Chase, Mary Ellen

Mary Ellen Chase, professor English, May, 1933

(1887-1993) produced a great many books in her career that secured her place in academic circles. Her books about her recollections of Maine provide readers with vivid images of life on the rural coast in the years before electricity and indoor bathrooms brought modernity to Maine. Because of her writing, modern readers can access a…

Charlotte

Pennamaquan Lake in Charlotte (2004)

in Washington County, incorporated in 1825. Its Pennamaquan Wildlife Management Area, a 1,500-plus acre site, offers opportunities for boating, canoeing, hunting, fishing, and viewing of eagles, deer and waterfowl. The first settlement was established about 1807-1810.

Charleston

Higgins Classical Institute (2014)

in Penobscot County, incorporated in 1811 under the name of New Charleston. Higgins Classical Institute, for “the promotion of christian education,” was established in 1891. Once the site of a U.S. Air Force radar and communications base, it now hosts a correctional center using the former base facilities. See photos.

Chapman

Fall Foliage at Dudley Brook on the West Chapman Road (2014)

a town in Aroostook County, incorporated in 1915 from Chapman Plantation, was settled in the late 1860s. It cooperates with Castle Hill and Mapleton with a common town manager and comprehensive plan. The Haystack Historical Society serves this rural area.

Chandler, John

John Chandler, Senate President courtesy Maine State Archives

(1762-1841) was born in Epping, New Hampshire, brother of Thomas Chandler and uncle of Zachariah Chandler, both penniless and illiterate. A U.S. Representative from Massachusetts and a U. S. Senator from Maine, he served in Congress in the following years: 1820-1823; 1823-1825; 1825-1829 as a Democratic-Republican, Crawford Republican, and a Jacksonian, precursors to the Democratic…

Chamberlain, Frances

Frances C. A. Chamberlain, courtesy Pejepscot Historical Society, Brunswick

Frances (Fanny) Caroline Adams Chamberlain (1825-1905) was a musician and the wife of Civil War General Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain. She was adopted as a small child by her father’s nephew, Reverend George Adams and his wife. He was minister of the First Parish Congregational Church in Brunswick. Fanny, as she was called, was artistic and…

Centerville

Location Map For Centerville

now an unorganized township, was a town in Aroostook County. In 1886 it had a rail freight connection, now a recreational trail, with Machias. The economy was based on two shingle mills, potatoes and hay. 1870 population stood at 145; by 1880 it had plunged to 32, from which level it never recovered. The town deorganized in 2004.

Caswell

in Aroostook County, organized in 1879, includes a major portion of the Aroostook National Wildlife Refuge. It also hosts a tract of Maine’s Public Reserved Land just north of Mud Lake. Closing of Loring Air Force Base has sharply reduced its population.

Castle Hill

Irrigation Equipment in a Potato Field in Castle Hill (2014)

in Aroostook County, incorporated in 1903. The 1,341 foot high Haystack Mountain is the only exception to the relatively flat, potato growing area. Castle Hill is on Maine Route 227, ten miles west of Presque Isle. It shares a town manager with Mapleton and Chapman.

Castine

In 1629 the British authorized a trading post at what was then Pentagoet. The post was destroyed by the French in 1631 and in 1634. Two forts are among the many historic sites. Maine Maritime Academy, and its training ship are located in the town.

Casco Bay

Schooner Near Halfway Rock (2001)

The Bay contains about 200 islands (depending on what one counts as an “island” but only about 138 “good sized” islands). The Bay is bounded by Cape Elizabeth in the south and Cape Small in the north. Halfway Rock is about half way between the two capes which are about twenty miles apart, and about…

Casco

Songo Lock in Casco (2003)

settled by Europeans in 1771, in Cumberland County, incorporated in 1841, is on the north shore of Sebago Lake. The Songo Lock, built about 1830, linked Long Pond and Brandy Pond with Sebago Lake, allowing boat passage from Harrison to Portland. Nathaniel Hawthorne, author and Bowdoin College graduate was its most prominent resident.

Cary, Shepard

(1805-1866) a U.S. Representative was born in New Salem, Massachusetts, July 3, 1805. He attended the common schools; moved with his parents to Houlton in 1822. Cary engaged in extensive lumber operations and also in agricultural and mercantile pursuits. A member of the Maine House of Representatives in 1832, 1833, 1839-1842, 1848, 1849, and 1862,…

Cary Township

Cary Baptist Church on U.S. Route 1 (2019)

in Aroostook County was established in 1895. The name is in honor of Shepard Cary, a prominent lumberman in the area, State Legislator and member of Congress. The small community has about 200 residents. A substantial portion of the Lt. Gordon Manuel Wildlife Management Area, shared with Hodgdon, lies in the northwestern portion..

Carthage

in Franklin County incorporated in 1826 has a small but growing population. It has has many pleasant views of the western mountains and several historic buildings. The village of Berry Mills, on the Webb River, has a sawmill, as it did in the 1880s. See photos.

Carter, Timothy Jarvis

(1800-1838) a U.S. Representative was born in Bethel on August 18, 1800. He attended the town schools of Bethel, studied law at Northampton, Massachusetts, was admitted to the bar in 1826, and began his practice in Rumford. Carter moved to Paris, Maine in 1827 and continued the practice of law. He was Secretary of the…

Carson, Rachel

Rachel Carson

(1907-1964) biologist, environmentalist, and nature writer was born in Springdale, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh, on May 27, 1907. From the mid-1940s, she and her mother spent summers near West Southport, and in 1952 Carson built a summer cottage along the Sheepscot River. As a child, Carson was interested in nature and, after majoring in biology at…

Carroll Plantation

Maple Trees Tapped with Tubing for Maple Syrup on Route 6 in Carroll Plantation (2014)

incorporated in 1845, lies on the old stage line (Maine Route 6) from Lincoln, through Lee, Springfield to Princeton. Named for Daniel Carroll, member of the Continental Congress and signer of the Articles of Confederation and of the Constitution, it is home to an extensive maple sugar harvesting operation. See photos.