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.
Gross Domestic Product by County County by Rank $Billions GDP $Billions % of Total $ GDP People % Total People GDP /Capita Rank /Capita Rank/ Capita Per Capita GDP 1 Cumberland $19.40 34.04% 293,557 21.93% $88.45 Cumberland 1 $88.45 2 York $7.40 12.98% 206,229 15.41% $48.03 Hancock 2 $54.82 3 Penobscot $6.00 10.53% 151,096 11.29%…
The Maine economy has passed through stages typical of most states, with an initial focus on extractive activities (fishing, logging, slate and granite quarrying, other mining, and ice harvesting), and moving from subsistence farming to substantial agricultural development (apples, blueberries [see video in Hiram], potatoes, poultry). More Economic Data Ice harvesting, from ponds, streams or…
Maine’s economy represents 0.4% (less than half a percent) of the U.S. national economy. With a slow national pace, Maine is likely to have slow growth as well. The important forest products sector has been blunted by the recent events, including a slowdown in construction and the transition from printed media (newspapers, magazines) to digital…
People who have worked on farms, in forests, on the seas, in mills, factories and offices — all have contributed to the Maine economy over the past nearly four centuries. In the twenty-first century more people are working in commercial, health, electronic, financial and other services than ever before. A perspective of where workers have…
Elvers are young eels. According to the Maine Department of Marine Resources, “After spawning, the adult eels die. The eggs hatch after several days and develop into a larval stage (leptocephalus) which is shaped like a willow leaf. The larvae drift in the ocean for several months and then enter the Gulf Stream current to…
In 1990 Trade (17.5%) and Manufacturing (17.4%) constituted the largest employment sectors in the Maine economy. By 2010, Manufacturing had faded to 8.6%, and the top two employment sectors were Trade (17%) and Education and Health Services (20.2%). During the two decades, Manufacturing (No. 3 on the chart) had lost over 45% of its employees,…
The rank of private sector employment by Maine firms varies with both long- and short-term trends in the economy. The table below is a snapshot of the fifty largest private employers in Maine in the first quarter of 2012 and the second quarter of 2014. The largest business category is “General Medical and Surgical Hospitals.” …
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.
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…
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…
is the science of managing forest resources for human benefit. Maine has had a long history of using forest resources and an equally long history of controversy over whether proper management of those resources has been adequate.
Named for the German city, and bombed by the British in 1814, Frankfort was once a shipbuilding community on the Penobscot River. Granite cutting and shipping was an important industry up to the early 20th century. Mount Waldo supplied the product and Marsh Bay, in the Penobscot River, provided the means of shipping it.
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…
The Golden Road, privately owned and mostly unpaved, extends from Millinocket west over 100 miles to the Quebec border at township T5 R20 WELS, a four hour trip. It was established in the 1970’s as a transportation conduit for raw wood to feed the hungry Great Northern Paper Company mills in Millinocket and East Millinocket.…
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…
![Granite moving mechanism in Augusta (2002) [See crane below right]](https://maineanencyclopedia.com/wp-content/uploads/02110116-Copy.jpg)
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…
After declining from 1950 through 1973, landings of haddock by commercial fishermen rebounded sharply to a peak of over 5 million pounds in 1983. However, an equally sharp decline has left the fishery far from the heady days of the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. Since then, the price per pound has fluctuated in a…
The volume of halibut landings taken by commercial fishermen has never recovered from the relatively large numbers of the 1950s and 1960s. Following some good years in the 1980s, landings dropped sharply and have yet to recover. The shortage of halibut has driven prices per pound to historic highs. YEAR POUNDS VALUE PRICE/LB 1950…
Historically a collection of small villages, some on islands, the closest to a town center is the town office and the recycling center on the Mountain Road. See photos. Its population doubles in summer as seasonal residents return. Several easy hiking trails and nature preserves are at hand. A historic park is at Harpswell Center.