Peddle, Charles “Chuck” Ingerham (1937-2019) was an inventor electrical engineer, best known for the microprocessor that sparked a boom in personal computer industry in the 1970s. Born in Bangor, he earned an engineering degree from the University of Maine in 1960, after a stint in the Marine Corps. In the 1970s he developed several computer…
Rufus Porter (1792-1884) was a muralist who produced his work in many Maine houses. The “Porter School” is named for him, a West Boxford, Massachusetts native and son of a prosperous farmer. Unlike his father, however, Porter would lead a life that carried him throughout New England, the mid-Atlantic states, and overseas, and expose his…
Joseph B. Stearns (1831-1895) was born in Weld and moved to Searsmont with is father at the age of fourteen. Three years later he moved to Newburyport, Massachusetts and found work in a cotton mill. After several early failures left him deeply in debt, Stearns found a job in a telegraph office in Newburyport in…
Many Maine people have had an impact throughout the United States and the world. A glimpse of Maine Women in the World has been well described by Polly Welts Kaufman. Maine authors have made their mark outside the state. From the top menu, Select Society>People (non-government)>Authors for the long list of links. Then there are …
n addition to its recreational attractions, the town is a suburban community serving both the Augusta and Lewiston-Auburn areas. See photos. Winthrop is the birthplace in 1899 of Delphia Louis “Del” Bissonette, who played for the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Webb Lake is the main attraction to this recreational area, with Mount Blue State Park located on both sides of the lake. The main village is located on the eastern shore of the lake, at the junction of Maine Routes 142 and 156. Weld is the gateway to Tumbledown Mountain and Little Jackson Mountain, both popular hiking destinations in Township 6 North of Weld.
Waterville is a regional service center for northern Kennebec and southern Somerset counties. See photos. Its downtown and the Kennedy Memorial Drive commercial strip provide business and professional services. It has been home to several U.S. Senators and Maine governors. Colby College is here.
The main village is located on the St. George River and is adjacent to Quantabacook Lake. See photos. The town is served by Maine Routes 3, 131 and 173 and lies about ten miles southwest of Belfast. In 1925 the first international radio broadcast was relayed from Belfast through Searsmont and on to New York City.
John Ruggles (1789-1874) a Senator from Maine, born in Westboro, Massachusetts on October 8, 1789, attended the common schools, graduated from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island in 1813. He studied law was admitted to the bar and began his practice in Skowhegan in 1815. Ruggles moved to Thomaston, in 1817. A member of the…
(1798-1864) was born on June 18, 1798 in Readfield and became a millwright and a mechanic. He later moved to Dixfield where he developed several inventions. According to Stover in Eminent Mainers, they included a threshing and separating machine, a nail-making machine, patented in 1824, an accelerated spinner for hand-woven wool, patented in 1835, a…
(1840-1916) was born in Sangerville February 5, 1840 and was famous for inventing the machine gun, ironically a “sanguinary” (bloody) instrument of warfare. Among other things, he invented smokeless powder for guns, a gas generator, a gas headlight for locomotives, automatic steam and vacuum pumps, and engine governors. According to Maine: A Guide Downeast, In…
From earliest European presence, the Maine woods have been a source for masts, boat building, housing, and other structures. Later, the paper industry and recreational hunting, hiking, and camping, broadened its importance. Still later, people saw its role in absorbing greenhouse gasses, providing wildlife habitat wildlife, and protecting water resources.
Chester Greenwood (1858 – 1937) was a Farmington entrepreneur who became famous as the inventor of ear muffs. An inventor for the ordinary man, he could look at a labor intensive job and then figure out how to get it done more simply and comfortably. “Born in 1858, Greenwood was a tall rangy human dynamo…
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.
in Hancock County was settled in 1762. Jed Prouty’s Tavern and Inn, no longer operating, was a stop for the Bangor to Castine stage route. The paper mill (once St. Regis, then Champion, then Verso) dominates the north end of town and is across the Penobscot River from Fort Knox. Northeast Historic Film, a moving image archives, research and education center is located here. See photos.
December 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 Chester Greenwood Day to recognize the inventor of earmuffs and “commemorate and honor Chester Greenwood, whose inventive genius and native ability, which contributed…
November 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 1916 Machine gun inventor Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim, of Sangerville, who also invented smokeless powder, a gas generator and other items, dies in London.
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 1775 Benedict Arnold expedition arrives at Norridgewock Falls 1897 Neal Dow, crusading prohibitionist, Mayor of Portland, member of the Maine House of Representatives,…
July 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 1783 Birth date of Cornelius Holland, delegate to the Maine constitutional convention in 1819, member of the Maine House and Senate, and a…
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 1788 Incorporation of the towns of Canaan, Fairfield, Greene, and Norridgewock 1798 Birth date of Leonard Norcross, inventor of an early diving suit 1812…