Located just south of Greenville on Maine combined Routes 6 and 15, its main village, Shirley Mills (see photos), grew up around early 19th century clapboard and saw mills, using water from the Piscataquis River. Along the east side of the pond, the B&A Railroad North Road runs north along the river. It was created from the old rail bed.
(1972-1985) was born on June 29, 1972 in Houlton, and died in a plane crash on August 15, 1985. At age ten, she wrote a letter to then Soviet Premier Yuri Andropov expressing her concern over the possibilities of nuclear war. Andropov replied that the Soviets did not want war and invited her to visit him.
(1897-1995) became, in 1949, the first woman to serve as a United States Senator. She was the first senator to speak out against Senator Joseph McCarthy and his committee on Un-American Affairs with her “declaration of conscience speech,” delivered to the Senate in June of 1950.
Clyde Harold Smith (1876-1940), husband of Margaret Chase Smith, a U.S. Representative was born on a farm near Harmony, on June 9, 1876. He moved with his parents to Hartland in 1891 and attended the rural schools and Hartland Academy. Smith taught school; served in the Maine House of Representatives (1899-1903 and 1919-1923). He engaged…
Albert Smith (1793-1867) a U.S. Representative, was born in Hanover, Massachusetts, January 3, 1793, attended the common schools and was graduated from Brown University in 1813. He studied law, was admitted to the bar and began his practice in Portland in 1817. A member of the Maine House of Representatives in 1820, Smith was United…
Ephraim Knight Smart (1813-1872) a U.S. Representative, was born in Prospect (now in Searsport) September 3, 1813. He attended the common schools, completed preparatory studies under private tutors and attended Maine Wesleyan Seminary (now Kents Hill School) at Readfield. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1838 and began his practice in Camden.…
While an accepted custom in the colonies, it was practiced in Maine as early as 1660 (see comment below) and in 1733 when the parish at York (then Agamenticus) “VOTED that there be a Slave Bought for the Parish to be Employed for the use of said Parish in Labouring for the Rev. Samuel Moody.”…
Classes have been added and deleted over the years. Blank areas indicate years when classes were not in effect. Consecutive Championships School No. Years Mt. Blue 11 1992-2002 Mt. Blue 8 2005-2012 Edward Little 6 1967-1972 Yarmouth 6 2007-2012 Madawaska 5 2000-2004 Year No Classes & A Class B Class C Class D 1958 Farmington…
Classes have been added and deleted over the years. Blank areas indicate years when classes were not in effect. Consecutive Championhips School No. Years Mt. Blue 6 2000-2005 Mt. Blue 5 2007-2011 Edward Little 4 1968-1971 Yarmouth 4 2006-2009 Year No Classes Year Class A Class B Class C Class D 1946 Edward Little 1954…
Bounded by the Kennebec on the east and Messalonskee Lake (the modern name for Snow’s Pond) on much of the west, Sidney is located between Augusta and Waterville. See photos. Sidney Bog is located in the southeastern corner of the town.
When John Steinbeck was traveling the country in 1960, he noted that states had interesting differences expressed in their signs: The New England states use a terse form of instruction, a tight-lipped, laconic style sheet, wasting no words and few letters. . . . I am an avid reader of all signs, and I find…
Frank Thomas Siebert, Jr. (1912-1998) was a student of the Penobscot Indians’ language and drafted an Penobscot dictionary in 1984 which contained nearly 15,000 entries of this Native American tribe’s vocabulary. Siebert was a pathologist, self-taught linguist and collector of books on North American Indians and the American frontier. He was dedicated to preserving the…
Potatoes and strawberries are components of its agricultural economy, and Mount Katahdin is an every day presence. See photos. The town, formed during the Civil War, was named for John Sherman, a prominent abolitionist U.S. Senator.
Ether Shepley (1789-1877) a U.S. Senator from Maine was born in Groton, Massachusetts on November 2, 1789, attended Groton Academy, and graduated from Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire in 1811. He studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1814, and began his practice in Saco. A member of the Massachusetts General Court in 1819,…
Damariscotta Shell Midden (1886) Shell middens or shell heaps, are scattered along the Maine coast giving evidence of the lifestyles of its ancient inhabitants. A “midden” is a refuse…
Maine Route 11 moves up from Sanford through the villages of Emery Mills, Shapleigh, and North Shapleigh near the lake shores. See photos. Shapleigh Woods, managed by The Nature Conservancy, is a 265-acre nature preserve.
Sumner Sewall was born in Bath on June 17, 1897, the son of a wealthy Bath banker and shipbuilder, and grandson of Arthur Sewall, was educated at Bath public schools before attending Harvard University in 1916. In the middle of his freshman year, he joined the American Ambulance Field Service and served for six months…
Luther Severance (1797-1855) a U.S. Representative, was born in Montague, Massachusetts on October 26, 1797. He moved with his parents to Cazenovia, New York in 1799 and attended the common schools. He learned the printer’s trade in Peterboro, New York, then established the Kennebec Journal in Augusta in 1825. He was a member of the…
Maine has had 38 U.S. Senators from statehood in 1820 through the elections of the year 2010. Theirs terms, residence, and party affiliations are listed below. Unlike U.S. Representatives, who are elected every two years from one of our two Congressional Districts, U.S. Senators are elected by all voters in the State. Each Senator serves…
Eggemoggin Reach is a long stretch of water between the mainland and Deer Isle and Little Deer Isle. See photos. The Benjamin River provided tidal power to a grist mill near Sedgwick village. In addition the town had another grist mill, some saw mills, and two silver mining companies. Shipbuilding was yet another industry. Other villages are North Sedgwick, Sargentville, Black Corner, and Grays Corner.