is a town in Piscataquis County, incorporated on January 31, 1827. It was one of several tracts granted to Bowdoin College in 1794 and was named for the College’s treasurer, John Abbott. (The final “t” in the town’s name seems to have been lost over the years.) In the 1870’s the town was prospering with two railway stations and a rail link to Bangor. Two covered bridges spanned the Piscataquis River.
is a town in York County, incorporated on March 6, 1830; it ceded land to Shapleigh in 1831. It was part of a much larger tract of land in purchased in 1661 by Francis Small from Chief Sunday of the Newichawannock Tribe. Settled in 1776, the town’s first mill, a grist mill, was built on the Salmon Falls River in 1779 by Joseph Parsons.
is a coastal town in Washington County, located at the junction of the Pleasant River and its West Branch, on a peninsular whose westerly portion comprises Cape Split in South Addison, and contains nature preserves, eagle nesting sites, and historic buildings.
First settled in 1790, probably by Congregational minister Daniel Lovejoy, Albion, in Kennebec County, is the birthplace of Elijah Parish Lovejoy, son of Daniel and a fearless journalist and opponent of slavery. A plaque to Lovejoy, who was murdered for his beliefs, rests outside the town library.
is a town in Washington County named for Alexander Baring (Lord Ashburton) the British envoy who, along with Daniel Webster, settled Maine’s northern boundary with the Webster-Ashburton Treaty. It contains Barrows and Pleasant lakes, and has substantial frontage on Meddybemps Lake.
Originally, the area was known to the Native Americans as Massabesic and was acquired from Chief Fluellin in 1661 by Major William Phipps. Later a Shaker community settled on a hill overlooking what is now called Shaker Pond. Alfred is the county seat of York County and was the site of a Civilian Conservation Corps camp in the 1930’s.
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.
Head Tide village, poet Edwin Arlington Robinson’s birthplace, is a “small, picturesque river community with many … well-preserved 19th century buildings.” Video. Alna is home to the Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington narrow gauge railway museum. The Sheepscot River runs through the town, the site of canoe trips from Whitefield to Wiscasset.
Near Bangor and the University of Maine in Orono, home to the Hirundo Wildlife Refuge and Alton Bog, it has steadily gained population since 1970. The Refuge is the site of an archaeological project on Pushaw Stream; evidence suggests occupation by prehistoric Indian cultures dating back approximately 7,000 years.
A web of dirt roads leads into the hinterland where several streams, the West Branch of the Union River, and a half dozen small ponds attract fishermen, hunters, and vacationers. Amherst was the site of an unsolved a homicide, in 1976. Video. Named for Amherst, New Hampshire, it is located on the east-west Maine Route 9, known as the Airline.
is a small town in Aroostook County, incorporated on March 19, 1836 from township T10 R01. Even as Aroostook County has lost population over the years, Amity has managed slow but consistent growth.
The Appalachian Trail crosses B Hill Road in nearby Andover North Surplus. AT&T built the Telstar satellite station here in the 1960s. Community photos. Native American Molly Ockett was buried in an unmarked grave in Andover’s Woodlawn Cemetery in 1816.
is named for Samuel Appleton, an early settler (1770’s), and has frontage on Sennebec Pond. The Medomak Valley Grange is on Rt. 105 south of Burkettville village.
Arrowsic Island in the Kennebec River separates Georgetown from Phippsburg, which was settled in 1607. In 1625 Europeans moved to Arrowsic, five years after the Pilgrim landing. Two lighthouses have been established on Arrowsic’s Kennebec shore. See videos and photos.
A town “Arundel” formed in 1719. In 1821 it became Kennebunk Port, from which, in 1915 a new town emerged: “North Kennebunkport.” In 1957 it changed to Arundel. Kenneth Roberts’ historical novel “Arundel” recounts the early life of the area and influenced the reemergence of the name. See video and photos.
Frenchville and Sheridan are villages north of the village of Ashland. Lumbering, once the major industry, is recalled in Ashland’s Logging Museum.
Settled by Revolutionary War soldiers, Athens incorporated in 1804. Somerset Academy now serves as town office, American Legion hall, and Christian Fellowship meeting place. The Union Meetinghouse has served the community since 1840. Athens has hosted a small agricultural fair for many years.
In 1807 the Colcord brothers from Bangor built a grist mill and a saw mill on Alder Stream. Named for Judge Atkinson, the major landowner, it incorporated in 1819. Atkinson also donated a small library to the community, which is just east of Dover-Foxcroft in Piscataquis County.
home to two U.S. Senators: William D. Hathaway and Olympia J. Snowe; 5th largest city by population; Androscoggin County seat; 20+ National Historic Register places. It also hosts Central Maine Community College.
Capital since 1832, originally “Cushnoc,” it was the site in 1628 of the Pilgrims’ trading post, and in 1754, Fort Western. The Blaine House governor’s residence is here. The Pine Tree State Arboretum has 200 acres of rolling hills and meadows and a diversity of habitats.