Fort Popham stands on Hunnewell Point in Phippsburg at the mouth of the Kennebec River. This semi-circular structure was begun in 1862 but never completed. It was then that the Union realized how vulnerable the area was to potential British incursions in support of the Confederacy during the Civil War. Concern was greatest for the…
named for General Henry Knox, is located in the town of Prospect in Fort Knox State Park on the banks of the Penobscot River across from Bucksport. The British controlled this area of the Maine coast during the War of 1812 and during the tensions surrounding the Aroostook War in 1838, the area felt threatened…
A fort, named for Governor Edward Kent, was constructed between 1838 and 1840 to assert Maine’s authority and protect settlers during the bloodless Aroostook War. Populated largely by descendents of Acadians fleeing British persecution, French is frequently the language of choice.
The structure was begun in 1858, a year after Congress authorized funds, on Hog Island in Portland Harbor. By the end of the Civil War it was outdated with the invention of the rifle cannon that could destroy its granite structure. Fort Gorges is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Currently owned by…
Fort Fairfield, established during the Aroostook War, took its name from Governor John Fairfield. The original fort (1839-1843), a duplicate of Fort Kent, was dismantled in 1862. A replica was built in 1976. The 1875 Canadian-Pacific Railroad station is part of the Railroad Museum at the old Bangor & Aroostook rail yard. The town, in the heart of potato country, hosts the Potato Blossom Festival in July.
is located on Sabino Hill in Phippsburg. Constructed between 1905 and 1912, three batteries are hidden in the woods overlooking the mouth of the Kennebec River and old Fort Popham. During World War I, it housed two artillery companies guarding access to central Maine from Bath to Augusta. In the Second World War, a tall…
Consecutive Championships School No. Year Marshwood 4 1983-1986 Ties for championships are noted at right with “/”; “CC” denotes “co-champions.” Year Class A Class B Class C Class D 1950 Lewiston Saint Louis 1951 South Portland Skowhegan Dexter 1952 Portland Morse Orono 1953 Stephens Skowhegan/ Brewer Jay 1954 Thornton Acad. Gardiner…
The Blaine House is the official residence of Maine’s governors since 1919 and a National Historic Landmark, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Located on the corner of State and Capitol streets in Augusta, it was built in the Federalist style in 1833, just a year after the State House, across the street,…
James Gillespie Blaine (1830-1893) was a major political force in Maine and the U.S. Congress. A Representative and a Senator from Maine; he was born in West Brownsville, Washington County, Pa., January 31, 1830. He was graduated from Washington College, Washington, Pa., in 1847, taught at the Western Military Institute, Blue Lick Springs, Kentucky. He…
(1817-1886) a U.S. Representative was born in Newcastle on March 4, 1817, attended the common schools and Lincoln Academy. He engaged in mercantile pursuits and shipbuilding. A member of the Maine House of Representatives in 1858, he served for many years as president of the First National Bank of Damariscotta. During the Civil War, he…
[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…
Historically Lobsters, now a major factor in Maine’s commercial fisheries, were once so plentiful that Native Americans used them to fertilize fields and to bait fish hooks. According to Colin Woodward, in 1608 with the Popham Colony failing, Lobsters were everywhere. On their way to the Kennebec, Raleigh Gilbert’s men caught fifty lobsters “of great…
In 1950, Maine had record seafood landings of 356,266,000 pounds without aquaculture. Maine ranked among the top seafood producing States. In 2009, the last year available for national seafood landings, Maine ranked 11th in pounds landed and 3rd in value. The preliminary 2010 landings were 251,299,375 pounds including aquaculture valued ex-vessel at $450,664,717, an average…
(1768-1847) was, according to The Art of Jonathan Fisher, 1768-1847, “an uncommon common man, the nineteenth century pastor of a little Maine town. More than his occupation or the locale may suggest, Fisher was a universal man–inventor, farmer, architect and builder, surveyor, linguist, naturalist. Above all he was an artist, translating his vision of the…
Consecutive Championships School No. Years Skowhegan (A) 8 2001-2008 Dexter (C) 4 2000-2003 Year Class A Class B Class C 1976 Bonny Eagle Livermore Falls Katahdin 1977 Bonny Eagle Lake Region Telstar 1978 Bonny Eagle Madawaska Telstar 1979 Waterville Belfast Madison 1980 Westbrook Lake Region Jay 1981 Bangor Cape Elizabeth Sacopee 1982 Cony…
(1806-1869) (brother of Samuel Clement Fessenden and Thomas Amory Deblois Fessenden), was a U.S. Representative and a U.S. Senator from Maine. He was born in Boscawen, Merrimack County, New Hampshire on October 16, 1806. Fessenden attended the common schools, graduated from Bowdoin College in 1827, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1827, and…
Thomas Amory DeBlois Fessenden (1826-1868), brother of Samuel Clement Fessenden and William Pitt Fessenden, was a U.S. Representative born in Portland on January 23, 1826. He attended North Yarmouth Academy and Dartmouth College, was graduated from Bowdoin College in 1845. Fessenden studied law, was admitted to the bar in April 1848, and began his practice…
(1815-1882), brother of Thomas Amory Deblois Fessenden and William Pitt Fessenden, was a U.S. Representative. He was born in New Gloucester on March 7, 1815, pursued classical studies and was graduated from Bowdoin College in 1834 and from Bangor Theological Seminary in 1837. Fessenden was ordained and installed as pastor of the Second Congregational Church…
Inland Ferries One atypical ferry operates on the Kennebec River at Caratunk, where Appalachian Trail hikers are provided sake passage across. Crossing rivers was important to commerce and transportation even in the early decades of the 20th century. Some were displaced by bridges, others became obsolete as new roads and faster automobiles became available. This…
(1889-1951) a U.S. Representative was born in Bucksport on November 7, 1889. He attended the public schools, East Maine Conference Seminary in Bucksport, and the University of Maine at Orono. He was graduated from the University of Maine Law School, was admitted to the bar in 1911 and began his practice in Portland. Fellows was…