Cleaveland, Parker

Parker Cleaveland House on Federal Street (2013)

Parker Cleaveland House, National Historic Landmark [75 Federal Street in Brunswick] Parker Cleaveland, nationally known for his contributions to the study of mineralogy, lived here from 1806 to 1858. A professor at Bowdoin College, he conducted some of the earliest studies of mineralogy in the United States. In 1816 his Elementary Treatise on Mineralogy and Geology was the…

Historic Preservation Commission, Maine

Maine Historic Preservation Commission (2001)

The Commission is responsible for the identification, evaluation, and protection of Maine’s significant cultural resources as directed by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. It is located at 55 Capitol Street in Augusta. It consists of eleven members as follows: The Commissioner of Transportation or  representative, the Commissioner of Conservation or representative and 9…

Stroudwater

Cumberland and Oxford Canal with Maine Historic Civil Engineering Landmark recognition

Stroudwater, a neighborhood in the City of Portland, lies west of the railroad tracks to the Westbrook border. Several locations of historical significance include the Tate House Museum, a portion of the Cumberland & Oxford Canal, and an old dam on the Stroudwater River. It is a highly developed residential and commercial area.

MacMillan, Donald B.

Model of the Schooner Bowdoin at Bowdoin College (2013)

Donald Baxter MacMillan (1872-1970), though born in Provincetown, Massachusetts, lived in Freeport as a boy, and graduated from Freeport High School and Bowdoin College in Brunswick.  He later taught at schools in Maine and Massachusetts. After joining Admiral Robert E. Peary’s successful expedition to the North Pole in 1908, MacMillan began to explore, eventually accompanied…

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.

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.

Togus

National Home for Disabled Soldiers (Eastern Branch) c. 1880

                                                                    The National Home for Disabled Soldiers (Eastern Branch) Togus c. 1880 The Togus Veterans Administration Medical and Regional Office Center, as…

South Berwick

Counting House Day Lily Memorial Park at the Salmon Falls River (2018)

Maine’s oldest educational institution, Berwick Academy, was established here in 1791 when the town was part of Berwick. See photos. South Berwick is the birthplace of Sarah Orne Jewett, who attended Berwick Academy for four years — her only formal education. The town is accessible to the coastal communities of York and Kittery via Maine Routes 91 and 236.

Scarborough

A sample of the diverse wildlife in Scarborough Marsh (2010)

A suburb of Portland, the rapidly growing community now ranks as tenth most populous in Maine according to the 2000 U.S. Census, up from 13th place in 1990, having grown almost 36 percent in ten years. See photos. The Scarborough Marsh Wildlife Management Area is managed by the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife in a federal-state partnership program. The town’s fine beaches and the Scarborough Downs race track and off-track betting facility are attractions for many.

Rockland

The Farnsworth Museum (2005)

a city in, and the county seat of, Knox County, it is the home to the Farnsworth Art Museum, the Maine Seafood Festival, a historic working waterfront, historic structures, and birthplace of notable cultural and political figures. Located on U.S. Route 1, the city is a regional service and retail center.

Prospect

on the west bank of the Penobscot River, across from Bucksport, the main village is at the junction of Maine Route 174 and U.S. Route 1A, near the South Branch of the Marsh River. Prospect is home to Fort Knox, built in 1844 with Mount Waldo granite from Frankfort and named for Henry Knox, the first U.S. Secretary of War.

Northeast Harbor

The Sunbeam at its Berth (2001)

is a community in Hancock County within the town of Mount Desert. Its namesake harbor sits at the northeast side of the entrance to Somes Sound, which splits the island of Mount Desert. Routes 3 and 198 serve the village, passing Upper Hadlock Pond in Acadia National Park.  The pond had been a source of…

New Gloucester

Pineland Farms near the Intervale Road in New Gloucester (2013)

home for Pineland Center from 1908 to 1996, that facility for the mentally retarded was known as the “Maine School for the Feeble-Minded” and later as the Pownal State School. See photos. It has been redeveloped as an office park. The multiple-use campus hosts professional, educational, and civic organizations, along with a conference facility. Pineland Farms and its Equestrian Center are major facilities nearby.

Kittery

Portsmouth Naval Shipyard (2013)

in York County serves as the gateway to Maine from points south with its old and more modern bridges spanning the Piscataqua River. See video & photos. The federal government established the Navy Yard in 1806. The 74-gun ship Washington was the first vessel built there in 1815. The town’s long history is partially illustrated by the substantial list of historic sites.

Homer, Winslow

Boardwalk in woods in Prouts Neck, Scarborough (2002)

1836 Birth in Boston 1854? Lithography workshop 1857 Free-lancing, Harper’s Weekly 1859 National Academy of Design 1862 Artist for Harper’s 1863+ Civil War paintings, Harper’s 1866 Prisoners from the Front 1867 Homer returns to New York 1872 Snap the Whip. 1875 1st view of Prouts Neck 1881 Northumberland, England 1882 Homer returns to New York…

Georgetown

Reid State Park, with Snack Shack and path to the Beach (2010)

Settled in the early 1600s, it shares its early history with nearby Phippsburg and Arrowsic. See photos. It is home to Reid State Park and to the summer residence of sculptor William and artist Marguerite Zorach. Their daughter, artist Dahlov Ipcar, has also been a resident. The Josephine Newman Sanctuary and the Ledgewood nature preserve are here.

Gardiner

The Oaklands. Robert Hallowell Gardiner estate (2017)

on the Kennebec River, it is named for Dr. Sylvester Gardiner, an early proprietor and developer who brought settlers too the area in 1754. See photos. Notable residents included Revolutionary War General Henry Dearborn, Dr. Gideon Stinson Palmer, author Laura E. Richards, and poet Edwin Arlington Robinson.