The City of Portland has over eighty places and historic districts on the National Register, including Eastern Promenade, Evergreen Cemetery, Fort Gorges, Longfellow Monument, Portland City Hall, Portland Observatory, Wadsworth-Longfellow House, Westbrook College Historic District, and Western Promenade
With its large population, financial and legal services, cultural and historical attractions, and “Old Port” dining and shopping district, the City is the only true metropolitan area in the state. See photos. Portland harbor is a working waterfront serving tankers, tourists, and fisheries, along with recreational boating from year-round and summer residents. Ferries connect the mainland to the many Casco Bay islands. Settled in 1632 and incorporated as a town on July 4, 1786, Portland became a city in 1833.
The main village, Kezar Falls, shares its name with the other half of the community located across the Ossipee River in Parsonsfield, York County. Built in 1876, the two-span 152-foot covered bridge above crosses the Ossipee River. The town, which borders New Hampshire, is served by Maine Routes 160 and 25 (also known as the Ossipee Trail).
in Aroostook County, settled in 1844, incorporated 1909, the village lies at the southeastern end of Portage Lake, about twelve miles northwest of Ashland. See photos. In 1967 a small community of Tibetan refugees was established, but dissolved in 1970 when their work project terminated. They scattered to other states.
The Poland Spring Bottling Plant and Spring House are local landmarks. See photos. The town, just west of Auburn, has two other large lakefront areas and is served by Maine Routes 11, 26, and 122. One of water bodies is home to Range Pond State Park. The town, just west of Auburn, has two other large lakefront areas. One of water bodies is home to Range Pond State Park. The Maine State Building was built to represent the state at the Chicago World’s Fair, known as the Colombian Exposition, in 1893.
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.
(1891-1941) On January 3, 1923, Dora Bradbury Pinkham took her seat in the Maine House of Representatives as the first woman elected to the Legislature in Maine. Pinkham represented Fort Kent and Wallagrass Plantation (now the Town of Wallagrass). She was the only woman elected out of the nine women from across the state who…
“In the fall of 1620 the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth during a disagreeable storm, and, noting the excellent opportunity for future misery, began to erect a number of rude cabins.” — Bill Nye Members of the Plymouth Colony began trading with fishermen and Indians in Maine within a few years of their arrival in 1620.…
(1816-1886) a U.S. Representative, was born in Calais on December 9, 1816. He attended the common schools and the Washington Academy in East Machias; and was graduated from Bowdoin College in 1837. He studied law; was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Calais in 1840 and was mayor of Calais in 1852 and…
The following winners have Maine roots from birth or residence. Author Year Category Title Laura E. Richards 1917 Biography Julia Ward Howe Booth Tarkington 1919 Literature The Magnificent Ambersons Booth Tarkington 1922 Literature Alice Adams Edwin Arlington Robinson 1922 Poetry Collected Poems Owen Davis 1923 Drama Icebound Edna St. Vincent Millay 1923 Poetry The Harp…
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.
John Andrew Peters (1864-1953), nephew of John Andrew Peters (1822-1904), a U.S. Representative, was born in Ellsworth on August 13, 1864. He attended the common schools, was graduated from Bowdoin College in 1885. He studied law; was admitted to the bar, began his practice in Ellsworth in 1887, and became judge of the municipal court…
John Andrew Peters (1822-1904), uncle of John Andrew Peters (1864-1953), a U.S. Representative, was born in Ellsworth on October 9, 1822. He attended Gorham Academy, and was graduated from Yale College in 1842. He studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1844 and began his practice in Bangor in 1844. A member of the…
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.
John Jasiel Perry (1811-1897), a U.S. Representative, was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire on August 2, 1811. In 1812, he moved with his parents to an area of Hebron that is now in the town of Oxford, attended the common schools and Maine Wesleyan Seminary (now Kents Hill School in Readfield). A deputy sheriff of…