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Maine, Name Origin
Interest in the origin of the name “Maine” continues since, to date, there is no one, clear answer. The name first appears in writing in 1622 as a province, in a charter of the Council of New England...
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Maine, U.S.S.
was the United States battleship that steamed past the lighthouse in Havana (Cuba) Harbor in January, 1898. In a few weeks the U.S.S. Maine was destroyed there on February 15, 1898 by an explosion. A...
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Margaretta
On May 9, 1775, Captain James Moore sailed the British warship, the Margaretta, into Machias harbor with news of the battles of Lexington and Concord. The vessel had traveled to Maine to insure that a...
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Pemaquid
[PEM-ah-kwid] was an early settlement on Pemaquid Point in the town of Bristol in Lincoln County. Early explorers such as David Ingram (1569) and Captain Bartholomew Gosnold (1602), visited the area...
View ArticlePenobscot Expedition
After months of alarm and gathering of resources, on July 19, 1779 forty vessels left Boston Harbor for Penobscot Bay on the ill-fated Penobscot Expedition to remove the British from that region and...
View ArticlePilgrims
“In the fall of 1620 the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth during a disagreeable storm, and, noting the excellent opportunity for future misery, began to erect a number of rude cabins.” — Bill Nye Members...
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Portland Historic Register
The City of Portland has over eighty places and historic districts on the National Register, including Eastern Promenade, Evergreen Cemetery, Fort Gorges, Longfellow Monument, Portland City Hall,...
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Executive Orders
Executive Orders are official acts of a governor to establish policies and practices for the Executive Branch in the administration of state government. These Orders may direct that certain actions be...
View ArticleRevolutionary War, Veterans
Dubros Times Selected Depositions of Maine Revolutionary War Veterans This is the Introduction to the publication named above and edited by Sylvia J. Sherman of the Maine State Archives. It provides a...
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Shell Middens
or shell heaps, are scattered along the Maine coast giving evidence of the lifestyles of its ancient inhabitants. A “midden” is a refuse heap, or less delicately – a dump. Whaleback Shell Midden...
View ArticleCivil War, Confederate Raiders
The United States’ Fort Sumpter in South Carolina fell to the Confederates on April 13, 1861, effectively initiating the Civil War. Four days later Confederate President Jefferson Davis authorized...
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Economy, Labor History
People who have worked on farms, in forests, on the seas, in mills, factories and offices — all have contributed to the Maine economy over the past nearly four centuries. In the twenty-first century...
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Map Cabinet
The Map Cabinet offers selected images of historic maps of Maine. Most are from the Library of Congress where higher resolution versions are available by following the links listed under “Sources”...
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Gettysburg
Maine’s 20th Regiment, led by Joshua L. Chamberlain and assisted by his second in command Ellis Spear, played a major role in the victory of the Union forces on July 3, 1863 at Gettysburg,...
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Ground Observer Corps
This citizen volunteer program was intended to fill a gap in the country’s air defenses. Begun during World War II, it ended its mission on January 31, 1959. In the mid-1950s, 350,000 volunteers from...
View ArticleHistory of the Court System – Long Form
HISTORY OF The COURT SYSTEM OF THE STATE OF MAINE [1636-1961] David Q. Whittier, Esq. for the Maine State Archives, 1971* This is the long version, verbatim except for footnotes. A condensed version is...
View ArticleWar of 1812
After its success in achieving independence with the Treaty of Paris on September 3, 1783, the United States hoped to avoid conflict with European countries. However, in 1793 France declared war on...
View ArticleArchives, Maine State
The Maine State Archives, located in Augusta, is the custodian of the permanently valuable of state government, including early court records and vital records (births, deaths, marriages, etc.)...
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Historic Preservation Commission, Maine
The Commission is responsible for the identification, evaluation, and protection of Maine’s significant cultural resources as directed by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. It is located...
View ArticleBoston Post Cane
On August 2, 1909, Mr. Edwin A. Grozier, Publisher of the Boston Post, a newspaper, forwarded to the Board of Selectmen in 700 towns* (no cities included) in New England a gold-headed ebony cane with...
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