Warren

Farm on Route 235 on the shore of Seven Tree Pond (2003)

The village lies off the heavily traveled highways: U.S. Route 1 and Maine Routes 90, 131, and 235. See photos. Adjacent to Thomaston, long a synonym for “State Prison,” Warren is now the site of its replacement. Meadow Mountain is a 259 acre town forest that serves as a nature preserve.

Waldo

Working Farm on the Waldo Station Road (2005)

Located just northwest of Belfast, the town (see photos) is served by Maine Routes 7, 131, 137 and 203. The Belfast and Moosehead Lake Railway passes through to its terminus in Belfast. The Railway runs summer service between Unity Station and Belfast for sightseeing and “just for fun.”

Union

Union (see photos) became the subject of Ben Ames Williams’ historical novel Come Spring, which chronicles the early settlement of the town through the lives of the Robbins family, whose home is now that of the Vose Library and the Union Historical Society. Most of the 591-acre Crawford Pond and the 523-acre Seven Tree Pond are shared with Warren to the south.

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.

St. George

In a park near the town office, St. George and the dragon reenact their famous battle. See photos. The Fort St. George’s memorial is nearby.St. George was the site of granite quarries and was the birthplace of the Granite Cutters Union in 1877, the first in the state’s history. The town may be better known by some by its villages of Port Clyde, at the southern tip of its long peninsular, and Tenants Harbor.

South Thomaston

The town lies on the Weskeag River, which broadens into several large coves before emptying into the Muscle Ridge Channel. In addition to the main village, Pleasant Beach, Waterman Beach, and Spruce Head villages hug the shore on Penobscot Bay. Spruce Head Island, connected to the mainland by a bridge, juts into Muscle Ridge Channel, a favorite passage for boaters seeking the protection of the outlying islands.

Searsmont

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.