History Of Maine
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The history of the area comprising the U.S. state of
Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...
spans thousands of years, measured from the earliest human settlement, or approximately two hundred, measured from the advent of U.S. statehood in 1820. The present article will concentrate on the period of European contact and after. The origin of the name ''Maine'' is unclear. One theory is it was named after the French province of
Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...
. Another is that it derives from a practical nautical term, "the main" or "Main Land", "Meyne" or "Mainland", which served to distinguish the bulk of the state from its numerous islands.


Etymology

There is no definitive explanation for the origin of the name "Maine", but the most likely is that early explorers named it after the former
province of Maine The Province of Maine refers to any of the various English colonies established in the 17th century along the northeast coast of North America, within portions of the present-day U.S. states of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, and the Canadian ...
in
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. Whatever the origin, the name was fixed for English settlers in 1665 when the English King's Commissioners ordered that the "Province of Maine" be entered from then on in official records. The state legislature in 2001 adopted a resolution establishing Franco-American Day, which stated that the state was named after the former French province of Maine. Other theories mention earlier places with similar names or claim it is a
nautical Seamanship is the art, knowledge and competence of operating a ship, boat or other craft on water. The'' Oxford Dictionary'' states that seamanship is "The skill, techniques, or practice of handling a ship or boat at sea." It involves topics a ...
reference to the mainland. Captain John Smith, in his "Description of New England" (1614) laments the lack of exploration: "Thus you may see, of this 2000. miles more then halfe is yet vnknowne to any purpose: no not so much as the borders of the Sea are yet certainly discouered. As for the goodnes and true substances of the Land, wee are for most part yet altogether ignorant of them, vnlesse it bee those parts about the Bay of Chisapeack and Sagadahock: but onely here and there wee touched or haue seene a little the edges of those large dominions, which doe stretch themselues into the Maine, God doth know how many thousand miles;" Note that his description of the mainland of North America is "the Maine". The word "main" was a frequent shorthand for the word "mainland" (as in "The
Spanish Main During the Spanish colonization of America, the Spanish Main was the collective term for the parts of the Spanish Empire that were on the mainland of the Americas and had coastlines on the Caribbean Sea or Gulf of Mexico. The term was used to di ...
"). The first known record of the name appears in an August 10, 1622, land charter to
Sir Ferdinando Gorges Sir Ferdinando Gorges ( – 24 May 1647) was a naval and military commander and governor of the important port of Plymouth in England. He was involved in Essex's Rebellion against the Queen, but escaped punishment by testifying against the ma ...
and Captain John Mason, English
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
veterans, who were granted a large tract in present-day Maine that Mason and Gorges "intend to name the
Province of Maine The Province of Maine refers to any of the various English colonies established in the 17th century along the northeast coast of North America, within portions of the present-day U.S. states of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, and the Canadian ...
". Mason had served with the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
in the
Orkney Islands Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...
, where the chief island is called
Mainland Mainland is defined as "relating to or forming the main part of a country or continent, not including the islands around it egardless of status under territorial jurisdiction by an entity" The term is often politically, economically and/or dem ...
, a possible name derivation for these English sailors. In 1623, the
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
naval captain
Christopher Levett Capt. Christopher Levett (15 April 1586 – 1630) was an English writer, explorer and naval captain, born at York, England. He explored the coast of New England and secured a grant from the King to settle present-day Portland, Maine, the first ...
, exploring the
New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
coast, wrote: "The first place I set my foote upon in New England was the
Isle of Shoals The Isles of Shoals are a group of small islands and tidal ledges situated approximately off the east coast of the United States, straddling the border of the states of Maine and New Hampshire. They have been occupied for more than 400 years, fi ...
, being Ilands in the sea, above two Leagues from the Mayne." Initially, several tracts along the coast of New England were referred to as ''Main'' or ''Maine'' (
cf. The abbreviation ''cf.'' (short for the la, confer/conferatur, both meaning "compare") is used in writing to refer the reader to other material to make a comparison with the topic being discussed. Style guides recommend that ''cf.'' be used onl ...
the
Spanish Main During the Spanish colonization of America, the Spanish Main was the collective term for the parts of the Spanish Empire that were on the mainland of the Americas and had coastlines on the Caribbean Sea or Gulf of Mexico. The term was used to di ...
). A reconfirmed and enhanced April 3, 1639, charter, from England's King CharlesI, gave Sir Ferdinando Gorges increased powers over his new province and stated that it "shall forever hereafter, be called and named the PROVINCE OR COUNTIE OF MAINE, and not by any other name or names whatsoever..." Maine is the only
U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...
whose name has only one syllable. Attempts to uncover the history of the name of Maine began with James Sullivan's 1795 "History of the District of Maine." He made the unsubstantiated claim that the Province of Maine was a compliment to the queen of
Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...
,
Henrietta Maria Henrietta Maria (french: link=no, Henriette Marie; 25 November 1609 – 10 September 1669) was Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland from her marriage to King Charles I on 13 June 1625 until Charles was executed on 30 January 1649. She wa ...
, who once "owned" the Province of Maine in France. Maine historians quoted this until the 1845 biography of that queen by Agnes Strickland established that she had no connection to the province; further, King Charles I married
Henrietta Maria Henrietta Maria (french: link=no, Henriette Marie; 25 November 1609 – 10 September 1669) was Queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland from her marriage to King Charles I on 13 June 1625 until Charles was executed on 30 January 1649. She wa ...
in 1625, three years after the name Maine first appeared on the charter. A new theory put forward by Carol B. Smith Fisher in 2002 postulated that
Sir Ferdinando Gorges Sir Ferdinando Gorges ( – 24 May 1647) was a naval and military commander and governor of the important port of Plymouth in England. He was involved in Essex's Rebellion against the Queen, but escaped punishment by testifying against the ma ...
chose the name in 1622 to honor the village where his ancestors first lived in
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, rather than the province in France. "MAINE" appears in the
Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...
of 1086 in reference to the county of
Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...
, which is today
Broadmayne Broadmayne is a village in the English county of Dorset. It lies two miles south-east of the county town Dorchester. The A352 main road between Dorchester (from Sherborne) and Wareham passes through the village. In the 2001 Census the popula ...
, just southeast of Dorchester. The view generally held among British place name scholars is that Mayne in
Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...
is Brythonic, corresponding to modern
Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
"maen", plural "main" or "meini". Some early spellings are: MAINE 1086, MEINE 1200, MEINES 1204, MAYNE 1236. Today the village is known as
Broadmayne Broadmayne is a village in the English county of Dorset. It lies two miles south-east of the county town Dorchester. The A352 main road between Dorchester (from Sherborne) and Wareham passes through the village. In the 2001 Census the popula ...
, which is primitive Welsh or Brythonic, "main" meaning rock or stone, considered a reference to the many large
sarsen stone Sarsen stones are silicified sandstone blocks found in quantity in Southern England on Salisbury Plain and the Marlborough Downs in Wiltshire; in Kent; and in smaller quantities in Berkshire, Essex, Oxfordshire, Dorset, and Hampshire. Geology ...
s still present around Little Mayne farm, half a mile northeast of Broadmayne village.


Pre-European history

The earliest culture known to have inhabited Maine, from roughly 3000 BC to 1000 BC, were the
Red Paint People The Red Paint People are a Pre-Columbian culture indigenous to the New England and Atlantic Canada regions of North America. They were named after their burials, which used large quantities of ochre, normally red, to cover both the bodies of the d ...
, a maritime group known for elaborate burials using
red ochre Ochre ( ; , ), or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colours produced ...
. They were followed by the Susquehanna culture, the first to use pottery. By the time of European discovery, the inhabitants of Maine were the Algonquian-speaking Wabanaki peoples, including the
Abenaki The Abenaki (Abenaki: ''Wαpánahki'') are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands of Canada and the United States. They are an Algonquian-speaking people and part of the Wabanaki Confederacy. The Eastern Abenaki language was predom ...
,
Passamaquoddy The Passamaquoddy ( Maliseet-Passamaquoddy: ''Peskotomuhkati'') are a Native American/First Nations people who live in northeastern North America. Their traditional homeland, Peskotomuhkatik'','' straddles the Canadian province of New Brunswick ...
, and
Penobscot The Penobscot (Abenaki: ''Pαnawάhpskewi'') are an Indigenous people in North America from the Northeastern Woodlands region. They are organized as a federally recognized tribe in Maine and as a First Nations band government in the Atlantic pr ...
s.


Colonial period

There are many stories of
Norsemen The Norsemen (or Norse people) were a North Germanic ethnolinguistic group of the Early Middle Ages, during which they spoke the Old Norse language. The language belongs to the North Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages and is the pre ...
exploring as far south as Maine, but there is currently no documented evidence for that. In 1497
John Cabot John Cabot ( it, Giovanni Caboto ; 1450 – 1500) was an Italian navigator and explorer. His 1497 voyage to the coast of North America under the commission of Henry VII of England is the earliest-known European exploration of coastal North ...
made the first of two documented voyages to explore the New World on behalf of
Henry VII of England Henry VII (28 January 1457 – 21 April 1509) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizure of the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death in 1509. He was the first monarch of the House of Tudor. Henry's mother, Margaret Beaufort ...
and it's very likely on one of the voyages reached as far south as the coast of Maine. Cabot's expeditions were based out of the fishing port of
Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
, England, and Bristol merchant William Weston followed up on Cabot's efforts in 1499. Cabot's crews reported (as written in a letter to the Duke of Milan in 1497): "''The Sea there is swarming with fish which can be taken not only with the net but in baskets with a stone, so that it sinks in the water.''" In fact Bristol fishermen had already been sailing to Iceland for cod fishing, and after Weston's return there is anecdotal evidence that Europeans from England to Portugal regularly fished the waters of the northeast waters, including the
Gulf of Maine The Gulf of Maine is a large gulf of the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of North America. It is bounded by Cape Cod at the eastern tip of Massachusetts in the southwest and by Cape Sable Island at the southern tip of Nova Scotia in the northeast ...
, immediately afterwards. Following disputed rights over the northeast coasts between Spain and England the next documented Europeans to explore the coast of Maine were by
Giovanni da Verrazzano Giovanni da Verrazzano ( , , often misspelled Verrazano in English; 1485–1528) was an Italian ( Florentine) explorer of North America, in the service of King Francis I of France. He is renowned as the first European to explore the Atlantic ...
under the French flag in 1574, and then the Portuguese explorer
Estêvão Gomes Estêvão Gomes, also known by the Spanish version of his name, Esteban Gómez (c. 1483 – 1538), was a Portuguese cartography, cartographer and explorer. He sailed at the service of Crown of Castile, Castile (Spain) in the fleet of Ferdinand M ...
, in service of the
Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its prede ...
, in 1525. They mapped the coastline (including the
Penobscot River The Penobscot River (Abenaki: ''Pαnawάhpskewtəkʷ'') is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 22, 2011 river in the U.S. state of Maine. Including the river's We ...
) but did not settle, though Verrazzano's efforts added a French claim to the area. The first European settlement in the area was made on St. Croix Island in 1604 by a French party that included
Samuel de Champlain Samuel de Champlain (; Fichier OrigineFor a detailed analysis of his baptismal record, see RitchThe baptism act does not contain information about the age of Samuel, neither his birth date nor his place of birth. – 25 December 1635) was a Fre ...
and Mathieu da Costa. The French named the area
Acadia Acadia (french: link=no, Acadie) was a colony of New France in northeastern North America which included parts of what are now the Maritime provinces, the Gaspé Peninsula and Maine to the Kennebec River. During much of the 17th and early ...
. French and English settlers would contest central Maine until the 1750s (when the French were defeated in the
French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...
). The French developed and maintained strong relations with the local Indian tribes through Catholic missionaries. English colonists sponsored by the
Plymouth Company The Plymouth Company, officially known as the Virginia Company of Plymouth, was a Division (business), division of the Virginia Company with responsibility for British colonization of the Americas, colonizing the east coast of America between 38 ...
founded a settlement in Maine in 1607 (the
Popham Colony The Popham Colony—also known as the Sagadahoc Colony—was a short-lived English colonial settlement in North America. It was established in 1607 by the proprietary Plymouth Company and was located in the present-day town of Phippsburg, Ma ...
at Phippsburg), but it was abandoned the following year. A French trading post was established at present-day Castine in 1613 by
Claude de Saint-Étienne de la Tour Claude de Saint-Étienne de la Tour ( 1570 – after 1636) was born in the province of Champagne, France and came to Acadia in 1610 after suffering heavy losses as a ship's captain.New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
. The
Plymouth Colony Plymouth Colony (sometimes Plimouth) was, from 1620 to 1691, the British America, first permanent English colony in New England and the second permanent English colony in North America, after the Jamestown Colony. It was first settled by the pa ...
, established on the shores of
Cape Cod Bay A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck. History Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon. Th ...
in 1620, set up a competing trading post at Penobscot Bay in the 1620s. The territory between the Merrimack and Kennebec rivers was first called the
Province of Maine The Province of Maine refers to any of the various English colonies established in the 17th century along the northeast coast of North America, within portions of the present-day U.S. states of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, and the Canadian ...
in a 1622 land patent granted to Sir
Ferdinando Gorges Sir Ferdinando Gorges ( – 24 May 1647) was a naval and military commander and governor of the important port of Plymouth in England. He was involved in Essex's Rebellion against the Queen, but escaped punishment by testifying against the m ...
and John Mason. The two split the territory along the
Piscataqua River The Piscataqua River (Abenaki: ''Pskehtekwis'') is a tidal river forming the boundary of the U.S. states of New Hampshire and Maine from its origin at the confluence of the Salmon Falls River and Cochecho River. The drainage basin of the river ...
in a 1629 pact that resulted in the
Province of New Hampshire The Province of New Hampshire was a colony of England and later a British province in North America. The name was first given in 1629 to the territory between the Merrimack and Piscataqua rivers on the eastern coast of North America, and was nam ...
being formed by Mason in the south and
New Somersetshire The Province of Maine refers to any of the various English colonies established in the 17th century along the northeast coast of North America, within portions of the present-day U.S. states of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, and the Canadian ...
being created by Gorges to the north, in what is now southwestern Maine. The present Somerset County in Maine preserves this early nomenclature. One of the first English attempts to settle the Maine coast was by
Christopher Levett Capt. Christopher Levett (15 April 1586 – 1630) was an English writer, explorer and naval captain, born at York, England. He explored the coast of New England and secured a grant from the King to settle present-day Portland, Maine, the first ...
, an agent for Gorges and a member of the
Plymouth Council for New England The Council for New England was a 17th-century English joint stock company that was granted a royal charter to found colonial settlements along the coast of North America. The Council was established in November of 1620, and was disbanded (alt ...
. After securing a royal grant for of land on the site of present-day
Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropol ...
, Levett built a stone house and left a group of settlers behind when he returned to England in 1623 to drum up support for his settlement, which he called "York" after the city in England of his birth. Originally called Machigonne by the local Abenaki, later settlers named it Falmouth and it is known today as
Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...
. Levett's settlement, like the Popham Colony also failed, and the settlers Levett left behind were never heard from again. Levett did sail back across the Atlantic to meet with
Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around the Massachusetts Bay, the northernmost of the several colonies later reorganized as the ...
Governor
John Winthrop John Winthrop (January 12, 1587/88 – March 26, 1649) was an English Puritan lawyer and one of the leading figures in founding the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the second major settlement in New England following Plymouth Colony. Winthrop led t ...
at Salem in 1630, but died on the return voyage without ever returning to his settlement. The New Somersetshire colony was small, and in 1639 Gorges received a second patent, from
Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...
, covering the same territory as Gorges' 1629 settlement with Mason. Gorges' second effort resulted in the establishment of more settlements along the coast of southern Maine, and along the
Piscataqua River The Piscataqua River (Abenaki: ''Pskehtekwis'') is a tidal river forming the boundary of the U.S. states of New Hampshire and Maine from its origin at the confluence of the Salmon Falls River and Cochecho River. The drainage basin of the river ...
, with a formal government under his distant relation,
Thomas Gorges Sir Thomas Gorges (1536 – 30 March 1610) of Longford Castle in Wiltshire, was a courtier and Groom of the Chamber to Queen Elizabeth I. Via his great-grandmother Lady Anne Howard, a daughter of John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk, he was a s ...
. A dispute about the bounds of a 1630 land grant led in 1643 to the short-lived formation of
Lygonia Lygonia was a proprietary province in pre-colonial Maine, created through a grant from the Plymouth Council for New England in 1630 to lands then under control of Sir Ferdinando Gorges. The province was named for his mother, Cicely (Lygon) Gorges ...
on territory that encompassed a large area of the Gorges grant (modern Portland, Scarborough and Saco). The 1629 Charter of Massachusetts Bay set the northern sea-to-sea boundary three miles north of the northernmost part of the
Merrimack River The Merrimack River (or Merrimac River, an occasional earlier spelling) is a river in the northeastern United States. It rises at the confluence of the Pemigewasset and Winnipesaukee rivers in Franklin, New Hampshire, flows southward into Mas ...
. After the parliamentary victory in the
Wars of the Three Kingdoms The Wars of the Three Kingdoms were a series of related conflicts fought between 1639 and 1653 in the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland and Kingdom of Ireland, Ireland, then separate entities united in a pers ...
and installation of the Puritan
Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...
, a 1652 survey by the Massachusetts reported the source of the Merrimack as
Lake Winnipesaukee Lake Winnipesaukee () is the largest lake in the U.S. state of New Hampshire, located in the Lakes Region at the foothills of the White Mountains. It is approximately long (northwest-southeast) and from wide (northeast-southwest), covering & ...
, and set the boundary at three miles north of 43°40′12″N *which would put it at 43°43′12″N). Surveyors reckoned on the Maine coast this corresponded to Upper Clapboard Island in
Casco Bay Casco Bay is an inlet of the Gulf of Maine on the southern coast of Maine, New England, United States. Its easternmost approach is Cape Small and its westernmost approach is Two Lights in Cape Elizabeth. The city of Portland sits along its south ...
, just north of modern-day
Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropol ...
. This meant Massachusetts' patent encompassed all the English colonial settlements in the Mason's lands (New Hampshire), and both Lygonia and Gorges' lands (western Maine, which ended around modern-day
Bath, Maine Bath is a city in Sagadahoc County, Maine, in the United States. The population was 8,766 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Sagadahoc County, which includes one city and 10 towns. The city is popular with tourists, many drawn by its ...
). The Parliamentarian, Puritan colony of Massachusetts sent commissioners to the Anglican, Royalist colonies to enforce jurisdiction. Opponents were arrested and jailed until the leader of the resistance, Edward Godfrey, capitulated. Both Gorges' Province of Maine and Lygonia had been absorbed into the
Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around the Massachusetts Bay, the northernmost of the several colonies later reorganized as the ...
by 1658. The Massachusetts claim would be overturned in 1676, but Massachusetts again asserted control by purchasing the territorial claims of the Gorges' heirs. In 1669, the
Territory of Sagadahock The Territory of Sagadahock, also called the Sagadahoc Colony and New Castle, was an English colonial territory which included the eastern part of what was later colonial Maine and was more sparsely settled than the western region. The area incl ...
, between the Kennebec and St. Croix rivers (what is now eastern Maine) was granted by Charles II to his brother
James, Duke of York James VII and II (14 October 1633 16 September 1701) was King of England and King of Ireland as James II, and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II, on 6 February 1685. He was deposed in the Glorious Re ...
. Under the terms of this grant, all the territory from the
Saint Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connectin ...
to the Atlantic Ocean was constituted as Cornwall County, and was governed as part of the duke's proprietary
Province of New York The Province of New York (1664–1776) was a British proprietary colony and later royal colony on the northeast coast of North America. As one of the Middle Colonies, New York achieved independence and worked with the others to found the Uni ...
. At times, this territory was claimed by
New France New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spai ...
as part of
Acadia Acadia (french: link=no, Acadie) was a colony of New France in northeastern North America which included parts of what are now the Maritime provinces, the Gaspé Peninsula and Maine to the Kennebec River. During much of the 17th and early ...
. In 1674, the
Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...
briefly conquered Acadia, renaming the colony New Holland. In 1686 James, now king, established the
Dominion of New England The Dominion of New England in America (1686–1689) was an administrative union of English colonies covering New England and the Mid-Atlantic Colonies (except for Delaware Colony and the Province of Pennsylvania). Its political structure represe ...
. This political entity eventually combined all of the English colonial territories from
Delaware Bay Delaware Bay is the estuary outlet of the Delaware River on the northeast seaboard of the United States. It is approximately in area, the bay's freshwater mixes for many miles with the saltwater of the Atlantic Ocean. The bay is bordered inlan ...
to the St. Croix River. The dominion collapsed in 1689, and a new patent was issued by
William III of England William III (William Henry; ; 4 November 16508 March 1702), also widely known as William of Orange, was the sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of County of Holland, Holland, County of Zeeland, Zeeland, Lordship of Utrecht, Utrec ...
and
Mary II of England Mary II (30 April 166228 December 1694) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England, List of Scottish monarchs, Scotland, and Monarchy of Ireland, Ireland, co-reigning with her husband, William III of England, William III & II, from 1689 unt ...
in 1691. This became effective in 1692 when the territory between the Piscataqua and the St. Croix (all of modern Maine) became part of the new
Province of Massachusetts Bay The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a colony in British America which became one of the Thirteen Colonies, thirteen original states of the United States. It was chartered on October 7, 1691, by William III of England, William III and Mary II ...
as Yorkshire, a name which survives in present-day York County.


Eastern border wars

For English settlers, the east of the
Kennebec River The Kennebec River (Abenaki language, Abenaki: ''Kinəpékʷihtəkʷ'') is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed June 30, 2011 river within the U.S. state of Maine. It ri ...
was known in the 17th century as the
Territory of Sagadahock The Territory of Sagadahock, also called the Sagadahoc Colony and New Castle, was an English colonial territory which included the eastern part of what was later colonial Maine and was more sparsely settled than the western region. The area incl ...
; however, the French included this area as part of
Acadia Acadia (french: link=no, Acadie) was a colony of New France in northeastern North America which included parts of what are now the Maritime provinces, the Gaspé Peninsula and Maine to the Kennebec River. During much of the 17th and early ...
. It was dominated by tribes of the
Wabanaki Confederacy The Wabanaki Confederacy (''Wabenaki, Wobanaki'', translated to "People of the Dawn" or "Easterner") is a North American First Nations and Native American confederation of four principal Eastern Algonquian nations: the Miꞌkmaq, Maliseet ( ...
, which supported Acadia. The only significant European presence was at
Fort Pentagouet Fort Pentagouët (Fort Pentagoet, Fort Castine, Fort Penobscot, Fort Saint-Pierre) was a French fort established in present-day Castine, Maine, which was the capital of Acadia (1670–1674). It is the oldest permanent settlement in New England. I ...
, the French trading post first established in 1613 as well as missionaries on Kennebec River and the Penobscot River. Fort Pentagouet was briefly the capital of Acadia (1670–1674) in an effort to protect the French claim to the territory. There were four wars before the region was finally taken by English settlers in
Father Rale's War Dummer's War (1722–1725) is also known as Father Rale's War, Lovewell's War, Greylock's War, the Three Years War, the Wabanaki-New England War, or the Fourth Anglo-Abenaki War. It was a series of battles between the New England Colonies and the ...
. In the first war,
King Philips War King Philip's War (sometimes called the First Indian War, Metacom's War, Metacomet's War, Pometacomet's Rebellion, or Metacom's Rebellion) was an armed conflict in 1675–1676 between indigenous inhabitants of New England and New England coloni ...
, some of the tribes of the Wabanaki Confederacy participated and successfully prevented English colonial settlement in their territory. During the next war,
King William's War King William's War (also known as the Second Indian War, Father Baudoin's War, Castin's War, or the First Intercolonial War in French) was the North American theater of the Nine Years' War (1688–1697), also known as the War of the Grand All ...
, Baron St. Castin at Fort Pentagouet and French Jesuit missionary
Sébastien Rale Sébastien Rale (also Racle, Râle, Rasle, Rasles and Sebastian Rale (January 20, 1657 – August 23, 1724) was a French Jesuit missionary and lexicographer who preached amongst the Abenaki and encouraged their resistance to British coloniza ...
were notably active. Again, the
Wabanaki Confederacy The Wabanaki Confederacy (''Wabenaki, Wobanaki'', translated to "People of the Dawn" or "Easterner") is a North American First Nations and Native American confederation of four principal Eastern Algonquian nations: the Miꞌkmaq, Maliseet ( ...
executed a successful campaign against the English settlers west of the Kennebec River. In 1696, the major defensive establishment in the territory,
Fort William Henry Fort William Henry was a British fort at the southern end of Lake George, in the province of New York. The fort's construction was ordered by Sir William Johnson in September 1755, during the French and Indian War, as a staging ground for ...
at Pemaquid (present-day
Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
), was
besieged Besieged may refer to: * the state of being under siege * ''Besieged'' (film), a 1998 film by Bernardo Bertolucci {{disambiguation ...
by a French force. The territory was again on the front lines in
Queen Anne's War Queen Anne's War (1702–1713) was the second in a series of French and Indian Wars fought in North America involving the colonial empires of Great Britain, France, and Spain; it took place during the reign of Anne, Queen of Great Britain. In E ...
(1702–1713), with the Northeast Coast Campaign. The next and final conflict over the New England/ Acadia border was
Father Rale's War Dummer's War (1722–1725) is also known as Father Rale's War, Lovewell's War, Greylock's War, the Three Years War, the Wabanaki-New England War, or the Fourth Anglo-Abenaki War. It was a series of battles between the New England Colonies and the ...
. During the war, the Confederacy launched two campaigns against the British settlers west of the Kennebec (1723, 1724). Rale and numerous chiefs were killed by a New England force in 1724 at
Norridgewock Norridgewock was the name of both an Indigenous village and a band of the Abenaki ("People of the Dawn") Native Americans/First Nations, an Eastern Algonquian tribe of the United States and Canada. The French of New France called the village Ke ...
, which led to the collapse of French claims to Maine. During
King George's War King George's War (1744–1748) is the name given to the military operations in North America that formed part of the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748). It was the third of the four French and Indian Wars. It took place primarily in t ...
, members of the Wabanaki Confederacy led three campaigns against the British settlers in Maine (1745, 1746, 1747). During the final colonial war, the
French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...
, members of the Confederacy again executed numerous raids into Maine from Acadia/ Nova Scotia. Acadian militia raided the British colonial settlements of Swan's Island, Maine and present-day
Friendship, Maine Friendship (formerly known as Meduncook) is a town in Knox County, Maine, United States. It is 31 miles (49.9 km) southeast of Augusta. The population was 1,142 at the 2020 census. History Abenaki Native Americans called it Meduncook, me ...
and
Thomaston, Maine Thomaston (formerly known as Fort St. Georges, Fort Wharf, Lincoln) is a town in Knox County, Maine, United States. The population was 2,739 at the 2020 census. Noted for its antique architecture, Thomaston is an old port popular with tourists ...
. Francis Noble wrote her captivity narrative after being captured at Swan's Island. On June 9, 1758, Indians raided
Woolwich, Maine Woolwich is a town in Sagadahoc County, Maine, United States. The population was 3,068 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Portland– South Portland–Biddeford, Maine metropolitan statistical area. Woolwich is a suburb of the city of ...
, killing members of the Preble family and taking others prisoner to Quebec. This incident became known as the last conflict on the Kennebec River. After the defeat of the French colony of
Acadia Acadia (french: link=no, Acadie) was a colony of New France in northeastern North America which included parts of what are now the Maritime provinces, the Gaspé Peninsula and Maine to the Kennebec River. During much of the 17th and early ...
, the territory from the
Penobscot River The Penobscot River (Abenaki: ''Pαnawάhpskewtəkʷ'') is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 22, 2011 river in the U.S. state of Maine. Including the river's We ...
east fell under the nominal authority of the Province of
Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...
, and together with present-day
New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...
formed the Nova Scotia County of Sunbury, with its court of general sessions at
Campobello Island Campobello Island (, also ) is the largest and only inhabited island in Campobello, a civil parish in southwestern New Brunswick, Canada, near the border with Maine, United States. The island's permanent population in 2021 was 949. It is the s ...
.


Land sales

In the late 18th century, several tracts of land in Maine, then part of Massachusetts, were sold off by lottery. Two tracts of 1,000,000 acres (4,000 km2), one in south-east Maine and another in the west, were bought by a wealthy Philadelphia banker,
William Bingham William Bingham (March 8, 1752February 7, 1804) was an American statesman from Philadelphia. He was a delegate for Pennsylvania to the Continental Congress from 1786 to 1788 and served in the United States Senate from 1795 to 1801. Bingham was o ...
. This land became known as the
Bingham Purchase The Bingham Purchase refers to several tracts of land in the U.S. state of Maine,http://www.rootsweb.com/~mefrankl/ Franklin County, Maine Genealogy formerly owned by William Bingham. These lands were granted to early colonizers in the 1630s, and ...
.http://newenglandtowns.org/maine/franklin-county "Franklin County, Maine", ''New England Towns''. Retrieved: 11-22-2007


American Revolution

Maine was a center of Patriotism during the
American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...
, with less Loyalist activity than most colonies. Merchants operated 52 ships that served as privateers attacking British supply ships. Machias in particular was a center for privateering and Patriot activity. It was the site of an early naval engagement that resulted in the capture of a small Royal Navy vessel.
Jonathan Eddy Jonathan Eddy (–1804) was a British-American soldier, who fought for the British in the French and Indian War and for the Americans in the American Revolution. After the French and Indian War, he settled in Nova Scotia as a New England Planter, ...
led a failed attempt to capture Fort Cumberland in Nova Scotia in 1776. In 1777 Eddy led the defense of Machias against a Royal Navy raid. Captain Henry Mowat of the Royal Navy had charge of operations off the Maine coast during much the war. He dismantled Fort Pownall at the mouth of the Penobscot River and burned Falmouth in 1775 (present-day
Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...
). His reputation in Maine traditions is heartless and brutal, but historians note that he performed his duty well and in accordance with the ethics of the era.


New Ireland

In 1779, the British adopted a strategy to occupy parts of Maine, especially around Penobscot Bay, and make it a new colony to be called "New Ireland". The scheme was promoted by exiled Loyalists Dr. John Calef (1725–1812) and John Nutting (fl. 1775-85), as well as Englishman William Knox (1732–1810). It was intended to be a permanent colony for Loyalists and a base for military action during the war. The plan ultimately failed because of a lack of interest by the British government and the determination of the Americans to keep all of Maine. In July 1779, British general Francis McLean captured Castine and built Fort George on the Bagaduce Peninsula on the eastern side of Penobscot Bay. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts sent the
Penobscot Expedition The Penobscot Expedition was a 44-ship American naval armada during the Revolutionary War assembled by the Provincial Congress of the Province of Massachusetts Bay. The flotilla of 19 warships and 25 support vessels sailed from Boston on July 1 ...
led by Massachusetts general
Solomon Lovell Solomon Lovell (1732–1801) was a brigadier general in the militia of Massachusetts Bay during the American Revolutionary War. He is best known for leading the land forces during the 1779 Penobscot Expedition, a disastrous attempt by Massachuset ...
and Continental Navy captain
Dudley Saltonstall Dudley Saltonstall (1738–1796) was an American naval commander during the American Revolutionary War. He is best known as the commander of the naval forces of the 1779 Penobscot Expedition, which ended in complete disaster, with all ships lost. ...
. The Americans failed to dislodge the British during a 21-day siege and were routed by the arrival of British reinforcements. The Royal Navy blocked an escape by sea so the Patriots burned their ships near present-day Bangor and walked home. Maine was unable to repel the British threat despite a reorganized defense and the imposition of martial law in selected areas. Some of the most easterly towns tried to become neutral. After the peace was signed in 1783, the New Ireland proposal was abandoned. In 1784 the British split
New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...
off from Nova Scotia and made it into the desired Loyalist colony, with deference to King and Church, and with
republicanism Republicanism is a political ideology centered on citizenship in a state organized as a republic. Historically, it emphasises the idea of self-rule and ranges from the rule of a representative minority or oligarchy to popular sovereignty. It ...
suppressed. It was almost named "New Ireland". The 1783 Treaty of Paris that ended the American Revolutionary War ceded western Sunbury County (west of the St. Croix River) from Nova Scotia to Massachusetts, which had an overlapping claim. The treaty was ambiguous about the inland boundary between what came to be known as the
District of Maine The District of Maine was the governmental designation for what is now the U.S. state of Maine from October 25, 1780 to March 15, 1820, when it was admitted to the Union as the 23rd state. The district was a part of the Commonwealth of Massachuse ...
and the neighboring British provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec. This would set the stage for the bloodless "
Aroostook War The Aroostook War (sometimes called the Pork and Beans WarLe Duc, Thomas (1947). The Maine Frontier and the Northeastern Boundary Controversy. ''The American Historical Review'' Vol. 53, No. 1 (Oct., 1947), pp. 30–41), or the Madawaska War, wa ...
" a half century later.


War of 1812

During the
War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...
, Maine suffered the effects of warfare less than most sections of New England. Early in the war there was some Canadian privateering action and Royal Navy harassment along the coast. In September 1813, the memorable combat off Pemaquid between HMS ''Boxer'' and USS ''Enterprise'' gained international attention. But it wasn't until 1814 that the district was invaded. The U.S. Army and the small U.S. Navy could do little to defend Maine. The national administration assigned nominal resources to the region, concentrating its efforts in the west. The local militia generally proved inadequate to the challenge. However, in the last months of the war, large militia mobilizations discouraged enemy interventions at Wiscasset, Bath, and Portland. British army and naval forces from nearby
Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...
captured and occupied the eastern coast from Eastport to Castine, and plundered the
Penobscot River The Penobscot River (Abenaki: ''Pαnawάhpskewtəkʷ'') is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 22, 2011 river in the U.S. state of Maine. Including the river's We ...
towns of Hampden and Bangor (see
Battle of Hampden The Battle of Hampden was an action in the British campaign to conquer present-day Maine and remake it into the colony of New Ireland during the War of 1812. Sir John Sherbrooke led a British force from Halifax, Nova Scotia to establish New Ire ...
). Legitimate commerce all along the Maine coast was largely stopped—a critical situation for a place so dependent on shipping. In its place an illicit smuggling trade with the British developed, especially at Castine and Eastport. The British gave "New Ireland" to America in the
Treaty of Ghent The Treaty of Ghent () was the peace treaty that ended the War of 1812 between the United States and the United Kingdom. It took effect in February 1815. Both sides signed it on December 24, 1814, in the city of Ghent, United Netherlands (now in ...
, and Castine was evacuated, although Eastport remained under occupation until 1818. But Maine's vulnerability to foreign invasion, and its lack of protection by Massachusetts, were important factors in the post-war momentum for statehood.


Maine statehood

The
Massachusetts General Court The Massachusetts General Court (formally styled the General Court of Massachusetts) is the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name "General Court" is a hold-over from the earliest days of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, ...
passed enabling legislation on June 19, 1819 separating the District of Maine from the rest of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The following month, on July 26, voters in the district approved statehood by 17,091 to 7,132. The results of the election were presented to the
Massachusetts Governor's Council The Massachusetts Governor's Council (also known as the Executive Council) is a governmental body that provides advice and consent in certain matterssuch as judicial nominations, pardons, and commutationsto the Governor of Massachusetts. Council ...
on August 24, 1819.The Maine Register and United States' Almanac for the Year of Our Lord 1820, p. 72
/ref> The
Maine Constitution The Constitution of the State of Maine established the " State of Maine" in 1820 and is the fundamental governing document of the state. It consists of a Preamble and ten Articles (divisions), the first of which is a "Declaration of Rights". T ...
was unanimously approved by the 210 delegates to the Maine Constitutional Convention in October 1819. On February 25, 1820, the General Court passed a follow-up measure officially accepting the fact of Maine's imminent statehood. At the time of Maine's request for statehood, there were an equal number of
free and slave states In the United States before 1865, a slave state was a state in which slavery and the internal or domestic slave trade were legal, while a free state was one in which they were not. Between 1812 and 1850, it was considered by the slave states ...
. Pro-
slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
members of the
United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...
saw the admission of another free state, Maine, as a threat to the balance between slave and free states. They would only support statehood for Maine if
Missouri Territory The Territory of Missouri was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from June 4, 1812, until August 10, 1821. In 1819, the Territory of Arkansas was created from a portion of its southern area. In 1821, a southeas ...
, where slavery was legal, would be
admitted to the Union ''Admitted'' is a 2020 Indian Hindi-language docudrama film directed by Chandigarh-based director Ojaswwee Sharma. The film is about Dhananjay Chauhan, the first transgender student at Panjab University. The role of Dhananjay Chauhan has been p ...
as a slave state. Maine became the nation's
23rd state Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...
on March 15, 1820, following the
Missouri Compromise The Missouri Compromise was a federal legislation of the United States that balanced desires of northern states to prevent expansion of slavery in the country with those of southern states to expand it. It admitted Missouri as a Slave states an ...
, which allowed
Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...
to enter the Union as a slave-holding state and Maine as a free state. However, Massachusetts still held onto the vast offshore islands of Maine after allowing it to secede, because of the high number of people on them who still wished to remain part of Massachusetts. This only lasted until 1824, when the cost of supplying the islands that were now very hard to access directly from Massachusetts outweighed any profit from holding onto those islands. Massachusetts formally ceded the last of its islands near Maine in late 1824. William King was elected as the state's
first First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
. William D. Williamson became the first President of the
Maine State Senate The Maine Senate is the upper house of the Maine Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maine. The Senate currently consists of 35 members representing an equal number of districts across the state, though the Maine Constitution ...
. When King resigned as governor in 1821, Williamson automatically succeeded him to become Maine's second governor. That same year, however, he ran for and won a seat in the
17th United States Congress The 17th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. While its term was officially March 4, 1821, t ...
. Upon Williamson's resignation, Speaker of the
Maine House of Representatives The Maine House of Representatives is the lower house of the Maine Legislature. The House consists of 151 voting members and three nonvoting members. The voting members represent an equal number of districts across the state and are elected via p ...
Benjamin Ames Benjamin Ames (October 30, 1778 – September 28, 1835) was the third governor of the U.S. state of Maine, who served from December 5, 1821, to January 2, 1822. Biography Ames was born in Andover, Massachusetts. He graduated Harvard University ...
became Maine's third governor for approximately a month until Daniel Rose took office. Rose served only from January 2 to January 5, 1822, filling the unexpired term between the administrations of Ames and
Albion K. Parris Albion Keith Parris (January 19, 1788 – February 11, 1857) was the 5th Governor of Maine, a United States representative from the District of Maine, Massachusetts, a United States senator from Maine, a United States district judge of the Uni ...
. Parris served as governor until January 3, 1827.


The Aroostook War

The still-lingering border dispute with
British North America British North America comprised the colonial territories of the British Empire in North America from 1783 onwards. English overseas possessions, English colonisation of North America began in the 16th century in Newfoundland (island), Newfound ...
came to a head in 1839 when Maine Governor
John Fairfield John Fairfield (January 30, 1797December 24, 1847) was an attorney and politician from Maine. He served as a U.S. Congressman, governor and U.S. Senator. was born in Pepperellborough, Massachusetts (now Saco, Maine) and attended the school ...
declared virtual war on lumbermen from
New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...
cutting timber in lands claimed by Maine. Four regiments of the Maine militia were mustered in Bangor and marched to the border, but there was no fighting. The
Aroostook War The Aroostook War (sometimes called the Pork and Beans WarLe Duc, Thomas (1947). The Maine Frontier and the Northeastern Boundary Controversy. ''The American Historical Review'' Vol. 53, No. 1 (Oct., 1947), pp. 30–41), or the Madawaska War, wa ...
was an undeclared and bloodless conflict that was settled by diplomacy. Secretary of State
Daniel Webster Daniel Webster (January 18, 1782 – October 24, 1852) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented New Hampshire and Massachusetts in the U.S. Congress and served as the U.S. Secretary of State under Presidents William Henry Harrison, ...
secretly funded a propaganda campaign that convinced Maine leaders that a compromise was wise; Webster used an old map that showed British claims were legitimate. The British had a different old map that showed the American claims were legitimate, so both sides thought the other had the better case. The final border between the two countries was established with the
Webster–Ashburton Treaty The Webster–Ashburton Treaty, signed August 9, 1842, was a treaty that resolved several border issues between the United States and the British North American colonies (the region that became Canada). Signed under John Tyler's presidency, it ...
of 1842, which gave Maine most of the disputed area, and gave the British a militarily vital connection between its provinces of
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
(present-day
Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
and
Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
) and New Brunswick. The passion of the Aroostook War signaled the increasing role lumbering and logging were playing in the Maine economy, particularly in the central and eastern sections of the state. Bangor arose as a lumbering boom-town in the 1830s, and a potential demographic and political rival to Portland. Bangor became for a time the largest lumber port in the world, and the site of furious land speculation that extended up the Penobscot River valley and beyond.


Industrialization

Industrialization Industrialisation ( alternatively spelled industrialization) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive re-organisation of an econo ...
in 19th century Maine took a number of forms, depending on the region and period. The river valleys, particularly the Androscroggin, Kennebec and Penobscot, became virtual conveyor belts for the making of lumber beginning in the 1820s-30s. Logging crews penetrated deep into the Maine woods in search of pine (and later spruce) and floated it down to sawmills gathered at waterfalls. The lumber was then shipped from ports such as Bangor, Ellsworth and Cherryfield all over the world. Partly because of the lumber industry's need for transportation, and partly due to the prevalence of wood and carpenters along a very long coastline,
shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befor ...
became an important industry in Maine's coastal towns. The Maine merchant marine was huge in proportion to the state's population, and ships and crews from communities such as Bath,
Brewer Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with yeast. It may be done in a brewery by a commercial brewer, ...
, and
Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...
could be found all over the world. The building of very large wooden sailing ships continued in some places into the early 20th century. Cotton textile mills migrated to Maine from
Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...
beginning in the 1820s. The major site for cotton textile manufacturing was Lewiston on the
Androscoggin River The Androscoggin River ( Abenaki: ''Aləssíkαntekʷ'') is a river in the U.S. states of Maine and New Hampshire, in northern New England. It is U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, ...
, the most northerly of the
Waltham-Lowell system The Waltham-Lowell system was a labor and production model employed during the rise of the textile industry in the United States, particularly in New England, amid the larger backdrop of rapid expansion of the Industrial Revolution in the early 1 ...
towns (factory towns modeled on
Lowell, Massachusetts Lowell () is a city in Massachusetts, in the United States. Alongside Cambridge, It is one of two traditional seats of Middlesex County. With an estimated population of 115,554 in 2020, it was the fifth most populous city in Massachusetts as of ...
). The twin cities of
Biddeford Biddeford is a city in York County, Maine, United States. It is the principal commercial center of York County. Its population was 22,552 at the 2020 census. The twin cities of Saco and Biddeford include the resort communities of Biddeford Poo ...
and Saco, as well as Augusta, Waterville, and Brunswick also became important textile manufacturing communities. These mills were established on waterfalls and amidst farming communities as they initially relied on the labor of farm-girls engaged on short-term contracts. In the years after the Civil War, they would become magnets for immigrant labor. In addition to fishing, important 19th century industries included
granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
and
slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...
quarrying,
brick-making A brickworks, also known as a brick factory, is a factory for the manufacturing of bricks, from clay or shale. Usually a brickworks is located on a clay bedrock (the most common material from which bricks are made), often with a quarry for ...
, and shoe-making. Starting in the early 20th century, the
pulp and paper industry The pulp and paper industry comprises companies that use wood as raw material and produce pulp, paper, paperboard and other cellulose-based products. Manufacturing process The pulp is fed to a paper machine where it is formed as a paper web an ...
spread into the Maine woods and most of the river valleys from the lumbermen, so completely that
Ralph Nader Ralph Nader (; born February 27, 1934) is an American political activist, author, lecturer, and attorney noted for his involvement in consumer protection, environmentalism, and government reform causes. The son of Lebanese immigrants to the Un ...
would famously describe Maine in the 1960s as a "paper plantation". Entirely new cities, such as
Millinocket Millinocket is a town in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. The population was 4,114 at the 2020 census. Millinocket's economy has historically been centered on forest products and recreation, but the paper company closed in 2008. History ...
and Rumford were established on many of the large rivers. For all this industrial development, however, Maine remained a largely agricultural state well into the 20th century, with most of its population living in small and widely separated villages. With short growing seasons, rocky soil, and relative remoteness from markets, Maine agriculture was never as prosperous as in other states; the populations of most farming communities peaked in the 1850s, declining steadily thereafter.


Railroads

Railroads shaped Maine's geography, as they did that of most American states. The first railroad in Maine was the Calais Railroad, incorporated by the state legislature on February 17, 1832. It was built to transport lumber from a mill on the Saint Croix River opposite
Milltown, New Brunswick St. Stephen (2016 population: 4,415) is a Canadian town in Charlotte County, New Brunswick, situated on the east bank of the St. Croix River around the intersection of New Brunswick Route 170 and the southern terminus of New Brunswick Route ...
two miles to the tidewater at
Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...
in 1835. In 1849, the name was changed to the Calais and Baring Railroad and the line was extended four more miles to Baring. In 1870, it became part of the St. Croix and Penobscot Railroad. The state's second railroad was the Bangor & Piscataquis Railroad & Canal Company incorporated by the legislature on February 18, 1833. It ran eleven miles from Bangor to Oldtown along the west bank of the Penobscot River and opened in November, 1836. In 1854-55, it was extended 1.5 miles across the Penobscot River to
Milford Milford may refer to: Place names Canada * Milford (Annapolis), Nova Scotia * Milford (Halifax), Nova Scotia * Milford, Ontario England * Milford, Derbyshire * Milford, Devon, a place in Devon * Milford on Sea, Hampshire * Milford, Shro ...
and the name was changed to the Bangor, Oldtown & Milford Railroad Company. In 1869, it was absorbed into the European and North American Railway. The third railroad in Maine was the Portland, Saco and Portsmouth Railroad, incorporated by the legislature on March 14, 1837. This was a crucial step in the development of railroads in Maine because the new railroad connected Portland to Boston by connecting to the Eastern Railroad (Massachusetts), Eastern Railroad at Kittery via a bridge to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Portsmouth. This railroad was opened on November 21, 1842 and was 51.34 miles in length. Portland in particular prospered as the terminus of the Grand Trunk Railway, Grand Trunk railroad from Montreal, essentially becoming Canada's winter port because of efforts by investors like John A. Poor and John Neal (writer), John Neal. The Portland Company built early railway locomotives and the Portland Terminal Company handled joint switching operations for the Maine Central Railroad and Boston and Maine Railroad. A railroad pushed through to Bangor in the 1850s, and as far as Aroostook County, Maine, Aroostook County in the early 20th century, farming potato growing as a cash crop. Belfast_and_Moosehead_Lake_Railroad_(1871–2007), Belfast and Moosehead Lake Railroad was chartered in 1867 and opened in 1870. Despite the aspirational name its 33 miles of standard gauge tracks connected the port of Belfast to Burnham Junction where they joined with the newly created Maine Central Railroad Company. Maine Central promptly took a 50 year lease on the B&MLR to haul passengers and freight in and out of Waldo_County,_Maine, Waldo County. In 1925 Maine Central declined to renew their lease, citing losses, and the Belfast,_Maine, City of Belfast began operating the B&MLR as the only publicly owned freight and passenger rail line in the US. The Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad, Bridgton and Saco River Railroad, Monson Railroad, Kennebec Central Railroad and Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington Railway were built with the unusually narrow gauge of 2 feet (60 cm).


"Ohio Fever", the California Gold Rush, and westward migration from Maine

Even before the tide of settlement crested in most of Maine, some began to leave for The West. The first large-scale exodus was probably in 1816-17, spurred by the privations of the War of 1812, an Year Without a Summer, unusually cold summer, and the expansion of settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains in Ohio. "Ohio Fever" as the lure of the West was initially called, depopulated a number of fledgling Maine communities and stunted the growth of others, even if the overall momentum of settlement had been largely restored by the 1820s, when Maine achieved statehood. As the American frontier continued to expand westward, Mainers were particularly attracted to the forested states of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, and large numbers brought their lumbering skills and knowledge there. Migrants from Maine were particularly prominent in Minnesota; for example, three 19th century Mayors of Minneapolis were Mainers. The California Gold Rush of 1849 and afterwards was a major boost to the lumber and coastal shipbuilding economies, as building lumber needed to be "shipped around the Horn" from Maine until the establishment of a West Coast sawmilling industry. Maine ships also carried gold-seeking migrants, however, and thus were many Mainers (and aspects of Maine culture, such as lumbering and carpentering) transplanted to California and the Pacific Northwest. Three 19th century Mayors of San Francisco, two List of Governors of California, Governors of California, a Governor of Oregon, and two List of Governors of Washington, Governors of Washington were born in Maine.


Civil War

Maine was the first state in the northeast to support the new anti-slavery History of the United States Republican Party, Republican Party, partly due to the influence of evangelical Protestantism, and partly to the fact that Maine was a frontier state, and thus receptive to the party's "free Soil Party, free soil" platform. Abraham Lincoln chose Maine's Hannibal Hamlin as his first Vice President. Maine was so enthusiastic for the cause of preserving the Union in the American Civil War that it ended up contributing a larger number of combatants, in proportion to its population, than any other Union state. It was second only to Massachusetts in the number of its sailors who served in the United States Navy. Joshua Chamberlain and Holman Melcher along with the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment played a key role at the Battle of Gettysburg, and the 1st Maine Heavy Artillery Regiment lost more soldiers in a single charge (at the Siege of Petersburg) than any Union regiment in the war. One legacy of the war was History of the United States Republican Party, Republican Party dominance of state politics for the next half-century and beyond. The state elections came in September and provided pundits of the day with a key indicator of the mood of voters throughout the North--"as Maine goes, so goes the nation" was a familiar phrase. In the 50-year period 1861 to 1911 (when Democrats temporarily swept most state offices) Maine Republicans served as Vice President, Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury (twice), President ''pro tempore'' of the Senate, Speaker of the House (twice) and Republican Nominee for the Presidency. This synchronization between the politics of Maine and the nation broke down dramatically in 1936, however, when Maine became one of only two states to vote for the Republican candidate, Alf Landon in Franklin D. Roosevelt's landslide re-election. Maine Republicans remain a force in state politics, but since the elevation of the Polish-American Catholic Democrat Edmund Muskie to the governorship in the 1950s, Maine has been a balanced two-party state. The most nationally influential Maine Republicans in recent decades include former senators William Cohen and Olympia Snowe, and Senator Susan Collins.


Temperance

Maine became the first state to pass a Prohibition_in_the_United_States, Prohibition statute, signed into law by Governor Hugh J. Anderson in 1846 after 20 years of advocacy by various native Temperance_movement, Temperance societies. The leading saloon-buster and future Portland mayor, Neal Dow, would later serve in the Maine legislature, as well become a brigadier general for the Union in the Civil War. This and other subsequently passed Maine laws mostly regulated the sale of distilled liquor, but in 1884 Temperance advocates succeeded in getting the 26th amendment to the state constitution passed through the legislature then by a large majority of voters -- 70,783 yeas; 23,811 nays. Though all alcoholic beverages -- except cider -- were outlawed for production and sale by the amendment, enforcement was inconsistent and mostly lax, differing from town to town. The US Congress and 36 states passed the Eighteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution, Eighteenth Amendment in 1919 to extend Prohibition_in_the_United_States, Prohibition nationally, but its popularity quickly Repeal_of_Prohibition_in_the_United_States, eroded leading to repealed by the Twenty-first_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution, Twenty-first Amendment in 1933. Maine followed suit with the 54th amendment to their constitution repealing the 22nd soon after in 1934.


Immigrants


Early Europeans

After the 1604 settlement at Saint_Croix_Island,_Maine, Saint Croix Island and the 1607
Popham Colony The Popham Colony—also known as the Sagadahoc Colony—was a short-lived English colonial settlement in North America. It was established in 1607 by the proprietary Plymouth Company and was located in the present-day town of Phippsburg, Ma ...
experiment French and English settlers established communities up and down the coast of Maine and inland via the rivers. The English colonists were mostly governed from the
Plymouth Colony Plymouth Colony (sometimes Plimouth) was, from 1620 to 1691, the British America, first permanent English colony in New England and the second permanent English colony in North America, after the Jamestown Colony. It was first settled by the pa ...
and later Boston, Massachusetts, Boston while the French monitored from Quebec_City, Quebec. These colonial powers frequently clashed, often pulling Wabanaki_Confederacy, native communities into these fights on both sides. It was not until the 1763 Treaty_of_Paris_(1763), Treaty_of_Paris that England gained full control over the North Atlantic coast and regular colonial hostilities receded.


Irish

Maine experienced a wave of Irish diaspora, Irish immigration in the mid-19th century, though many came to the state via Canada and Massachusetts, and before the Great Famine (Ireland), Great Famine. There was a riot in Bangor between Irish and Yankee (nativist) sailors and lumbermen as early as 1834, and a number of early Catholic churches were burned or vandalized in coastal communities, where the Know Nothing, Know-Nothing Party briefly flourished. After the Civil War, Maine's Irish-Catholic population began a process of integration and upward mobility.


French Canadians

In the late 19th century, many French Canadians arrived from Quebec and New Brunswick to work in the textile mill cities such as Lewiston and
Biddeford Biddeford is a city in York County, Maine, United States. It is the principal commercial center of York County. Its population was 22,552 at the 2020 census. The twin cities of Saco and Biddeford include the resort communities of Biddeford Poo ...
. By the mid 20th century Franco-Americans comprised 30% of the state's population. Some migrants became lumberjacks but most concentrated in industrialized areas and into enclaves known as 'Little Canadas.' Québécois immigrant women saw the United States as a place of opportunity and possibility where they could create alternatives for themselves distinct from the expectations of their parents and their community. By the early 20th century, some French Canadian women even began to see migration to the United States to work as a rite of passage and a time of self-discovery and self-reliance. When these women did marry, they had fewer children with longer intervals between children than their Canadian counterparts. Some women never married, and oral accounts suggest that self-reliance and economic independence were important reasons for choosing work over marriage and motherhood. These women conformed to traditional premigration gender ideals in order to retain their 'Canadienne' cultural identity, but they also redefined these roles in ways that provided them increased independence in their roles as wives and mothers. The Franco-Americans became active in the Catholic Church where they tried with little success to challenge its domination by Irish clerics. They founded such newspapers as 'Le Messager' and 'La Justice'. Lewiston's first hospital became a reality in 1889 when the Sisters of Charity of Montreal, the 'Grey Nuns', opened the doors of the Asylum of Our Lady of Lourdes. This hospital was central to the Grey Nuns' mission of providing social services for Lewiston's predominantly French Canadian mill workers. The Grey Nuns struggled to establish their institution despite meager financial resources, language barriers, and opposition from the established medical community. Immigration dwindled after World War I. The French-Canadian community in New England tried to preserve some of its cultural norms. This doctrine, like efforts to preserve francophone culture in Quebec, became known as ''la Survivance''. With the decline of the state's textile industry during the 1950s, the French element experienced a period of upward mobility and assimilation. This pattern of assimilation increased during the 1970s and 1980s as many Catholic organizations switched to English names and parish children entered public schools; some parochial schools closed in the 1970s. Although some ties to its French-Canadian origins remain, the community was largely anglicized by the 1990s, moving almost completely from 'Canadien' to 'American'. Representative of the assimilation process was the career of singer and icon of American popular culture Rudy Vallée (1901–86). He grew up in Westbrook, Maine, and after service in World War I attended the University of Maine, then transferred to Yale, and went on to become as a popular music star. He never forgot his Maine roots, and maintained an estate at Kezar Lake.


Jews

Jews have been living in Maine for 200 years with significant Jewish communities in Bangor as early as the 1840s and in Portland since the 1880s. The arrival of Susman Abrams in 1785 was followed by a history of immigration and settlement that parallels the history of Jewish immigration to the United States. What initially brought people to these various towns around Maine was the promise of work, often linked with opportunities that supported Maine’s shipbuilding, lumber and mill industries.


English and Scottish

A large number of immigrants of English and Scottish-Canadian stock relocated from the Maritimes, Maritime Provinces.


Scandinavians

The first Europeans on North American soil were vikings from Norway led by Leif Eriksson. These Norwegians traded with the native Penobscot. In 1797, the town of Norway, Maine was incorporated and attracted a small group of Norwegians. A Swedish colony in Maine was started in Aristook by William W. Thomas Jr. to recruit Swedish Loggers. This came to be known as the town of New Sweden, Maine, New Sweden. Other towns with big Swedish populations were Stockholm, Maine, Stockholm and Westmanland, Maine, Westmanland. The towns of Denmark, Maine, Denmark and South Portland, Maine, South Portland attracted Danish immigrants to Maine, also as loggers and dockworkers.


Somalis

In the 2000s, Somali people, Somalis began a secondary migration to Maine from other states on account of the area's low crime rate, good schools and cheap housing.Perceived Barriers to Somali Immigrant Employment in Lewiston - A Supplement to Maine's Department of Labor Report
/ref>
Mother Jones (magazine), Mother Jones, March/April 2004
Mainly concentrated in Lewiston, Somalis have opened up community centers to cater to their community. In 2001, the non-profit organization United Somali Women of Maine (USWM) was founded in Lewiston, seeking to promote the empowerment of Somali women and girls across the state. In August 2010, the ''Lewiston Sun Journal'' reported that Somali entrepreneurs had helped reinvigorate downtown Lewiston by opening dozens of shops in previously closed storefronts. Amicable relations were also reported by the local merchants of French-Canadian descent and the Somali storekeepers.


Bantus

Due to the Somali Civil War, civil war in Somalia, the United States government classified the Somali Bantu (an ethnic minority group in the country) as a priority, and began preparations to resettle an estimated 12,000 Bantu refugees in select cities throughout the U.S.Somali Bantu Community Mutual Assistance Association of Lewiston/Auburn Maine
/ref> Most of the early arrivals in the United States settled in Clarkston, Georgia, Clarkston, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, a city adjacent to Atlanta, Georgia, Atlanta. However, they were mostly assigned to low rent, poverty-stricken inner city areas, so many began to look to resettle elsewhere in the US. After 2005, many Bantus were resettled in Maine by aid agencies. Catholic Charities Maine is the refugee resettlement agency that provides the bulk of the services for the Bantus' resettlement. The state's Bantu community is served by the Somali Bantu Community Mutual Assistance Association of Lewiston/Auburn Maine (SBCMALA), which focuses on housing, employment, literacy and education, health and safety matters.


Demographics

Largely because of Irish and French-Canadian immigration, 40% of Maine's population was Catholic by 1900; the Catholic Church ran its own school system in the cities, where almost all Catholics lived. This demographic and its resulting social and political ramifications led to a backlash in the 1920s, as the Ku Klux Klan in Maine, Ku Klux Klan formed cells in a number of Maine towns. The immigrant population was largely responsible for the steady growth of the History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, however, which gave Maine a true two-party system in the years after World War II. The election in 1954 of Governor Edmund Muskie, a Catholic Polish American tailor's son from the mill-town of Rumford, was a major watershed. The governor from 2003 to 2011, John Baldacci, is of Italian American and Arab American ancestry from Bangor.


Summer residents

Maine's natural beauty, cool summers and proximity to the large East Coast cities made it a major tourist destination as early as the 1850s. The visitors enjoyed the local handicrafts; the most successful was carving out a mythical image of Maine as a bucolic rustic haven from modern urban woes. The mythical image, elaborately polished for 150 years, attracts tourist dollars to an economically depressed state. Summer resorts such as Bar Harbor, Maine, Bar Harbor, Sorrento, Maine, Sorrento, and Islesboro, Maine, Islesboro sprung up along the coast, and soon urbanites were building houses—ranging from mansions to shacks, but all called "cottages"—in what had formerly been shipbuilding and fishing villages. Maine's seasonal residents transformed the economy of the seacoast and to some extent its culture, especially when some began staying all year round. The Bush family and their compound in Kennebunkport, Maine, Kennebunkport are a notable example of this demographic. The Rockefeller family were conspicuous members of the summer community at Bar Harbor. Summer residents who were painters and writers began to define the state's image through their work.


Modern Maine

By the middle of the twentieth century, the textile industry was establishing itself more profitably in the American South, and some Maine cities began to de-industrialize as wages rose above those of the South. In 1937, the Lewiston-Auburn Shoe Strike involved 4,000 to 5,000 textile workers on strike in Lewiston and Auburn, Maine, Auburn. It was one of the largest labor disputes state history. Shipbuilding also ceased in all but a few places, notably Bath and its successful Bath Iron Works, which became a notable producer of naval vessels during the Second World War and after. In recent years, however, even Maine's most traditional industries have been threatened; forest conservation efforts have diminished logging and restrictions on fisheries have likewise exerted considerable pressure along the coast. The last "heavy industry" in Maine, pulp and paper industry, pulp and paper began to withdraw in the late 20th century, leaving the future of the Maine North Woods, Maine Woods an open question. In response, the state attempted to buttress retailing and service industries, especially those linked to tourism. The label ''Vacationland'' was added to license plates in the 1960s. More recent tax incentives have encouraged Outlet store, outlet shopping centers such as the cluster at Freeport, Maine, Freeport. Increasing numbers of visitors began to enjoy Maine's vast tracts of relatively unspoiled wilderness, mountains, and expansive coastline. State and national parks in Maine also became loci of middle-class tourism, especially Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island. The growth of Portland and areas of southern Maine and the retraction of job opportunities (and population) in the northern and eastern areas of the state led in the 1990s to discussion of "two Maines", with potentially different interests. Portland and certain coastal towns aside, Maine remains the poorest state in the Northeast. By some accounts, adjusting for its high taxes and living costs, Maine has been since at least the 1970s the poorest state in the United States. The notion that Maine is indeed the poorest state in the US is supported by its exceptionally high levels of welfare dependence over the past half century. The COVID-19 pandemic was publicly reported to have reached the
U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...
of
Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...
on March 12, 2020. , the Maine Department of Health and Human Services reported 131,530 confirmed cases and 46,971 probable cases in the state, with 1,777 deaths attributed to the virus. On March 12, Maine announced the state's first confirmed case of the coronavirus, a Navy reservist in her 50s from Androscoggin County who had returned from duty in COVID-19 pandemic in Italy, Italy. On March 27, 2020, Maine reported its first death due to coronavirus, which was a man in his 80s from Cumberland County, Maine, Cumberland County. On April 29, 8 employees working at a local Tyson Foods meat packaging plant in
Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropol ...
tested positive for COVID-19 prompting talks about halting the plant's production. On the same day, 20 cases were confirmed at the Penobscot Hope House Health and Living Center in Bangor, Maine which houses a homeless shelter. The Maine Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported that the state's second-largest outbreak occurred after a wedding reception on August 7, 2020. Sixty-five people attended a reception in
Millinocket Millinocket is a town in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. The population was 4,114 at the 2020 census. Millinocket's economy has historically been centered on forest products and recreation, but the paper company closed in 2008. History ...
at a hall that had capacity for 50 people. About half the 53 cases were found in wedding guests, and one woman, who was not a guest, died on August 22. It is unclear if guests wore masks. By September 5, the outbreak had infected 177 people and caused seven deaths, including 80 cases at a prison away. A lawyer for the officiant at the wedding said the Calvary Baptist Church in Sanford was encouraging its congregants to not wear masks, and the church's school, Sanford Christian Academy, does not require face coverings. On October 22, 2020, 46 COVID-19 cases were linked to a fellowship rally between October 2 and October 4 at the Brooks Pentecostal Church. After his death on December 11, 2021, at 62, the Sun Journal (Lewiston, Maine), Sun Journal reported 2020 United States Senate election in Maine, 2020 U.S. Senate candidate Max Linn may have been the first person in Maine with COVID-19 after he returned from a business trip to Wuhan, China in late December 2019.


See also

*Maine Historical Society *Women's suffrage in Maine * History of New England * List of colonial governors of Maine * Herb Adams (politician), Herb Adams, politician and historian of Maine * Neil Rolde, politician and historian of Maine * Earle G. Shettleworth Jr. sixth State Historian, appointed in 2004 * Timeline of Portland, Maine


Notes


Bibliography


18th – 19th-century histories


Mather Cotten. Magnalia Christi Americana, or, The ecclesiastical history of New-England: from its first planting in the year 1620, unto the year of Our Lord, 1698, in seven books (1702)

A summary, historical and political, of the first planting, progressive ... By William Douglass. 1755 Hubbard's Narrative History of the Indian Wars. 1677
*
Thomas Hutchingson. The history of the province of Massachusetts-Bay. Vol. 1. 1828 Thomas Hitchingson. Story of the province of Massachusetts bay, from 1749 to 1774, Vol. 2 George Minot. Continuation of the history of Massachusetts Bay, Vol. 1, 1798George Minot. Continuation of the history of Massachusetts Bay, Vol. 2

Samuel Niles, "History of the Indian and French wars," (1760) reprinted in Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., 3d ser., VI (1837), 248–50
*
Samuel Penhallow. History of the New England Wars with the Eastern Indians. 1726

Journal of John PikeSamuel Sewell vol. 1 (1674-1729) Rufus Sewall. Ancient dominions of Maine. 1859 Journals of the Rev. Thomas Smith, and the Rev. Samuel Deane, pastors of the First church in Portland: with notes and biographical notices: and a Summary history of Portland (1849)

James Sullivan. History of Maine. 1796
* Stevens, John, Cabot Abbott, Edward Henry Elwell
''The History of Maine''
(1892). comprehensive older history
Herbert Sylvester. Indian Wars of New England Vol. 1Herbert Sylvester. Indian Wars of New England Vol. 3 William D. Williamson, ''The History of the State of Maine, Vol. 1'' (1832)William Williamson. History of Maine 'Vol. 2


Contemporary

* Clark, Charles E. et al. eds. ''Maine in the Early Republic: From Revolution to Statehood'' (1989) * Hatch, Louis Clinton. ''Maine A History'
vol.1
vol2, vol 3, (1919) * Leamon, James S. ''Revolution Downeast: The War for American Independence in Maine'' (University of Massachusetts Press, 1993
online edition
* Lockard, Duane. ''New England State Politics'' (1959) pp 79–118; covers 1932–1958 * MacDonald, William
''The Government of Maine: Its History and Administration''
(1902). * Palmer, Kenneth T., G. Thomas Taylor, Marcus A. Librizzi; ''Maine Politics & Government'' (University of Nebraska Press, 1992
online edition
* Rolde, Neil ''Maine: A Narrative History'

(1990) * Peirce, Neal R. ''The New England States: People, Politics, and Power in the Six New England States'' (1976) pp 362–420; updated in Neal R. Peirce and Jerry Hagstrom, ''The Book of America: Inside the Fifty States Today'' (1983) pp 208–13 * Stewart, Alice R. "The Franco-Americans of Maine: A Historiographical Essay," ''Maine Historical Society Quarterly'' 1987 26(3): 160-179 * WPA. ''Maine, a Guide down East'' (1937
online edition
famous guidebook


Local and specialty studies


History of SacoHistory of WellsHistory of York, Maine
* Bruce J. Bourque. ''Twelve Thousand Years: American Indians in Maine'' (University of Nebraska Press, 2001
online editionHistory of Thomaston, Rockland, and South Thomaston, Maine: From ..., Volume 1 By Cyrus Eaton

History of Brunswick, Topsham, and Harpswell, Maine
Including Ancient Pejepscot. By George Augustus Wheeler and Henry Warren Wheeler. Published 1878.
History of Castine, Penobscot, and Brooksville, Maine
including the ancient settlement of Pentagoet. By George Augustus Wheeler. Published 1875.
William Willis. History of Portland. 1865

Sketches of the History of the Town of Camden, Maine.
By John Lymburner Locke. Published 1859.
History of Boothbay, Southport and Boothbay Harbor, Maine
1623–1905. By Francis Byron Greene. Published 1906.
History of Farmington, Maine, from Its First Settlement.
By Thomas Parker. Published 1875.
History of Bath and Environs, Sagadahoc County, Maine, 1607-1894.
By Parker McCobb Reed.
The Makers of Maine: Essays and Tales of Early Maine History.
By Herbert Edgar Holmes. Published 1912.
Sketches of the Ecclesiastical History of the State of Maine.
By Jonathan Greenleaf. Published 1821.
A History of the Baptists in Maine.
By Joshua Millet. Published 1845.
History of the First Maine Cavalry, 1861-1865.
By Edward Parsons Tobie. Published 1887.
History of Piscataquis County, Maine: From Its Earliest Settlement to 1880.
By Amasa Loring. Published 1880.
A History of Swan's Island, Maine.
By Herman Wesley Small. Published 1898.
Genealogical and Family History of the State of Maine.
By Henry Sweetser Burrage, Albert Roscoe Stubbs. Published 1909, Vol. 1.
The History of Waterford: Oxford County, Maine.
By Henry Pelt Warren, William Warren. Published 1879.
The History of Sanford, Maine, 1661-1900.
By Edwin Emery, William Morrell Emery. Published 1901.
History of Rumford, Oxford County, 156651645Maine: From Its First Settlement in 1779.
By William Berry Lapham. Published 1890.
History of the City of Belfast in the State of Maine.
By Joseph Williamson. Published 1877.
History of Belfast in the 20th Century
by Jay Davis and Tim Hughes with Megan Pinette. Published 2002 by the Belfast History Project
A History of the Town of Industry: Franklin County, Maine.
By William Collins Hatch. Published 1893.
History of the Maine State College and the University of Maine.
By Merritt Caldwell Fernald. Published 1916. * Fannie Hardy Eckstorm, Mary Winslow Smyth; ''Minstrelsy of Maine: Folk-Songs and Ballads of the Woods and the Coast,'' (1927
online edition
* Richard P. Horwitz; ''Anthropology toward History: Culture and Work in a 19th Century Maine Town,'' (Wesleyan University Press, 1978
online edition


Collections of the Maine Historical Society

First Series
Collections of the Maine Historical Society, Vol.1, 1865

Collections of the Maine Historical Society, Vol.2, 1847

Vol. 3

Vol. 4

Collections of the Maine Historical Society, Vol.5, 1857 Collections of the Maine Historical Society, Vol. 6

Collections of the Maine Historical Society, Vol.7, 1859

Collections of the Maine Historical Society, Vol.8, 1881

Collections of the Maine Historical Society, Vol.9, 1887Collections of the Maine Historical Society - Index Vol.1-10
Second Series
Collections of the Maine Historical Society, Second Series. Vol.1, 1890Second Series, Vol. 2

Collections of the Maine Historical Society, Second Series. Vol.3, 1892

Collections of the Maine Historical Society, Second Series. Vol.4, 1893Collections of the Maine Historical Society, Second Series, Volume 5 (1894)

Collections of the Maine Historical Society, Second Series. Vol.6, 1895Vol.7Vol. 8

Vol. 9

Collections of the Maine Historical Society, Second Series. Vol.10, 1899
Third Series
Collections of the Maine Historical Society, Third Series. Vol.1, 1901

Collections of the Maine Historical Society, Third Series. Vol.2, 1906


Documentary history on the State of Maine (1869)


Vol. 6Vol 7 Vol. 9 (1689-1723) Documentary history of the state of Maine, vol. 10 (1662-1729)Vol. 11 (1729-1749)Vo. 12 (1749-1755)

Vol. 13 (1755-1768)Vol. 14
(1776-1777)
Vol. 15
(1777-1778)
vol. 16
(1778-1779)
Vol. 17
(1777-1779)
Vol.18
(1778-1780)
Vol.19
(1780-1782)
Vol. 20
(1781-1785)
Vol. 21
(1785-1788)
Vol. 22 (1788-1791) Vol. 23 (Native affairs)

Vol. 24 (Native affairs)
{{DEFAULTSORT:History Of Maine History of Maine, History of the United States by state, Maine