After Newport, Rhode Island, Bar Harbor was the resort of choice for wealthy eastern Americans until the great fire of 1947 destroyed many homes and forested areas. Acadia National Park dominates tourists’ itineraries when the town’s population swells each summer. The College of the Atlantic is located here.
The Baskenhegan Stream flows through this Aroostook County town, emptying into Baskenhegan Lake in Brookton Township. Rising from Mattawamkeag Lake the Mattawamkeag River flows through the town and the main village.
Here are sample town warrants, school and health reports from a variety of times and places. Many more are available at the Maine State Library and the Maine State Archives in Augusta. Such documents give an insight into the concerns about, and responses to, the problems faced by local communities. School Report from Topsham Annual…
The following is the annual report of the Piscataquis County Nursing Service rendered for the period of January 1, 1942 to December 31, 1942, for the town of Dover-Foxcroft. Emphasis has been placed on the health of the child of school age and Tuberculosis prevention. School Health Assistance of the nurse was given Dr. Noel…
Baldwin is the only one of the towns surrounding Sebago Lake that has no frontage on that lake. East Baldwin village is located in the southeast corner of the town. West Baldwin village sits at the western edge of the Saddleback Hills, which span the width of the town. See photos.
Woodland, site of a paper mill since 1905, is Baileyville’s primary village. (Not the Town of Woodland in Aroostook County.) Baileyville’s eastern boundary is with Canada, defined by the St. Croix River and Woodland Lake. See photos.
in Franklin County, named for the river in England and incorporated in 1802. Settled after the American Revolution, by 1886 Avon had two saw mills and eleven public schools, supported by an 1880 census population of 571. The 3,000-foot Mount Blue is located in the southwest corner of the town in Mount Blue State Park.
is north of Ellsworth on Route 9 – “The Airline.” Silsby Plain is a sandy remnant of glaciers and a favorable site for blueberries. Another glacial feature, The Whalesback, is located east of the village, which is on the Old Airline Road.
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.
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.
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.
Frenchville and Sheridan are villages north of the village of Ashland. Lumbering, once the major industry, is recalled in Ashland’s Logging Museum.
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.
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.
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.
The Declaration of Independence, essentially in following format, was printed and distributed by order of the Massachusetts Legislative Council. Each Maine town received a copy and had it read to the assembled inhabitants. This was their official notification of the Declaration. Since it was a type-set print, no signatures were included in this version. IN…
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.
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.
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.
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.