Lily Bay Township

Lily Bay from Lily Bay Road in Lily Bay Township (2019)

The township lies just north of Lily Bay State Park and Campground in Beaver Cove on the shore of Moosehead Lake’s Lily Bay. Lily Bay Road, the only improved road, runs inland and northwest to Kokadjo Village and First Roach Pond, both of which are in Frenchtown Township. The northern part of the township is a…

Lexington

Michael Stream on the West Side of Long Falls Dam Road in Lexington (2013)

This township in Somerset County is on the Long Falls Dam Road leading to Flagstaff Lake in Dead River Township. There is virtually no village area. The small community and Highland Plantation to the north have joined forces to create a common fire department. Happy Horseshoe Campground, on the Dam Road, caters to camper-trailers, providing…

T10 R6 WELS

This township in the North Maine Woods is just west of the town of Masardis, off the Garfield Road. The Craig Road, Craigville Road and, Craig Camp Roads in the southern area are the improved dirt roads in the township. Unimproved roads scatter in the central and northern reaches. Yes, moose abound in the north…

Madawaska Lake Township

This township is just west of Stockholm and North of Westmanland in the Swedish Colony area of Aroostook County. The historic “Sunset Lodge” was a ceder log camp built in 1932 by Bruce Ward on the shore of the Lake. The Lodge apparently has been demolished based on a survey of the area in 2016.…

Katahdin Iron Works Township

The Iron Works township contains the remaining structures of a once thriving industrial site. That site is now recognized as a historic treasure by its listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Katahdin Iron Works once included a small village and roads in this remote location. During the height of the Iron Works operation,…

New Strong

[STRONG] is a town in Franklin County, settled in 1784 and incorporated on January 31, 1801 from the township T3 R1 NPC, WKR, once known as Reedstown Plantation. Maine’s Republican Party was founded here on August 7, 1854 by a coalition of anti-slavery Democrats, other Democrats, and Whigs. Israel Washburn, Jr., then a Whig, became…

Freeman Township

On March 4, 1808 Freeman was organized as a town. In 1823 is set off land to form North Salem (now Salem Township. Ten years later it set off more land to New Portland. By 1838, during the Great Depression, it surrendered its organization and reverted to become an unorganized township in in Franklin County.…

Brunswick Landing

Control Tower and Building at former Naval Air Station (2010)

Brunswick Landing is a multi-purpose site on the former Brunswick Naval Air Station in the Town of Brunswick. Brunswick Executive Airport (BXM) at Brunswick Landing has two 8,000 foot runways, 650,000 square feet of hangar space and maintenance facilities, over 103 acres of taxiways and aircraft parking apron space. It also has an advanced glycol…

Porter, Rufus

Rufus Porter (1792-1884) was a muralist who produced his work in many Maine houses. The “Porter School” is named for him, a West Boxford, Massachusetts native and son of a prosperous farmer. Unlike his father, however, Porter would lead a life that carried him throughout New England, the mid-Atlantic states, and overseas, and expose his…

Richardson Town Township

Sign: "State of Maine Public Reserved Land" which is located in the Township. (2018)

  This western Maine township in Oxford County near New Hampshire is just east of Magalloway Plantation. It encompasses Upper Richardson Lake with shore frontage on Mooselookmeguntic Lake. Upper Richardson Public Reserved Land is located north of the small village of Upper Dam. The State of Maine’s lake survey combines data for Upper and Lower…

T5 R9 WELS

  This township is located in the northeastern area of Baxter State Park, accessible by Route 159 and Grand Lake Road north of Shin Pond Village. Matagamon Gate is the north entrance to the Park. A slower route is to enter in the south at Togue Pond Gate and travel the relatively slow Park “Tote…

Academies

Early Academies in Maine From the late 1700s through the 1800s, several academies were formed to serve the needs of some Maine communities. Some were founded on religious grounds and some offered boarding programs. For example: Newcastle’s Lincoln Academy was chartered in 1801 by the General Court of Massachusetts ‘for the purpose of promoting Piety, Religion…

Hyde, Thomas W.

Thomas W. Hyde (1841-1899) was the founder of what is now Bath Iron Works. He graduated with the Bowdoin College class of 1861 and later from the University of Chicago. A Civil War Brigadier General, Thomas Worcester Hyde was involved in several key battles of the conflict, and was recognized by the U.S. Congress with…

Autumn in Maine

Woodland Scene off the Fourth of July Road in Brighton (2016)

Autumn is the season for Maine to show off its varied natural features from the coast to the north woods. Blazing colors from Nature’s palette rival those of the master artist. Captions show the image ID and original size in megapixels: e.g., ID 02100206 1.6 MP. Click to enlarge the images. Morse Mountain Conservation Area…

Granite Industry in Maine

Granite moving mechanism in Augusta (2002) [See crane below right]

Granite: The Product and the People The 19th century granite industry provided jobs for men on the islands as well as on the mainland. The Wiscasset, now historic, jail was completed in 1811 with granite walls from the Edgecomb quarries.  As early as 1832 many rooms, walls and arches of Fort Knox in Prospect were…

T1 R8 WELS

Mount Katahdin and Millinocket Lake from its southwest shore (2018)

  This township, in Penobscot County, is about eight miles northwest of the town of Millinocket on the Millinocket Lake Road. The long south shore of the Lake is its primary recreational asset. The short Black Cat road skirts the 860-foot Black Mountain toward several outdoor adventure organizations. While their base is here, they transport…

Mills, Janet

Governor Janet Mills (2018)

Janet Trafton Mills (1947-    )  was sworn in as the 75th Governor of Maine on Wednesday, January 2, 2019. She was born and raised in Farmington, where she still proudly lives today. The granddaughter of Aroostook County potato farmers and the daughter of a long-time high school English teacher and the U.S. Attorney for…