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…

Thomaston

Just southwest of Rockland, the community lies at the point where the St. George River broadens into a long narrow bay. Ship building and shipping were the basis of its fortune and that of the two millionaires (of seven in the whole country) who lived there in 1840. Thomaston has many surviving fine homes, developed by financially successful residents, on its main street.

Southwest Harbor

Location Map for Southwest Harbor

It lies on the southwest entrance to Somes Sound, diagonally across from Northeast Harbor, a village in the town of Mount Desert. Southwest Harbor has been both a fishing and summer resort community from its earliest days as a town. See photos. Maine Route 102 begins at entrance to Mount Desert Island and leads directly south to the main village of Southwest Harbor. Here the Wendell Gilley Museum celebrates the life and work of Gilley, a pioneer of decorative bird carving. South of the harbor, the small villages of Manset and Seawall face the entrance to Somes Sound and the Cranberry Isles.

Solon

Interior of South Solon Meeting House, 121 South Main Street in Solon (2003)

Solon, Maine is a town in Somerset County, incorporated on February 23, 1809 from the township T1 R2 EKR. Settled in 1782 by William Hilton of Wiscasset, it was named for one of the great sages of Ancient Greece, in keeping with its neighboring town of Athens.

Rumford

Deacon Hutchins House (1979)

Year Population 1970 9,363 1980 8,240 1990 7,078 2000 6,472 2010 5,841 Geographic Data N. Latitude 44:31:19 W. Longitude 70:35:50 Maine House District 115 Maine Senate District 18 Congress District 2 Area sq. mi. (total) 69.9 Area sq. mi. (land) 68.6 Population/sq.mi. (land) 85.2 County: Oxford   Total=land+water; Land=land only [RUM-frd] a town in Oxford…

Rangeley

Rangely Lake (2001)

The town is at the center of the Rangeley Lakes Region with many hotels, campsites, boat launching facilities and recreational opportunities. See photos. The region was the setting for Louise Dickenson Rich’s 1942 book We Took to the Woods. It hosts Hunter Cove nature preserve and Bald Mountain public reserved land.

Ogunquit

Grand House on the Shore Road in Ogunquit overlooking Perkins Cove (2013)

Ogunquit, before 1980, was a village corporation and functioned for the most part as a town of its own, supporting its own police, fire, highway and sewer departments. The town is a well known actors and artists colony, featuring the historic Ogunquit Playhouse and beautiful beaches. Perkins Cove, south of the main village on Shore Road, combines a working waterfront, a restaurant, an art museum, and fine cottages.

Kennebunkport

Dock Square list of Shops in Kennebunkport (2012)

in York County, incorporated 1653 as Cape Porpoise. See photos. After early white settlers were driven away by Indian raids, it was reorganized as Arundel in 1718. In 1821 its name was changed to Kennebunk Port. It has long been an attraction for tourists and summer residents. Well-known residents included writers Booth Tarkington and Kenneth L. Roberts.

Jackman

James Jackman, was usually called “Captain Jackman.” He was contracted by the State to build the Canada Road from the Forks to the Canadian border. See photos. The village is on the shore of Wood Pond in Attean Township. Attean Pond and Attean Mountain are southwest of the village in an area designated as one of Maine’s “public reserved lands.” The area provides attractive fishing and hunting opportunities, canoe trips on the Moose River, and jobs for workers in the logging industry.

Hallowell

Just one of many early "Grand Houses" in Historic Hallowell (2019)

Early in the 19th century, Hallowell on the Kennebec has become an important commercial center in the District of Maine. River ice and shipbuilding were staple industries. Granite quarries were active and productive in the 19th century, with one on “Granite Hill.” Maine’s smallest city in area has a vital downtown with antique and book shops, along with restaurants. See photos. The first settler arrived in 1762; surveyor Ephraim Ballard, in 1776; his wife Martha, the next year. Maine’s first Anti-Slavery Society was founded here in 1833.

Flagstaff Township

rtion of Flagstaff Lake in Flagstaff Plantation from Bigelow Mountain (2003)

[FLAG-staff] plantation was formally organized on March 5, 1895, though it had been organized for election purposes in 1851, 1865 and 1870. Flagstaff and nearby Dead River Plantation were inundated with water from the Central Maine Power Company’s Long Falls Dam on the Dead River in 1949, after a planned and complete relocation of its…

Fairfield

Fairfield Center, with its impressive church and grange hall, is at the crossroads of routes 23 & 104. The old Lawrence High School is near the veterans park with its gazebo and shade trees. See photos. In the fall, a popular destination for apples and pumpkins is The Apple Farm. Fairfield, incorporated in 1788 in Somerset County, now hosts Kennebec Valley Community College.

Belgrade

Long Pond south from Castle Island Road (2018)

Named for Belgrade, Serbia, it is a center for the Belgrade Lakes Region that attracts summer visitors to enjoy fishing, boating and lakeside cottages. Great Pond dominates the town. Belgrade Lakes village at the north end of the pond stands between Great Pond on the east and Long Pond on the west. Belgrade’s population has showed continuous growth for the past several decades, slowly changing from a rural resort community to a residential suburb of Waterville and Augusta. See photos.

Chebeague Island

Chebeague Island from Bangs Island (2015)

    [shuh-BEEG-iland] is a town in Cumberland County, incorporated on July 1, 2007 after separating from the mainland town of Cumberland. In doing so, it joined its neighbor Long Island as another new town in Casco Bay. The 2000 census recorded the population at 356; in 2010 it was 341. The town consists of…

Bangor Historic Register

Bangor’s architectural history is influenced by the great houses built in the boom years of the nineteenth century, with its resident lumber barons and its related commerce. The city’s role as a regional hub led to the development of such institutions as the commercial center at West Market Square, the theological seminary, and the mental…

Bangor

Bangor Downtown near the West Market Square Historic District (2001)

When Maine separated from Massachusetts in 1820, the vast Maine timberlands were put on the block for speculation, which drew investors and fortune hunters. By the 1830s, Bangor was building 500 structures annually. Dow Air Force Base provided an economic and civic boost during the Cold War until closing in 1968. The creation of Bangor International Airport turned the potential liability into an asset.