Even before it was incorporated, the community had its church (see photos), which was organized in 1765 and built in 1802. The tip of Phippsburg at the mouth of the Kennebec River is the site of the first English attempt at settling New England: the Popham Colony of 1607-1608. Fort Popham and Fort Baldwin, rise as a guardians of land upriver. Coxes Head, which juts out into the Kennebec River.
The northern portion is dominated by a section of Maine Public Reserved Land, some of which encompasses the Salmon Brook Lake. A 1,055-acre Ecological Reserve surrounds the lake and wetlands. The 59-mile multi-use Bangor and Aroostook Trail is a located in Perham, Caribou, and other area towns. The trail, formerly a Bangor and Aroostook Railroad corridor, passes along the western side of Salmon Brook Lake Bog in Perham. Located west of Caribou on Maine Route 228. Perham is an agricultural community.
The Sandy River-Rangeley Lakes Railroad, which transported people and forest products to and from the north woods, was once headquartered in the town. See photos. As the Sandy River passes through the village, the river bed appears as frozen sand, almost bone-like in its strange shapes. A canoe trip from here to Farmington begins well below the bridge. Outdoors woman, columnist, and promoter of outdoor sports in Maine, Cornelia “Fly Rod” Crosby was born here.
John Andrew Peters (1864-1953), nephew of John Andrew Peters (1822-1904), a U.S. Representative, was born in Ellsworth on August 13, 1864. He attended the common schools, was graduated from Bowdoin College in 1885. He studied law; was admitted to the bar, began his practice in Ellsworth in 1887, and became judge of the municipal court…
John Andrew Peters (1822-1904), uncle of John Andrew Peters (1864-1953), a U.S. Representative, was born in Ellsworth on October 9, 1822. He attended Gorham Academy, and was graduated from Yale College in 1842. He studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1844 and began his practice in Bangor in 1844. A member of the…
The town is on the south bank of the Androscoggin River just below the Rumford-Mexico-Dixfield area. Its main village is West Peru, across the river from Mexico in the northern portion of the town. See photos. Further south on the Ridge and Valley roads, the rolling rural landscape reveals mountain views, farms and forests. A campground and bed & breakfast may be found at the three-mile long Worthley Pond.
Named for Commodore Oliver H. Perry, a naval hero of the War of 1812, the town was incorporated even as the British still held Eastport only six miles away. Perry is the gateway, via Maine Route 190, to the Pleasant Point Passamaquoddy Indian Reservation located withing the town, and to the City of Eastport. Boyden Lake dominates the northwest portion of the town, while the southwest has miles of protected coves approaching Cobscook Bay.
John Jasiel Perry (1811-1897), a U.S. Representative, was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire on August 2, 1811. In 1812, he moved with his parents to an area of Hebron that is now in the town of Oxford, attended the common schools and Maine Wesleyan Seminary (now Kents Hill School in Readfield). A deputy sheriff of…
The Reservation in Penobscot County, is the home of the Penobscot Tribe of Maine’s Native American population, and is located on Indian Island in the Penobscot River and within the boundaries of the community of Old Town. See photos. The Penobscot Nation Council, headquartered on the Island, is composed of elected members, lead by a Chief and a Vice Chief. It is the birthplace in 1871 of Cleveland Indians baseball player Louis Sockalexis. Dancer and entertainer Molly Spotted Elk was born here in 1903.
“The Penobscot Expedition during the American Revolution was the worst naval disaster in American history until Pearl Harbor. That a huge force of men, ships and guns failed to take a small British fort in Maine has been largely forgotten.” New England Historical Society. After months of alarm and gathering of resources, on July 19,…
The community takes its name from the Penobscot River, which forms its western boundary. See photos. In the late 19th century the town hosted a mining company, four wood-related mills, a meal and flour mill, and several manufacturers of clothing, barrels, carriages, harnesses and other items. Reached from Orland off U.S. Route 1, the town is served by Maine Routes 15, 175 and 199. Northern Bay, a major spur of the Bagaduce River, splits the southern end of the town.
The town was noted for its shipbuilding, which began in 1825. By 1860 Pembroke had seven shipyards, though only two survived by the late 19th century. Pembroke’s Leighton Neck extends into Cobscook Bay and is bounded by the broad expanses of the Dennys River and the Pennamaquan River. Reversing Falls State Park is nearby. Beginning in Charlotte’s Pennaquam Lake and extending through Pembroke along the Pennaquam River is the Pennaquam Wildlife Management Area.
[PEM-ah-kwid] was an early settlement on Pemaquid Point in the town of Bristol in Lincoln County. Early explorers such as David Ingram (1569) and Captain Bartholomew Gosnold (1602), visited the area before the Pilgrims arrived in Massachusetts. The Popham colonists visited Pemaquid before sailing on to their site on the Kennebec River. They returned a…
(1863-1955), Arctic explorer and writer, was born in Washington D.C. and raised in a wealthy environment as the oldest of four children. After graduating from high school, she attended a business college and worked as a clerk at the Smithsonian Institution where her father taught languages. At a dancing class, she met Robert E. Peary,…
has continued its focus on lumbering since early settlement, including its informative Lumberman’s Museum on the Shin Pond Road. The Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church anchors the southern end of the main street. See photos. The small community has witnessed a dwindling population over the past several decades with the loss of jobs in farming, lumbering, and the paper industry. Patten is the northern gateway from Interstate 95 to Baxter State Park.
William Robinson Pattangall (1865-1942) was at once a humorist, politician and sage. He was born in Pembroke, Washington County, and graduated from the University of Maine in 1884. At the turn of the century, Pattangall became well known for his biting political satire in two books: The Meddybemps Letters and The Maine Hall of Fame.…
The current village of Passadumkeag includes a small residential area east of U.S. Route 2. A community center (in a Quonset building), fire station, historical society, town office, post office, and the Passadumkeag Baptist are all on or near Pleasant Street in this small village.
(1891-1946), a U.S. Representative, was born in Norway on June 7, 1891, attended the common and high schools and was graduated from Bates College in 1914. He was principal of the high school at Canton 1914-1917, then was elected clerk of the supreme judicial court for Oxford County in 1918 and served from 1919 to…
(1784-1866) a U.S. Representative was born in York on December 19, 1784. He attended the common schools, was graduated from Dartmouth College in 1809, studied law, was admitted to the bar and began his practice in Parsonsfield in 1812. McIntire served in the War of 1812, recruiting a company that marched to the northern frontier. …
Kezar Falls, a village on the Ossipee River named for George Kezar, is the largest in the area at the junction of Maine Routes 25 and 160. The community is split between Parsonsfield and Porter across the river, and is governed and taxed separately by the two towns. An early 20th century sanatorium, Maple Crest, was “located among the beautiful Limerick hills, the wild and picturesque outlines of which may be seen in every direction from the building. The view is in itself enough to stimulate the interest and mental activity so important to the cure of all diseases.