is an east-west transportation route from Bangor to Calais, currently a portion of state highway Route 9. Crossing Penobscot, Hancock, and Washington counties, it was planned as a military road in 1838-1839 during the Aroostook War, but remained unfinished 20 years after the “War” was settled. The Airline passes through mostly small communities, West to…
In 2006 Maine had 50 airports, 36 publicly owned. Of the publicly owned, only 6 were served by regularly scheduled passenger service. The other 30 serve the general aviation community which flies smaller, unscheduled aircraft. There are some others reserved for private use only. According to an economic impact study by the Alliance for Aviation…
April 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 3rd Monday Patriots Day in Maine and Massachusetts commemorates the battles of Lexington and Concord, fought near Boston in 1775. 1844…
The 1909, 318-foot long truss bridge was built by Pennsylvania Steel Company of Steelton, Pennsylvania, replacing an earlier double-decker bridge. It spans the Androscoggin River between Brunswick and Topsham. According to the website HistoricBridges.org: This double deck bridge is one of the most unusual and unique bridges in Maine due to its suspended highway deck…
Bridges may be classified by several factors: span, travel, form, and material. Five basic forms are arch, beam, cable-stayed, suspension, and truss. Of course, each form may serve several uses, including road vehicles, railroads, and pedestrians. Here are some examples in Maine. Bridge Forms The brief discussion of the basic forms below only begins to…
Pemaquid Neck hosts the village of New Harbor, along with Pemaquid Beach and Pemaquid Light. The area, visited by Europeans by 1569, is said to be the home of the Indian Samoset, who greeted the Pilgrims in 1621 in English. New Harbor is a departure point for Monhegan Island. See video and photos.
was settled by men who were survivors of King Philip’s War having been granted allotments of land in what was then Narragansett, Number One. The first permanent settlers arrived in 1750. Named for Buxton in Norfolk, England, it incorporated in 1762. The Buxton Powder House, one of only three War of 1812 powder houses to survive in Maine, was erected on a vote of local citizens. See photos.
An early transportation facility in Maine was the canal. The need for public support for canals was recognized in 1820 by the state’s first governor William King’s inaugural address. In 1834 the Board of Internal Improvements was authorized by the Maine Legislature. The Board’s responsibility was to “explore and examine the great water courses of…
Clippers were built in Maine in the 1850’s, with 54 having been constructed from 1851 to 1854. Depending on how you define “Clipper,” William Hutchinson Rowe counts ninety from 1850 to 1856. Since some very fast ships were known as “clippers,” regardless of some technical features, Rowe declares, “And so casting close definition and technical…
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…
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.
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.…
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.
This bridge, built in 1931 by the American Bridge Company was slated for replacement in 2013, and was described in the Federal Infrastructure Projects web site as noted below. The project replaced an 80 year-old movable span truss bridge at the end of its service life with a high level, fixed bridge over the Kennebec…
The rugged coast and unpredictable waters of Maine have created an environment demanding protection for seafarers. Lighthouses have been built along Maine’s coast since the country began. In fact, there are more lighthouses here than in any other state Maine’s size. There are some 71 lighthouses between Boon Island off York, and West Quoddy Head in Lubec.
one of about seventy lighthouses on the Maine coasts, was established in 1836, a year after the U.S. Government purchased ten acres of land on Fort Point in Stockton Springs. Joseph Berry of Georgetown built the tower and station for $2,500. This structure was a cone-shaped tower build from granite blocks. The octagon shaped lantern…
The area was also known as Nicatou, or “the forks,” since it marks the joining of the East and West branches of the Penobscot River. Medway is midway between Bangor and the northern line of Penobscot County, hence the modern name. Once home to Congressman Michael Michaud, it is a gateway to Baxter State Park.
just east of Farmington, has been growing consistently in population over the past four decades. New Sharon village straddles the Sandy River, which winds through from Farmington on its way to Starks and then Norridgewock where it enters the Kennebec River. The 1916 steel bridge, now retired from service, crosses the river at the end of the main street.
North Maine Woods In addition to be a general term for the forests of northern Maine, North Maine Woods is an organization that manages access to a specific area of mostly privately own land. Land Ownership The complicated historic land ownership in…
Originally settled in 1831 and organized for the assessment of taxes in 1866, the town itself was incorporated on February 24, 1897. See photos. The main village, is located on the Mattawamkeag River, just south of Smyrna Mills. Its mountainous terrain, known as the Oakfield Hills, earned it the name “Switzerland of the Aroostook” by one observer. Sam Drew Mountain is the highest point at 1,516 feet.