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Ayup, better grab your parka and mukluks, we're heading
"down east" to visit
beautiful, snowy Maine.
(The term "down east" comes from the nautical reference to sailing down east, (down wind) from Boston to Maine and the Canadian Maritimes.)
Maine's official flag was adopted in 1909. The flag has a deep blue field with the state coat of arms in the center. The coat of arms pictures a farmer and a seaman (representing agricultural and maritime industries). A shield is between them, upon which is a pine tree, a moose (the state animal of Maine), green grass, a blue sky, and deep blue water. Above this is a yellow star (representing the North Star - Maine was the northernmost state when it entered the Union) and a ribbon that reads, "DIRIGO," which means "I direct" in Latin. Below, a large ribbon reads, "MAINE."
A Brief History of Maine
Maine was inhabited by Algonquian peoples including the Abnaki, Penobscot and Passamaquoddy when the first Europeans arrived. The state's rocky coast was believed to have been explored by the Cabots in the very late 15th century. French settlers arrive at the St. Croix River in 1604, the English, circa 1607, on the Kennebec. Neither settlement was successful. Maine was made part of Massachusetts in 1691. A Maine regiment fought at Bunker Hill during the American Revolution. A British fleet destroyed Falmouth (now Portland) in 1775, but the British ship Margaretta was captured near Machiasport. In 1820, Maine broke away from Massachusetts and became a separate state, being admitted to the Union on March 15, 1820. Maine was our 23rd state.
Read more about Maine's History HERE
Augusta was named after the daughter of General Henry Dearborn, Pamela Augusta Dearborn.
Maine is famous for many things,
but her real claim to fame is.....
Lobsters aren't just good - they're good for you! Maine Lobster has less cholesterol, calories, and saturated fats than both chicken and turkey. So, let's have lobster for dinner!
Lobster Facts
Maine Lobster Menu Ideas for
February Holidays
Chinese New Year – February 5 - Easy Maine Lobster Rangoons
Mardi Gras – February 8 - Maine Lobster Jambalaya
National Pancake Week - February 6-12 - Lobster Pancakes
National Hot Breakfast Month - Lobster Spinach Strata
- Eastport is the most eastern city in the United States. The city is considered the first place in the United States to receive the rays of the morning sun.
- In Wilton there's a cannery that imports and cans only dandelion greens.
- Maine is the only state in the United States whose name has one syllable.
- Maine is the only state that shares its border with only one other state.
- Bath is known as the City of Ships.
- Joshua L. Chamberlain born in Brewer received the only battlefield promotion to General during the Civil War. He was also the last Civil War soldier to die of wounds incurred in the War.
- Aroostook County at 6,453 square miles covers an area greater than the combined size of Connecticut and Rhode Island.
- Approximately 40 millions pounds (nearly 90 percent) of the nation's lobster supply is caught off the coast of Maine.
- Maine produces 99% of all the blueberries in the country making it the single largest producer of blueberries in the United States.
- Maine's earliest inhabitants were descendants of Ice Age hunters.
- Portland was first temporarily selected as the state capital. In 1832 the capital was moved to the centrally located site of Augusta.
- In 1641 America's first chartered city was York.
- Acadia National Park is the second most visited national park in the United States.
- West Quoddy Head is the most easterly point in the United States.
- Augusta is the most eastern capital city in the United States.
- Mount Katahdin is the state's highest point at 5,268 feet above sea level.
- Togus was the first Veteran's Hospital in the United States. The facility was founded in 1866.
- 90% of the country's toothpick supply is produced in Maine.
- Portland is the birthplace of poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
- Senator Margaret Chase Smith stood up in the senate and gave the famous Declaration of Conscious speech, speaking out against the McCarthy era. Senator Smith was the first female presidential candidate.
- Author Steven King is a resident of Bangor.
- Freeport is the home to the L.L. Bean Company.
- Maine lies farther northeast than any other state.
- With a total area of 33,215 square miles the state covers nearly as many square miles as the other five New England states combined.
- The state flower is the white pine cone and tassel.
- The coastline boasts so many deep harbors it is thought all the navies in the world could anchor in them.
- Fort Knox erected in 1844 is a state historic site originally built to protect the Penobscot River Valley from British naval attack. The fort was constructed from granite from nearby Mount Waldo.
- Located in Thorndike Village, the Bryant Stove Works and Museum displays an eclectic collection of antique cast iron stoves, parlor heaters, roadsters and touring cars. In addition, the museum features antique layer pianos, pipe organs and music boxes, calliopes, nickelodeons, and hurdy-gurdys.
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was considered the most influential poet of his day. The writer was born in Portland, on February 2, 1807.
- The nation's first sawmill was established near York in 1623.
- York became the nation's first incorporated city in 1642.
- The first ship build by English colonists in Americas was launched on the Kennebec River in 1607.
- The first naval battle of the Revolutionary War was fought off Machias in 1775.
- Maine was admitted to the Union as the 23rd state on March 15, 1820.
- Maine's blueberry crop is the largest in the nation.
- The honeybee is the official state insect.
- Maine contains 542,629 acres of state and national parks.
- Edmund S. Muskie became the first Democratic United States senator ever elected by popular vote in Maine. He was also elected governor for two terms. He was born in Rumford.
- Eastport is the only United States owned principality that has been under rule by a foreign government. It was held from 1814 to 1818 by British troops under King George following the conclusion of the War of 1812.
- Maine's government entities are comprised of 16 counties with 22 cities, 435 towns, 33 plantations, 424 unorganized townships and 3 Indian reservations.
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William A. Britten has put together a fabulous website with some excellent photos and descriptions of Maine's lighthouses. Click on the links below....
"If you like lighthouses, Maine is Mecca. There are more than 60 lights along Maine's craggy Down East peninsulas. We'll visit some of the more prominent of them by taking a trip along Rt. 1. Just over the New Hampshire border offshore from the town of Kittery, at Fort Foster Park, sits Whaleback Light. A few miles north are the charming towns of York and York Beach--home of one of the most-photographed lights in Maine, Cape Neddick Light From Cape Neddick you can also catch a distant glimpse of Boon Island Light, one of Maine's most inhospitable. Heading north along the coast, just past Kennebunkport, the small light at Goat Island sits just off the entrance to Cape Porpoise Harbor. South of Portland, the historic lights of Casco Bay and Cape Elizabeth include Maine's oldest light, Portland Head Light, Maine's most powerful beacon at Cape Elizabeth Light, and the two small lights in Portland Harbor, Portland Breakwater Light and Spring Point Light. Offshore from Portland Head is the light on Ram Island Ledge. We'll skirt around Portland, past L.L. Bean's at Freeport, and stop to tour the Kennebec River lights below Bath. Six miles offshore from the mouth of the Kennebec, the foggy Seguin Island Light is Maine's only first-order light. Just north of Bath, on the next finger of the coast, the Boothbay Harbor region also features several nice lighthouses. Turning south at Damariscotta, we again find the ocean at the rocky and photogenic Pemaquid Point Light. Don't miss this one ... it's a beauty! Two very special lights are on the next Down East finger of land, extending south of Thomaston to the villages of Tenents Harbor and Port Clyde and the Marshall Point Light, and via ferry to the Monhegan Island Light. Back on Rt. 1, just before the turn north to circumnavigate Penobscot Bay, on the peninsula just below Rockland, the elusive Owl's Head Lightstation has witnessed many shipwrecks. The small city of Rockland has it's own Rockland Breakwater Light as well as a wonderful lighthouse museum. Just north of Rockland is the quintessential Maine harbor town of Camden, with Curtis Island Light guarding the entrance to the harbor. We're now passing Ellsworth, approaching Mt. Desert Island and Acadia National Park. On the western side of the park, past the port of Southwest Harbor, Bass Harbor Light shines its unique red light on the traffic entering Blue Hill Bay. Finally, way up past Machias, at the very edge of the Eastern Time Zone, sits the red and white striped West Quoddy Head Light."
The following websites provided information
and graphics for this presentation.
Maine Lobster Promotion Council
Maine Facts and Trivia
These United States - Maine
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