Relics of farmhouses hint at the glory days of Maine’s agricultural tradition. In remote villages, scenes of abandoned homes, churches, and vehicles mark changes in communities as populations ebb. The landscape is littered with these ghosts of Maine’s past, recalling a lost civilization but evoking questions of their secrets. …
2018 Acton Aug 23-26 Augusta Athens Aug 7-9 Bangor State Fair July 27-Aug 5 Blue Hill Aug 30 – Sept 3 Clinton Maine Farm Days Aug 22-23; Lions Fair Sept 6-9 Common Ground (Unity) Sept 21-23 Cumberland Sept 23-29 Farmington Sept 16-22 Fryeburg Sept 30 – Oct 7 Harmony Free Fair Aug 31 – Sept 3 Houlton June 30-July…
The federal government provides a “safety net” to agricultural producers to help them through the variations in agricultural production and profitability from year to year – due to variations in weather, market prices, and other factors – while ensuring a stable food supply. However, this support is mostly for five major “program” commodities of corn,…
As Maine communities began to lose some of their frontier aspects in the early 19th century and assumed a more settled appearance, civic improvements were initiated. Among these was the regulation of livestock which, in contrast to earlier times, were becoming numerous. Swine, although useful for consuming garbage, in themselves provided a health hazard. No…
in Aroostook County, is at the mouth of the Allagash River as it enters the St, John. Large in area, small in population, hunting and camping is an economic asset. The Allagash River flows through the town and is the tenth longest in the State. At 69 miles, it drains 1,240 square miles in northern Maine. Across the St. John lies the small Canadian town of Connors.
The township (T6 R19 WELS) in Somerset County is on the border with Quebec in western Maine. It has no improved roads, but a substantial amount of unimproved roads serving forestry operations. The small Little Southwest Brook rises here and flows northward, finally entering the St. John River in T9 R18 WELS in northern Somerset…
in Cumberland County, incorporated in 1794. The village faces Highland (or Duck) Lake, inviting summer boating and camping. Shawnee Peak is a popular local skiing destination.
in Oxford County, incorporated in 1793. Buckfield village, within a few hundred yards has the public library, two veterans memorials, Masonic Temple, Odd Fellows Building, Post Office, and a general store. A short distance away is the Community Church, the Community Center and Town Offices, and the Fire Department. See photos.
As Maine communities began to lose some of their frontier aspects in the early 19th century and assumed a more settled appearance, rudimentary civic improvements were initiated. Among these improvements in the largely agricultural world of rural Maine was the regulation of the livestock which were becoming numerous. To control this problem towns constructed shelters,…
The East Branch of the Sebasticook River flows through the village on its way to Sebasticook Lake in Newport. See photos. Several mills used it water power in the 19th century. Incorporated 1828 in Somerset County as Chandlerville, the name was changed to Detroit in 1841.
Uncharacteristic for most Maine towns, Exeter has neither a lake, pond or mountain of note. Maine combined Routes 11 and 43 zigs and zags in a generally east-west direction through the town. The economy is a mix between agriculture and work in the Bangor area service industries.
Berries Strawberries Strawberries are a high value crop in Maine agriculture with net profit potential of $6,000 or more per acre. The number of farms raising strawberries and the acreage dedicated to them increased substantially in recent years, with more demand for locally grown fresh fruit. Strawberries are the most widely grown small fruit crop…
Why “Grange“? Its origin is likely from the British English. The Oxford English Dictionary notes “British: a country house with farm buildings attached. Historical an outlying farm with tithe barns belonging to a monastery or feudal lord. Archaic: a barn. From Latin granum “grain”. by Stanley R. Howe* The National Grange came into being in 1867…
Maine has a significant portion of the maple sugaring and maple syrup industry with 14% percent of the U.S. production in 2014. Vermont produced 40%, and New York, 18%. Big Six Township, in northern Somerset County, is said to account for roughly 23% of Maine’s maple sugar production and 4% of the U.S. total production.…
The town is named for a well-respected Chief of the Penobscots who supported the American Revolution. See photos. A land-grant agricultural school was established at Orono in 1862, evolving in 1865 into the University of Maine, which now dominates the town’s economy and culture.
Dr. Edith Marion Patch taught entomology at the University of Maine and served as director of entomology at the Maine Agricultural Experiment Station from 1903- 1937. Patch was the first woman to head a state agricultural experiment station department and was honored for her scholarship and educational leadership in 1930 by being elected president of…
I saw mountains of potatoes–oceans–more potatoes than you would think the world’s population could consume in a hundred years. –Steinbeck These girls, probably in the 1950’s, had been hand-picking potatoes, then carrying their baskets to the barrels. The small card, or “ticket” on each barrel identifies the picker by number. The number of completed barrels…
A summer recreational center, it hosts the bulk of two of the Belgrade Lakes: North Pond and East Pond. East Pond is home to several summer camps for young people, some that cater to adults, and some that are individually owned summer cottages. See photos. The main village is on the eastern shore of North Pond, where a sandy beach attracts area residents and summer visitors.
The community, north and west of Paris, though small, has experienced consistent population growth over the past thirty years. Its stone construction library is on the National Register of Historic Places. See photos. Snow Falls, a 40 foot waterfall, drops into a gorge created by the Little Androscoggin River about two mile south of the main village.
Westfield village lies between U.S. Routes 1 and 1A, on the Prestile Stream, just north of Mars Hill in Aroostook County’s potato country. See photos. Aside from its palette and box factory, Westfield is primarily an agricultural area, except for the marshland in the western portion of the town.