This township lies at the base of Baxter State Park, encompassing the Park’s south access road from Millinocket and the eastern end of The Golden Road. Togue Pond Gate is the south entrance to the Park. The West Branch of the Penobscot River flows through its western region and includes…
Ripogenus (Abenaki for “gravel) is the name given for the dam and the lake created by it. Ripogenus Lake is essentially a human-made extension of Chesuncook Lake. The dam [N45° 52′ 47.64″ W69° 10′ 32.56″], completed in 1920, provides water power for McKay power station through an underground tunnel. In 1989…
This township is located east of the southern portion of Baxter State Park. Both the Golden Road and the West Branch of the Penobscot River span its width. Ripogenus Dam, Lake, and Gorge are major geographic features. [See related Chesuncook] …
Blizzards, floods and hurricanes are occasional weather events, but often sudden and severe in Maine. This is a chronicle of some of the most significant events. Blizzards November 26, 1898 was the first day of the two-day Portland Gale, a hurricane and blizzard that raged for over thirty-six hours sinking about one hundred vessels including…
in Maine is famously varied and changeable, and at times, severe. The coast, moderated by the ocean, often has local weather far different from that in the western mountains or the expanses of Aroostook County. Adding to the complexity, global warming may be affecting our climate, as may be indicated by an increasing number of…
Maine Central Institute, founded in 1866 as a preparatory school for Bates College, is one of the “Big 10” private secondary schools in Maine that still serves the public school population as well. See photos. Downtown Pittsfield, on the Sebasticook River, was wiped out by a fire in 1881 and rebuilt immediately. As did many Maine communities, Pittsfield’s woolen mills provided steady employment during the first half of the 20th century, then literally “went South,” finding cheaper labor in the 1950’s.
October 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1785 The floods of the “Great Freshet of October 1785” sweeps away almost all the mills and bridges in Berwick and Kennebunk. 1862…
October 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1840 Highland Plantation, then known as Plantation Number 2, is organized for election purposes for the first time. 1859 Democratic Governor (1834-1838) Robert…
September 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 1775 Benedict Arnold expedition moves out from Cambridge, Massachusetts on its way through Maine to Quebec. 1902 Lewiston Typographical Union is organized 1954 Hurricane…
June 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 1778 Incorporation of the town of Gray 1809 Incorporation of the town of Whitefield 1814 After several days of intense rain, floods sweep away…
May 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1913 Forrest Goodwin, clerk (1889-1891) to U.S. Speaker of the House Thomas B. Reed, and U. S. Congress member in 1913, dies in…
April 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 1772 First white settlers, Joseph Weston and his family of eleven, arrive in what was to become the town of Skowhegan. …
April 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 1827 A gale and freshet strikes Maine with severe rainfall, causing damage to vessels in Portland Harbor and sending a grist mill down the…
April 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 1606 James I, King of England, signs the first charter giving a company, the Virginia Company, the right to establish colonies on…
April 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 1816 Penobscot County established 1860 Knox County established 1899 Bangor Bricklayers, Plasterers and Masons Union, No. 7 organized 1903…
March 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Maple Sunday is the 4th Sunday in March. 1819 Birth date in Woodstock of Sidney Perham, a U.S. Congressman and Governor…
March 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Maple Sunday is the 4th Sunday in March. 1846 Floods ravage Livermore Fall on the Androscoggin, Hallowell on the Kennebec, and Bangor on…
March 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1835 Incorporation of the town of Otis 1836 Incorporation of the towns of Amity and Linneus 1839 Incorporation of the town of Argyle…
January 8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1770 As a result of rains the day before, the “Great Freshet of 1770” caused substantial flooding along the lower…
1975-2004 During this period Maine state government was reorganized as a divided legislature faced an Independent governor, and the archaic Executive Council was abolished. Democrats outnumbered Republicans among registered voters for the first time; but unenrolled (“independent”) voters soon outnumbered either party. Women substantially increased their numbers in the Maine Legislature. Term limits for legislators…