its pulp and paper mills. Winn is an agricultural community slowly losing its small population as are many northern Maine towns.

Windham

The main village, North Windham, lies adjacent to Sebago Lake and on the shore of Little Sebago Lake at the junction of U.S. Route 302 and Maine Routes 35 and 115. See photos. While Route 302 is a long commercial strip, an old meeting house is adjacent to the Windham Union Church. Young adult offenders are held at the Maine Correctional Center in South Windham.

Willimantic

Location Map for Willimantic

Located on the western end of Sebec Lake, the town offers many camping and fishing opportunities. Packard Landing was the location of Packard’s Camps in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Maine Route 150 runs north from Guilford and terminates at the village of Sebec Lake, not to be confused with the town of Sebec at the far eastern end of the Lake.

Westfield

Westfield village lies between U.S. Routes 1 and 1A, on the Prestile Stream, just north of Mars Hill in Aroostook County’s potato country. See photos. Aside from its palette and box factory, Westfield is primarily an agricultural area, except for the marshland in the western portion of the town.

West Paris

The community, north and west of Paris, though small, has experienced consistent population growth over the past thirty years. Its stone construction library is on the National Register of Historic Places. See photos. Snow Falls, a 40 foot waterfall, drops into a gorge created by the Little Androscoggin River about two mile south of the main village.

West Gardiner

Its community center is on the Spears Corner Road where the town office, fire department, town garage, elementary school, and convenience store all lie in close proximity. See photos. West Gardiner is the site of one of the Maine Turnpike Authority’s service plazas, home to the Center for Maine Craft, which features a retail gallery and cultural tourism information.

Webster

This sparsely populated plantation in Penobscot county is primarily marshlands and streams, with the exception of Tucker Ridge and Pickle Ridge where Tucker Ridge Road and Pickle Ridge Road serve the plantation’s residents. It contains a portion of the Mattawamkeag River System Wildlife Management Area and the “Webster Lot” of Maine’s Public Reserved Land.