Compared to all other states and the District of Columbia, Maine ranks relatively high when considering the number of students per teacher and on the amount spent per pupil. However, Maine ranks very low when comparing teacher salaries. It does rank fairly high in the percent of residents with high school or bachelor’s degrees, though…
in Penobscot County, settled in 1827, incorporated 1835 is bound on the east by the Penobscot River and lies opposite the entrance of the Passadumkeag River. The river, attractions of rural life, and the proximity of the University of Maine and the City of Bangor, may be forces contributing to recent development in the community. See photos.
Overlooking the Sheepscot River and the Narrows at the entrance to Wiscasset Harbor, Fort Edgecomb’s tower has a 360 degree view of the water and countryside. See photos. Settlers arrived in 1744; the town incorporated in 1774. Population has more than doubling, during the decades 1970-2010.
in Penobscot County, settled 1780 and incorporated 1811, has frontage on two major ponds, Chemo and Davis and hosts Katahdin Scout Reservation, known as Camp Roosevelt. Eddington village has been known as Eddington Bend for the sharp curve in the Penobscot River.
(1865-1946), a historian of the Penobscot Indians, was born in Brewer. She also wrote historical articles about the lumber and fur industries in the Penobscot Valley. She was respected for her exact research on the history of the Penobscot Indians, scientifically accurate children’s books, and her collection of ballads and how they related to social…
is on Moose Island at the end of a peninsular surrounded by Cobscook Bay and Passamaquoddy Bay. See video and photos. Visited by European fishermen and traders in the 1600’s, the area was settled in 1772. A proposed oil refinery was rejected based on concerns about oil spills and environmental threats. Once a fish canning center (the first sardine cannery in the U.S. opened in 1875), the city struggles against its isolated location. The historic downtown has undergone substantial restoration.
In the 1970s Easton was the site of a failed attempt to establish a sugar beet refinery to diversify dependence on the potato economy. The McCain Foods, U.S.A. facility and the J. M. Huber Corporation’s Engineered Woods plant provide local employment. Easton, in Aroostook County, incorporated in 1865.
The Great Northern Paper Mill and the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad have been keys to the economic life of Millinocket for many years. See photos. The declining employment in the paper industry contributed to the steady loss of population over the past forty years – 42%. Millinocket is the gateway to Baxter State Park and its famed Mount Katahdin.
Truly a company town, as is Millinocket, its incorporation followed Great Northern’s development of the paper mill and ground wood mill in 1906. Once a source of well-paid employment, the mill has been under economic pressure, a partial cause of population loss of over 3 % during the 1970-2010 period. It is just west of Medway off I-95 in Aroostook County.
The town, and its Burnham Tavern, was the site of anti-British plotting resulting in capturing the schooner Margaretta. The Tavern was built in 1770, the only building in eastern Maine directly connected with the American Revolution. The Washington County seat, it is located on the Machias River, the engine of its earlier lumbering and shipbuilding industries. Once a haven for pirates, and now a commercial center, it is home to the University of Maine at Machias.
The town lies primarily on the west side of Machias Bay as the Machias River enters the Bay. It offers many sheltered harbors including the well known Bucks Harbor. Machiasport was at the center of controversy in the late 1960’s when an oil terminal was proposed, unsuccessfully, for the quiet coastal community.
in Washington County, incorporated 1826. Benjamin Foster built a house here in 1765 and served in the Revolutionary War. Washington Academy, a private boarding school serving grades 9-12, was established in 1792 and is one of the oldest academies in Maine. See photos.
in Hancock County, incorporated 1837, Settled in 1800, an early settler built the first house and established its first mill. In 1886 Eastbrook had four mills – two sawmills, one producing staves, and one manufacturing shingles. It still has several historically significant buildings. See photos. Lyle Frost Wildlife Management Area offers canoeing; wildlife to be seen: eagles, deer and water birds.
in Maine have been relatively mild since the reported “big one” on November 18, 1755, which was felt widely across New England and did great damage in Massachusetts. On April 20, 2002 people in Maine felt their houses shaking at 6:50 a.m. when a quake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale struck, the strongest in…
settled 1840’s by Acadian-French and Irish immigrants, it was named for the many eagles at the Lake by a Major Strickland during the Aroostook War. Eagle Lake spawns the Fish River, which empties into the St. John River at Fort Kent. See photos. It is the birthplace and residence of former Maine House Speaker John L. Martin.
once a plantation in Aroostook County organized in 1898, nearly 100 years later, on July 1, 1990, it surrendered its organization to again become an unorganized territory. It is located just southwest of Mars Hill and directly west of Blaine. Access is on the E Plantation Road, which is the only improved road in E Township.
Dyer Brook, incorporated in 1891, so named for the stream that flows through it and into the Mattawamkeag River, is in the heart of potato country. See photos. This sparsely populated rural town has no paved roads, other than U.S. Route 2. An extensive bog occupies the middle of the township.
The 1835 Union Church was a community meeting house, then in 1922, the Town Office, and recently home of the Durham Historical Society. The early 20th century religious movement known as the Sandfordites, after their leader Frank W. Sandford, built their 1897 temple “Shiloh” here. Runaround Pond offers a pleasant canoe trip through water lilies and bird life. See video and photos.
(1752-1804) was a wealthy and influential Philadelphia banker and a financier during the Revolutionary War, a United States Senator, and an owner of great tracts of land in Maine, once totaling two million acres. He was also the founder of the country’s first Bank in 1781. In 1786 he secured the Bingham Purchase, in two…
Its eastern portion is dominated by the Mattawamkeag River System Wildlife Management Area. Recreational opportunities include boating, canoeing, and wildlife viewing for eagles, osprey, deer, moose and water birds. The 6,800 plus acre parcel includes Mud Pond. In 1921 Drew was incorporated as a town, but in the depths of the Great Depression it reverted to a plantation.