Just south of Newport off Interstate 95, this rural community is dotted with wetlands, the largest of which is Plymouth Bog. Martin Stream runs from Plymouth Pond to empty into Sebasticook Lake in Newport after joining East Brook. The main village is on the northwestern shore of Plymouth Pond at the junctions of Maine Routes 7 and 69. Its population has remained remarkably stable over 40 years.
Pleasant Ridge hosts four small ponds, clustered in its northern half: Bean, Brandy, Clear, and Jewett. Lost Pond is isolated in the northeast of the township. Jewett stream runs south through Jewett, Brandy and Clear ponds before emptying into the Kennebec River. The “ridge” overlooks the community’s eastern boundary, which is Wyman Lake formed by the Wyman Dam and the Kennebec River.
Maine Central Institute, founded in 1866 as a preparatory school for Bates College, is one of the “Big 10” private secondary schools in Maine that still serves the public school population as well. See photos. Downtown Pittsfield, on the Sebasticook River, was wiped out by a fire in 1881 and rebuilt immediately. As did many Maine communities, Pittsfield’s woolen mills provided steady employment during the first half of the 20th century, then literally “went South,” finding cheaper labor in the 1950’s.
Even before it was incorporated, the community had its church (see photos), which was organized in 1765 and built in 1802. The tip of Phippsburg at the mouth of the Kennebec River is the site of the first English attempt at settling New England: the Popham Colony of 1607-1608. Fort Popham and Fort Baldwin, rise as a guardians of land upriver. Coxes Head, which juts out into the Kennebec River.
The northern portion is dominated by a section of Maine Public Reserved Land, some of which encompasses the Salmon Brook Lake. A 1,055-acre Ecological Reserve surrounds the lake and wetlands. The 59-mile multi-use Bangor and Aroostook Trail is a located in Perham, Caribou, and other area towns. The trail, formerly a Bangor and Aroostook Railroad corridor, passes along the western side of Salmon Brook Lake Bog in Perham. Located west of Caribou on Maine Route 228. Perham is an agricultural community.
The Sandy River-Rangeley Lakes Railroad, which transported people and forest products to and from the north woods, was once headquartered in the town. See photos. As the Sandy River passes through the village, the river bed appears as frozen sand, almost bone-like in its strange shapes. A canoe trip from here to Farmington begins well below the bridge. Outdoors woman, columnist, and promoter of outdoor sports in Maine, Cornelia “Fly Rod” Crosby was born here.
The town is on the south bank of the Androscoggin River just below the Rumford-Mexico-Dixfield area. Its main village is West Peru, across the river from Mexico in the northern portion of the town. See photos. Further south on the Ridge and Valley roads, the rolling rural landscape reveals mountain views, farms and forests. A campground and bed & breakfast may be found at the three-mile long Worthley Pond.
Named for Commodore Oliver H. Perry, a naval hero of the War of 1812, the town was incorporated even as the British still held Eastport only six miles away. Perry is the gateway, via Maine Route 190, to the Pleasant Point Passamaquoddy Indian Reservation located withing the town, and to the City of Eastport. Boyden Lake dominates the northwest portion of the town, while the southwest has miles of protected coves approaching Cobscook Bay.
The Reservation in Penobscot County, is the home of the Penobscot Tribe of Maine’s Native American population, and is located on Indian Island in the Penobscot River and within the boundaries of the community of Old Town. See photos. The Penobscot Nation Council, headquartered on the Island, is composed of elected members, lead by a Chief and a Vice Chief. It is the birthplace in 1871 of Cleveland Indians baseball player Louis Sockalexis. Dancer and entertainer Molly Spotted Elk was born here in 1903.
The community takes its name from the Penobscot River, which forms its western boundary. See photos. In the late 19th century the town hosted a mining company, four wood-related mills, a meal and flour mill, and several manufacturers of clothing, barrels, carriages, harnesses and other items. Reached from Orland off U.S. Route 1, the town is served by Maine Routes 15, 175 and 199. Northern Bay, a major spur of the Bagaduce River, splits the southern end of the town.
The town was noted for its shipbuilding, which began in 1825. By 1860 Pembroke had seven shipyards, though only two survived by the late 19th century. Pembroke’s Leighton Neck extends into Cobscook Bay and is bounded by the broad expanses of the Dennys River and the Pennamaquan River. Reversing Falls State Park is nearby. Beginning in Charlotte’s Pennaquam Lake and extending through Pembroke along the Pennaquam River is the Pennaquam Wildlife Management Area.
has continued its focus on lumbering since early settlement, including its informative Lumberman’s Museum on the Shin Pond Road. The Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church anchors the southern end of the main street. See photos. The small community has witnessed a dwindling population over the past several decades with the loss of jobs in farming, lumbering, and the paper industry. Patten is the northern gateway from Interstate 95 to Baxter State Park.
The current village of Passadumkeag includes a small residential area east of U.S. Route 2. A community center (in a Quonset building), fire station, historical society, town office, post office, and the Passadumkeag Baptist are all on or near Pleasant Street in this small village.
Kezar Falls, a village on the Ossipee River named for George Kezar, is the largest in the area at the junction of Maine Routes 25 and 160. The community is split between Parsonsfield and Porter across the river, and is governed and taxed separately by the two towns. An early 20th century sanatorium, Maple Crest, was “located among the beautiful Limerick hills, the wild and picturesque outlines of which may be seen in every direction from the building. The view is in itself enough to stimulate the interest and mental activity so important to the cure of all diseases.
Located just south of Guilford on Maine Route 150, the town contains Harlow Pond and major access to Manhanock Pond, which it shares with Sangerville. Since 1970 the town’s population has almost doubled; the census numbers do not reflect the non-resident population.
The Paris Hill neighborhood has several architecturally interesting old homes, while South Paris has been the industrial and manufacturing center. See photos. On the Stearns Hill Road the old Hungry Hollow schoolhouse sits on a small plot. South Paris village, split by the Little Androscoggin River, is the main population center and is half of the Norway-South Paris community.
The town has three villages. Palermo, at the south end of Branch Pond, spills over into China and was once known as Branch Mills. Greely Corner is on Route 3 just west of Sheepscot Pond. East Palermo is on the same highway just east of Sheepscot Pond. Palermo is dotted with numerous ponds and streams, providing an attractive escape from business life in the Augusta and Belfast areas.
Virtually all of the plantation’s population is located along the Oxbow Road, leading West from Maine Route 11. See photos. Aroostook River through the area make shapes similar to oxbows, the harness that keeps oxen attached to their loads. The western end of the Oxbow Road is marked by the “Oxbow Checkpoint,” an entry point to the North Maine Woods, most of which is privately owned.
The Knox County Regional Airport is located in Owls Head and is one of Maine’s busiest during the summer months. Owls Head State Park offers views of Penobscot Bay and the nearby Owls Head Transportation Museum contains vintage aircraft frequently flown over the Bay. Owls Head Light Station marks the southern entrance to Rockland Harbor.
Just north of the town of Casco on Maine Route 121, it offers substantial frontage on Pleasant and Thompson Lakes. The Crooked River serves as its boundary with Harrison. The Bell Hill Meetinghouse and Bell Hill Schoolhouse are well-preserved National Register historic structures in a rural setting.