(1924-1994) was one of Maine’s most influential media figures. As publisher and chair of the board of Guy Gannett Communications, she controlled a company whose assets included newspapers, television channels, and multi-tenant broadcast towers. As a successful and visible citizen, Jean Gannett Hawley used her influence to raise awareness for many artistic and charitable organizations.…
About 19 miles northeast of Skowhegan, Hartland village lies on the Sebasticook River at the junction of Maine Routes 23, 43, 151, and 152. See photos. Built before the Civil War, the Academy Building ceased its educational function in 2001 when a new school was built.. It became the Town Hall, hosting town meetings and offices. Woolen mills and tanneries were 19th and early 20th century industries.
Lake Anasagunticook on Main Street (Route 140) in northern Hartford is surrounded by seasonal and year-round houses. See photos. Church Street, an extension of Staples Hill Road in Canton, is a rural road with farms, the old school and community church, with access to the southern shore of the Lake. The area was first settled by Edmund Irish in 1788. The J&) Irish Museum is on Route 140.
A growing community, its population has consistently expanded over the past forty years. From 2000 to 2010 alone it grew by nearly 18%. See photos and video. By 1847 a wood products mill, known as Scribner’s Mill, was in operation. An effort to restore it is underway. Just north of Naples, Harrison has substantial frontage on Long Lake, which it shares with Bridgton.
In 1858 the Jefferson Davis trail was cut to haul supplies and instruments to the top of Humpback Mountain for the U.S. Coast Survey. An elegant old church, adjoins the Gallison Memorial Library on U.S. 1. See photos. The town has sustained its population base when others in Washington County have declined. From 2000 to 2010 the number of residents expanded by nearly 14%.
Historically a collection of small villages, some on islands, the closest to a town center is the town office and the recycling center on the Mountain Road. See photos. Its population doubles in summer as seasonal residents return. Several easy hiking trails and nature preserves are at hand. A historic park is at Harpswell Center.
Harmony has substantial frontage on Great Moose Lake and the Sebasticook River which flows into it from Mainstream Pond. Boat launch facilities are available at the Lake and the Pond. See photos. U.S. Representative Clyde H. Smith (husband of Margaret Chase Smith) was born here.
Hanover is experiencing home and vacation property development at a more rapid pace. The small town is receiving more interest within the greater area as development in neighboring larger towns is spreading. As with many Maine communities, the number of full-time residents is declining as non-resident vacation homes increase.
Hancock Village lies south of the junction on a peninsular, with Taunton Bay on its northeast and Skillings River on the southwest. Further south are the villages of South Hancock and Hancock Point. See photos. A Wildlife Management Area near Egypt Bay is open to the public for primitive forms of recreation including hunting and trapping.
The town is a suburb of Bangor lying just south of that city on U.S. Route 1A. It hosts a regional U.S. Post Office processing center. Hampden Academy was established in 1803. The Grange Hall, one of the first chartered Granges in 1880. See photos. While teaching here Stephen King was spending his spare time writing short stories and novels. It is the birthplace of social reformer Dorothea Dix. Settled in 1767 it was once known as Wheelersborough after the first settler, carpenter, and mill owner.
Hammond is west of Littleton and northwest of Houlton in southern Aroostook County, clearly “off the beaten path” of U.S. Route 1. However, it has sustained, and increased, its small population over four decades. Access to the public “Hammond Lot” is through the small village in the southeast near Houlton. B stream runs west to east through the southern portion of the township, from B Pond through B Dam in the east.
Mark Harris (1779-1843) a U.S. Representative, was born in Ipswich, Massachusetts on January 27, 1779, and attended the common schools. He moved to Portland in 1800 and worked in retail sales. A member of the Massachusetts State Senate in 1816, he held several local offices. Elected to the Seventeenth Congress to fill the vacancy caused…
David Hammons (1808-1888) a U.S. Representative, was born in Cornish on May 12, 1808 and attended the common schools. He studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1836 and commenced practice in Lovell. A member of the Maine State Senate in 1840 and 1841, he was elected as a Democrat to the Thirtieth Congress…
Simon Hamlin (1866-1939) a U.S. Representative, was born in Standish (Richville) August 10, 1866. He attended the public schools, Gorham Normal School, and Bridgton Academy, and taught school. Hamlin was graduated from Bowdoin College, in 1900 and became superintendent of the South Portland and Cape Elizabeth schools 1901-1925.City Clerk of South Portland in 1913, he…
Helen Hamlin (1917-2004), author of Nine Mile Bridge: Three Years in the Maine Woods and Pines, Potatoes and People: A Story of Aroostook, was born Helen Leidy in Fort Kent. She developed a great love of the wilderness and adventure as the daughter and granddaughter to Maine fish and game wardens. She summered on Cross…
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.
Robert B. Hall (1858-1907) composer and musician, was born into a musical family on June 30th, 1858 in Bowdoinham and was known as a cornet virtuoso, bandmaster and composer of marches. Among his compositions is the Fort Popham March. His father played E flat cornet in a local band and was his son’s first cornet…
Joseph Hall (1793-1859) was a U.S. Representative born in Methuen, Massachusetts on June 26, 1793. He attended the common schools and Andover Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. He moved to Camden in 1809 and engaged in business. During the War of 1812 he served as ensign in 1814 in Colonel Forte’s regiment of the Massachusetts Militia,…
Robert S. Hale (1889-1976), cousin of Frederick Hale, was a U.S. Representative born in Portland on November 29, 1889. He attended the public schools; was graduated from Portland High School in 1906, from Bowdoin College, Brunswick in 1910, and from Oxford University in England, in 1912. He attended Harvard Law School in 1913 and 1914;…
(1874-1963), son of Eugene Hale, grandson of Zachariah Chandler, and cousin of Robert Hale, was a Senator from Maine, born in Detroit, Michigan. on October 7, 1874. He attended preparatory schools in Lawrenceville, New Jersey and Groton, Massachusetts, and graduated from Harvard University in 1896. Hale attended Columbia Law School in 1896 and 1897, was…