Skowhegan, Maine
—  Town  —
Water Street in 1906 Water Street in 1906
Official seal of Skowhegan, Maine Seal
Motto: A Place to Watch
Skowhegan, Maine Location within the state of Maine
Coordinates: 44°45′53.3154″N 69°43′6.2034″W / 44.764809833°N 69.718389833°W / 44.764809833; -69.718389833
Country	United States
State	Maine
County	Somerset
Settled	1773
Incorporated (town)	February 5, 1823
Area
• Total	60.6 sq mi (156.9 km2)
• Land	59.0 sq mi (152.7 km2)
• Water	1.6 sq mi (4.2 km2)
Elevation	223 ft (68 m)
Population (2000)
• Total	8,824
• Density	149.6/sq mi (57.8/km2)
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code	04976
Area code(s)	207
FIPS code	23-68910
GNIS feature ID	0579029

Skowhegan ( /skaʊˈhiːɡən/) is the county seat of Somerset County, Maine, United States.^[1] As of the 2000 census, the town population was 8,824. Every August, Skowhegan hosts the annual Skowhegan State Fair, the oldest continuous state fair in the United States. The Skowhegan School of Art is an internationally known residency program for visual artists, though it is technically located in neighboring East Madison.

History[link]

The Skowhegan Falls (which have since been replaced by the Weston Dam) descended 28 feet over a half mile on the Kennebec River. This was once territory of the Norridgewock tribe of Abenaki Indians, whose village was located in Madison until 1724, when it was sacked during Dummer's War. From spring until fall the tribe fished here, where abundant salmon and other species could be caught by wading. Consequently, they named the area Skowhegan, meaning "watching place [for fish]." ^[2]

The land was settled in 1773 as a part of Canaan. Colonel Benedict Arnold and his troops passed through the village in 1775 on their way to the ill-fated Battle of Quebec. It would be set off from Canaan and incorporated on February 5, 1823 under the name Milburn. The first officials of the town were as follows: Moderator, Joseph Patten; Town Clerk, Samuel Weston; Selectmen, Benjamin Eaton, Joseph Merrill, Samuel Weston, and Josiah Parlin.^[3] However, inhabitants preferred the old name of Skowhegan, as it would be renamed in 1836. In 1861, the town annexed Bloomfield across the river. Skowhegan became county seat in 1871.^[2]

Farms produced hay, potatoes, wheat and wool. In 1818, the Skowhegan Fair was organized, with the first fair held in 1819. The Somerset and Kennebec Railroad (later part of the Maine Central Railroad) reached the town in 1856. Skowhegan Falls provided water power for industry, and Skowhegan developed into a mill town. Numerous mills were built on Skowhegan Island, which separates the river into north and south channels. In the 19th-century, the town had a paper mill, sawmill, two sash and blind factories, two flour mills, a wood pulp mill, three planing mills, a woolen mill, an oil cloth factory, two axe factories, a scythe factory, two harness and saddlery factories, a shoe factory and a foundry.^[4] In 1986, the S. D. Warren Company, a division of Scott Paper Company, opened a plant in Skowhegan. In 1997, the S. D. Warren mill was sold to Sappi Fine Paper. The New Balance Athletic Shoe Company operates a factory in the community.^[5]

Among the town's features is the Swinging Bridge, a suspension footbridge first constructed in 1883 to connect Skowhegan Island with the south side of the Kennebec River. Another landmark is the Beaux-Arts style Municipal Building and Opera House, designed by noted Portland architect John Calvin Stevens, and built in 1907-1909. On the north side of the municipal parking lot stands a 62-foot-tall (19 m) sculpture depicting an Abenaki Indian, carved by Bernard Langlais. In 2003, Skowhegan was a major filming location for an HBO movie based on the 2001 book, Empire Falls, by Richard Russo. Skowhegan is the home of the annual KNEADING Conference established in 2007 where topics including local wheat production, milling, baking and wood fired oven building are highlighted. Skowhegan is one of nine designated Main Street Maine communities utilizing a strategic four point approach to downtown revitalization, a program endorsed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.^[5]

• Elm Street, Skowhegan, ME.jpg

  Elm Street in 1906

• 

  Skowhegan Falls in 1908

• 

  Shoe factory in 1907

• 

  Woolen mill c. 1910

Geography[link]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 60.6 square miles (156.9 km²), of which, 59.0 square miles (152.8 km²) of it is land and 1.6 square miles (4.1 km²) of it (2.64%) is water. Skowhegan is drained by the Wesserunsett Stream and Kennebec River. Loomis Hill, elevation 870 feet (265 meters) above sea level, is the highest point in town.

Demographics[link]

As of the census^[6] of 2000, there were 8,824 people, 3,716 households, and 2,363 families residing in the town. The population density was 149.6 people per square mile (57.8/km²). There were 4,165 housing units at an average density of 70.6 per square mile (27.3/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 97.56% White, 0.25% Black or African American, 0.43% Native American, 0.54% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.12% from other races, and 1.08% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.73% of the population.

There were 3,716 households out of which 29.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.3% were married couples living together, 13.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.4% were non-families. 29.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.81.

In the town the population was spread out with 23.5% under the age of 18, 8.2% from 18 to 24, 28.3% from 25 to 44, 23.7% from 45 to 64, and 16.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 91.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.9 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $28,390, and the median income for a family was $35,880. Males had a median income of $27,982 versus $21,011 for females. The per capita income for the town was $15,543. About 13.0% of families and 16.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.0% of those under age 18 and 13.4% of those age 65 or over.

Government[link]

Skowhegan has a Council-Manager form of government, with a Town Manager and a Board of Selectmen. There are 5 selectmen, each serving 3-year terms. Joy Mase is the current Chairman of the Board of Selectmen, and Newell Graf is the current Vice Chairman. Betty Austin, Donald Lowe, and Steven Spaulding serve as the other three Selectmen. Graf and Lowe's terms expire in 2012, Mase and Austin's terms expire in 2013, and Spaulding's term expire in 2014. ^[7]

The Board of Selectmen holds a public meeting on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of each month at 5:30 pm in the Council Chambers of the Municipal Building at which all citizens are welcome to attend. ^[8]

The Selectman manages the Town of Skowhegan with the help of a Town Manager, a position currently held by John Doucette. ^[9]

Skowhegan has a total of 13 departments: ^[10]

Notable people[link]

Swinging Bridge c. 1908

• Abner Coburn, 30th governor of Maine
• Louise Helen Coburn, founded the Sigma Kappa sorority
• Stephen Coburn, US congressman
• Forrest Goodwin, US congressman
• Samuel W. Gould, US congressman
• David Kidder, US congressman
• Peter Mills, Maine state senator
• Clyde Smith, US congressman
• Margaret Chase Smith, US senator

See also[link]

• First Baptist Church, Former (Skowhegan, Maine)
• Maine School Administrative District 54
• Skowhegan Fire Station
• U.S. Route 201A
• WFMX - Skowhegan radio station

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Skowhegan.

• Town of Skowhegan, Maine
• Skowhegan Free Public Library
• Skowhegan History House Museum & Research Center
• Skowhegan State Fair
• Margaret Chase Smith Library
• Skowhegan Sno Hawks Snowmobile Club
• Skowhegan.com Skowhegan Area Resource Guide
• Skowhegan Area Chamber of Commerce

v t e Municipalities and communities of Somerset County, Maine, United States County seat: Skowhegan Towns Anson Athens Bingham Cambridge Canaan Caratunk Cornville Detroit Embden Fairfield Harmony Hartland Jackman Madison Mercer Moose River Moscow New Portland Norridgewock Palmyra Pittsfield Ripley St. Albans Skowhegan Smithfield Solon Starks Plantations Brighton Plantation Dennistown Highland Plantation Pleasant Ridge Plantation The Forks West Forks Unorganized territories Central Somerset Northeast Somerset Northwest Somerset Seboomook Lake CDPs Anson Bingham Fairfield Hartland Madison Norridgewock Pittsfield Skowhegan Other villages Flagstaff North Anson Rockwood

Coordinates: 44°45′53.3154″N 69°43′6.2034″W / 44.764809833°N 69.718389833°W / 44.764809833; -69.718389833

State of Maine
Flag Seal
Nickname(s): "The Pine Tree State"
Motto(s): "Dirigo" (Latin for "I lead" or "I direct")
Official language(s)	None
Demonym	Mainer[1]
Capital	Augusta
Largest city	Portland
Largest metro area	Portland-South Portland-Biddeford
Area	Ranked 39th in the U.S.
- Total	35,385 sq mi (91,646 km2)
- Width	210 miles (338 km)
- Length	320 miles (515 km)
- % water	13.5
- Latitude	42° 58′ N to 47° 28′ N
- Longitude	66° 57′ W to 71° 5′ W
Population	Ranked 41st in the U.S.
- Total	1,328,188 (2011 est)[2]
- Density	43.0/sq mi  (16.6/km2) Ranked 38th in the U.S.
Elevation
- Highest point	Mount Katahdin[3][4][5] 5,270 ft (1606.4 m)
- Mean	600 ft  (180 m)
- Lowest point	Atlantic Ocean[4] sea level
Before statehood	District of Maine
Admission to Union	March 15, 1820 (23rd)
Governor	Paul LePage (R)
President of the Senate	Kevin Raye (R)[6]
Legislature	Maine Legislature
- Upper house	Senate
- Lower house	House of Representatives
U.S. Senators	Olympia Snowe (R) Susan Collins (R)
U.S. House delegation	Chellie Pingree (D) Michael Michaud (D) (list)
Time zone	Eastern: UTC-5/-4
Abbreviations	ME US-ME
Website	www.maine.gov

Maine (ⁱ/ˈmeɪn/) is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost portion of New England. It is known for its scenery—its jagged, mostly rocky coastline, its low, rolling mountains, its heavily forested interior and picturesque waterways—as well as for its seafood cuisine, especially lobsters and clams.

For thousands of years, indigenous peoples were the only inhabitants of the territory that is now Maine. At the time of European encounter, several Algonquian-speaking peoples inhabited the area. The first European settlement in Maine was by the French in 1604 on Saint Croix Island, by Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Mons. The first English settlement in Maine, the short-lived Popham Colony, was established by the Plymouth Company in 1607. A number of English settlements were established along the coast of Maine in the 1620s, although the rugged climate, deprivations, and conflict with the local peoples caused many to fail over the years. As Maine entered the 18th century, only a half dozen European settlements survived. Patriot and British forces contended for Maine's territory during the American Revolution and the War of 1812. Maine was part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts until 1820, when it voted to secede from Massachusetts. On March 15, 1820, it was admitted to the Union as the 23rd state under the Missouri Compromise. Maine is the 39th most extensive and the 41st most populous of the 50 United States.

Geography[link]

To the south and east is the Atlantic Ocean and to the north and northeast is New Brunswick, a province of Canada. The Canadian province of Quebec is to the northwest. Maine is both the northernmost state in New England and the largest, accounting for nearly half the region's entire land area. Maine has the distinction of being the only state to border just one other state (New Hampshire to the west). Maine is the easternmost state in the United States both in terms of its extreme points and its geographic center. The municipalities of Eastport and Lubec are, respectively, the easternmost city and town in the United States. Estcourt Station is Maine's northernmost point, as well as the northernmost point in New England. (For more information see extreme points of the United States).

Maine's Moosehead Lake is the largest lake wholly in New England, as Lake Champlain is located between Vermont and New York. A number of other Maine lakes, such as South Twin Lake, are described by Thoreau. Mount Katahdin is both the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail, which extends southerly to Springer Mountain, Georgia, and the southern terminus of the new International Appalachian Trail which, when complete, will run to Belle Isle, Newfoundland and Labrador.

Maine has several unique geographical features. Machias Seal Island and North Rock, off its easternmost point, are claimed by both the U.S. and Canada and are within one of four areas between the two countries whose sovereignty is still in dispute, but it is the only one of the disputed areas containing land. Also in this easternmost area is the Old Sow, the largest tidal whirlpool in the Western Hemisphere.

Maine is the least densely populated U.S. state east of the Mississippi River. It is called the Pine Tree State; nearly 90% of its land is forested.^[7] In the forested areas of the interior lie much uninhabited land, some of which does not have formal political organization into local units (a rarity in New England). The Northwest Aroostook, Maine unorganized territory in the northern part of the state, for example, has an area of 2,668 square miles (6,910 km²) and a population of 27, or one person for every 100 square miles (260 km²).

Maine is in the temperate broadleaf and mixed forests biome. The land near the southern and central Atlantic coast is covered by the mixed oaks of the Northeastern coastal forests. The remainder of the state, including the North Woods, is covered by the New England-Acadian forests.^[8]

Maine has almost 230 miles (400 km) of coastline (and 3,500 miles (5,600 km) of tidal coastline).^[9][10] West Quoddy Head is the easternmost piece of land in the contiguous 48 United States. Along the famous rock-bound coast of Maine are lighthouses, beaches, fishing villages, and thousands of offshore islands, including the Isles of Shoals, which straddle the New Hampshire border. There are jagged rocks and cliffs and many bays and inlets. Inland are lakes, rivers, forests, and mountains. This visual contrast of forested slopes sweeping down to the sea has been summed up by American poet Edna St. Vincent Millay of Rockland and Camden, Maine in "Renascence":

The coast in Maine near Acadia park.

"All I could see from where I stood

was three long mountains and a wood

I turned and looked the other way

and saw three islands in a bay"

Geologists describe this type of landscape as a "drowned coast," where a rising sea level has invaded former land features, creating bays out of valleys and islands out of mountain tops.^[11] A rise in the elevation of the land due to the melting of heavy glacier ice caused a slight rebounding effect of underlying rock; this land rise, however, was not enough to eliminate all the effect of the rising sea level and its invasion of former land features.

Much of Maine's geography was created by heavy glacial activity at the end of the last ice age. Prominent glacial features include Somes Sound and Bubble Rock. Carved by glaciers, Somes Sound is considered to be the only fjord on the eastern seaboard and reaches depths of 175 feet (50 m). The extreme depth and steep drop-off allow large ships to navigate almost the entire length of the sound. These features also have made it attractive for boat builders, such as the prestigious Hinckley Yachts. Bubble Rock is what is known as a "glacial erratic" and is a large boulder perched on the edge of Bubble Mountain in Acadia National Park. By analyzing the type of granite, geologists were able to discover that glaciers carried Bubble Rock to its present location from the town of Lucerne — 30 miles (48 km) away.

Boothbay Harbor

Acadia National Park is the only national park in New England.

Areas under the protection and management of the National Park Service include:^[12]

• Acadia National Park near Bar Harbor
• Appalachian National Scenic Trail
• Maine Acadian Culture in St. John Valley
• Roosevelt Campobello International Park near Lubec
• Saint Croix Island International Historic Site at Calais

Climate[link]

Maine experiences a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfb), with warm (although generally not hot), humid summers. Winters are cold and snowy throughout the state, and are especially severe in the northern parts of Maine. Coastal areas are moderated somewhat by the Atlantic Ocean. Daytime highs are generally in the 75–80 °F (24–27 °C) range throughout the state in July, with overnight lows in the high 50s°F (around 15 °C). January temperatures range from highs near 32 °F (0 °C) on the southern coast to overnight lows averaging below 0 °F (−18 °C) in the far north.^[13] The state's record high temperature is 105 °F (41 °C), set in July 1911, at North Bridgton.^[14] Maine has fewer days of thunderstorms than any other state east of the Rockies, with most of the state averaging less than 20 days of thunderstorms a year. Tornadoes are rare in Maine, with the state averaging fewer than two per year, mostly occurring in the southern part of the state.^[15]

In January 2009, a new record low temperature for the state was set at Big Black River of −50 °F (−46 °C), tying the New England record.^[13]

History[link]

Maine State House, designed by Charles Bulfinch, built 1829–1832

The original inhabitants of the territory that is now Maine were Algonquian-speaking Wabanaki peoples including the Abenaki, Passamaquoddy, Maliseet and Penobscot. The first European settlement in what is now called Maine was in 1604 on Saint Croix Island, by Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Mons, including Samuel de Champlain, the noted explorer. The French named the entire area, including the portion that later became the State of Maine, Acadia. The first English settlement in Maine was established by the Plymouth Company at Popham in 1607, the same year as the settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. The Popham colonists returned to England after 14 months. ^[16]

Two Jesuit missions were established by the French; one on Penobscot Bay in 1609, and the other on Mount Desert Island in 1613. The same year, Castine was established by Claude de La Tour. In 1625, Charles de Saint-Étienne de la Tour erected Fort Pentagouet to protect Castine. The coastal areas of western Maine first became the Province of Maine in a 1622 land patent. Eastern Maine north of the Kennebec River was more sparsely settled and was known in the 17th century as the Territory of Sagadahock. A second settlement was attempted at a place called York, in 1623 by English explorer and naval Captain Christopher Levett, granted 6,000 acres (24 km²) by King Charles I of England.^[17] That settlement also failed.

Central Maine was formerly inhabited by people of the Androscoggin tribe, also known as Arosaguntacook. The Androscoggin were a tribe in the Abenaki nation. They were driven out of the area in 1690 during King Philip's War. They were relocated at St. Francis, Canada, which was destroyed by Rogers' Rangers in 1759, and is now Odanak. The other Abenaki tribes suffered several severe defeats, particularly during Dummer's War, with the capture of Norridgewock in 1724 and the defeat of the Pequawket in 1725, which greatly reduced their numbers. They finally withdrew to Canada, where they were settled at Bécancour and Sillery, and later at St. Francis, along with other refugee tribes from the south.^[18]

The province within its current boundaries became part of Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1652. Maine was much fought over by the French, English and allied natives during the 17th and early 18th centuries, who conducted raids against each other, taking captives for ransom or, in some cases, adoption by Native American tribes. For instance, the Abenaki took captives taken during raids of Massachusetts in Queen Anne's War of the early 1700s to Kahnewake, a Catholic Mohawk village near Montreal, where some were adopted and others ransomed.^[19][20]

After the English defeated the French in Acadia in the 1740s, the territory from the Penobscot River east fell under the nominal authority of the Province of Nova Scotia, and together with present-day New Brunswick formed the Nova Scotia county of Sunbury, with its court of general sessions at Campobello. American and British forces contended for Maine's territory during the American Revolution and the War of 1812, and British forces occupied eastern Maine in both conflicts.^[21] The treaty concluding revolution was ambiguous about Maine's boundary with British North America. The territory of Maine was confirmed as part of Massachusetts when the United States was formed, although the final border with British territory was not established until the Webster-Ashburton Treaty of 1842.

Maine was physically separate from the rest of Massachusetts. Long-standing disagreements over land speculation and settlements led to Maine residents and their allies in Massachusetts proper forcing an 1807 vote in the Massachusetts Assembly on permitting Maine to secede; the vote failed. Secessionist sentiment in Maine was stoked during the War of 1812 when Massachusetts pro-British merchants opposed the war and refused to defend Maine from British invaders. In 1819, Massachusetts agreed to permit secession if voters in Maine approved. Due to these considerations and rapid population growth, in 1820 Maine voted to secede from Massachusetts. The secession and formation of the state of Maine as the 23rd state occurred on March 15, 1820 as part of the Missouri Compromise, which geographically limited the spread of slavery and enabled the admission to statehood of Missouri the following year, while keeping a balance between slave and free states.^[22][23][24]

Maine's original capital was Portland, the largest city in Maine, until it was moved to Augusta in 1832 to make it more central within the state.

The 20th Maine, under the command of Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, defended Little Round Top at the Battle of Gettysburg. Its soldiers prevented the Union Army from being flanked by the Confederate Army.

Four U.S. Navy ships have been named USS Maine in honor of the state.

Etymology[link]

There is no definitive explanation for the origin of the name 'Maine'. 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.^[25] Other theories mention earlier places with similar names, or claim it is a nautical reference to the mainland.^[26] The first known record of the name appears in an Aug. 10, 1622 land charter to Sir Ferdinando Gorges and Captain John Mason, English Royal Navy veterans, who were granted a large tract in present-day Maine that Mason and Gorges "intend to name The Province of Maine." Mason had served in Royal Navy in the Orkney Islands where the chief island was called Mainland, a more likely name derivation for these English sailors than the French province.^[27] A year later, in 1623, the English naval captain Christopher Levett, exploring the New England coast, wrote: "The first place I set my foote upon in New England was the Isle of Shoulds, being Ilands [sic] in the sea, above two Leagues from the Mayne."^[28] Whatever the origin, the name was fixed in 1665 when the King's Commissioners ordered that the "Province of Maine" be entered from then on in official records.^[29]

Demographics[link]

Maine Population Density Map.

The United States Census Bureau estimates that the population of Maine was 1,328,188 on July 1, 2011, a -0.01% decrease since the 2010 United States Census.^[2]

As of 2008, Maine had an estimated population of 1,321,504, which is an increase of 6,520, or 0.5%, from the prior year and an increase of 46,582, or 3.7%, since the year 2000. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 6,413 people (that is 71,276 births minus 64,863 deaths) and an increase due to net migration of 41,808 people into the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 5,004 people, and migration within the country produced a net increase of 36,804 people. The population density of the state is 41.3 people per square mile, making it the least densely populated state in New England, the American northeast, the eastern seaboard, of all of the states with an Atlantic coastline and of all of the states east of the Mississippi River.

The mean population center of Maine is located in Kennebec County, just east of Augusta.^[31] The Greater Portland metropolitan area is the most densely populated with nearly 20% of Maine's population.^[32] As explained in detail under "Geography", there are large tracts of uninhabited land in some remote parts of the interior.

In 2009, Maine was one of three states to have lost population.^[33]

Race, ancestry, and language[link]

At the 2010 Census, 94.4% of the population was non-Hispanic White, 1.1% non-Hispanic Black or African American, 0.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0% Asian, 0.1% from some other race and 1.4% of two or more races. 1.3% of Maine's population was of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin (they may be of any race).^[34]

The largest ancestries in the state are:

• 30.6% English
• 25.0% French Canadian and Acadian
• 18.3% Irish
• 8.3% German
• 5.8% Italian
• 4.8% Scottish
• 2.6% Scotch-Irish
• 2.3% Polish

^[35] Most Americans in Maine are of English descent, but have family that has been in the country for so long, in many cases since the early 17th century, that they choose to identify simply as "American".^{[36][37][38][39][40][41][42]}

Maine is second only to New Hampshire in the percentage of French Americans among U.S. states. It also has the largest percentage of non-Hispanic whites of any state, with 94.4% of the state's residents being white according to the 2010 Census. The state has the highest percentage of current French speakers, whose ancestors came from Quebec between 1840 and 1930, and New Brunswick prior to 1842. In northern Maine, (particularly Aroostook County), Acadians still speak French at home, since their relatives live in neighboring New Brunswick. The area was once known as the Republic of Madawaska, before the frontier was decided in the Webster-Ashburton Treaty of 1842. Over one-quarter of the population of Lewiston, Waterville, and Biddeford are Franco-American. Most of the residents of the midcoast and downeast sections are chiefly of British heritage. Smaller numbers of various other groups, including Irish, Italian and Polish, have settled throughout the state since the late 19th and early 20th century immigration waves.

The 2000 Census reported 92.25% of Maine residents age 5 and older speak English at home. Census figures show Maine has a greater proportion of people speaking French at home than any other state in the nation, a result of Maine's large French-Canadian community, who migrated from adjacent Quebec and New Brunswick. 5.28% of Maine households are French-speaking, compared with 4.68% in Louisiana.^[43]

Religion[link]

The religious affiliations of the people of Maine are shown below:

• Christian – 82%
  • Protestant – 45%
    • Baptist (mostly American Baptist) – 16%
    • Methodist (mostly United Methodist Church with 31,689 members)^[44] – 9%
    • Episcopal – 8%
    • United Church of Christ (29,122 members)^[44] / Congregational – 8%
    • Pentecostal – 6%
    • Lutheran – 3%
    • Other Protestant or general Protestant – 10%
  • Roman Catholic (283,024 members)^[44] – 37%
  • Other Christian – 1%
• Other religions – 1%
• Non-religious – 17%

In 2010, a study said Maine was the least religious state in the United States.^[45]

Economy[link]

Maine State Quarter.

Bath Iron Works naval shipbuilding.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates that Maine's total gross state product for 2010 was $52 billion.^[46] Its per capita personal income for 2007 was US$33,991, 34th in the nation. As of October 2010, Maine's unemployment rate is 7.4%.^[47]

Old port area of Portland

Maine's agricultural outputs include poultry, eggs, dairy products, cattle, wild blueberries (the state produces 25% of all blueberries in North America, making it the largest blueberry producer in the world),^{[citation needed]} apples, maple syrup and maple sugar. Aroostook County is known for its potato crops. Commercial fishing, once a mainstay of the state's economy, maintains a presence, particularly lobstering and groundfishing. Western Maine aquifers and springs are a major source of bottled water.

Maine's industrial outputs consist chiefly of paper, lumber and wood products, electronic equipment, leather products, food products, textiles, and bio-technology. Naval shipbuilding and construction remain key as well, with Bath Iron Works in Bath and Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery. Naval Air Station Brunswick is also in Maine, and formerly served as a large support base for the U.S. Navy. However, the BRAC campaign initiated Brunswick's closing, despite a government-funded effort to upgrade its facilities.

Maine is the number one exporter of blueberries. The largest toothpick manufacturing plant in the United States used to be located in Strong, Maine. The Strong Wood Products plant produced 20 million toothpicks a day. It closed in May, 2003.

Tourism and outdoor recreation play a major and increasingly important role in Maine's economy. The state is a popular destination for sport hunting (particularly deer, moose and bear), sport fishing, snowmobiling, skiing, boating, camping and hiking, among other activities.

Maine ports play a key role in national transportation. Beginning around 1880, Portland's rail link and ice-free port made it Canada's principal winter port, until the aggressive development of Halifax, Nova Scotia, in the mid-1900s. In 2001, Maine's largest city of Portland surpassed Boston as New England's busiest port (by tonnage), due to its ability to handle large tankers. Maine's Portland International Jetport was recently expanded, providing the state with increased air traffic from carriers such as JetBlue.

Maine has very few large companies that maintain headquarters in the state, and fewer than before due to consolidations and mergers, particularly in the pulp and paper industry. Some of the larger companies that do maintain headquarters in Maine include Fairchild Semiconductor in South Portland; IDEXX Laboratories, in Westbrook; Hannaford Bros. Co. in Scarborough, Unum in Portland; TD Bank, in Portland; L.L. Bean in Freeport; Cole Haan and DeLorme, both located in Yarmouth. Maine is also the home of The Jackson Laboratory, the world's largest non-profit mammalian genetic research facility and the world's largest supplier of genetically purebred mice.

Maine has an income tax structure containing 4 brackets, which range from 2% to 8.5% of personal income. Maine's general sales tax rate is 5%. The state also levies charges of 7% on lodging and prepared food and 10% on short-term auto rentals. Commercial sellers of blueberries, a Maine staple, must keep records of their transactions and pay the state 1.5 cents per pound ($1.50 per 100 pounds) of the fruit sold each season. All real and tangible personal property located in the state of Maine is taxable unless specifically exempted by statute. The administration of property taxes is handled by the local assessor in incorporated cities and towns, while property taxes in the unorganized territories are handled by the State Tax Assessor.

Shipbuilding[link]

Maine has a longstanding tradition of being home to many shipbuilding companies. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Maine was home to many shipyards that produced wooden sailing ships. The main function of these ships was to transport either cargoes or passengers overseas. One of these yards was located in Pennellville Historic District in what is now Brunswick, Maine. This yard, owned by the Pennell family, was typical of the many family-owned shipbuilding companies of the time period. Other such examples of shipbuilding families were the Skolfields and the Morses. During the 18th and 19th centuries, wooden shipbuilding of this sort made up a sizable portion of the economy.

Transportation[link]

jetBlue aircraft at the Portland International Jetport.

Airports[link]

The Portland International Jetport

Maine receives passenger jet service at its two largest airports, the Portland International Jetport in Portland, and the Bangor International Airport in Bangor. Both are served daily by many major airlines to destinations such as New York, Atlanta, and Orlando. Essential Air Service also subsidizes service to a number of smaller airports in Maine, bringing small turboprop aircraft to regional airports such as the Augusta State Airport, Hancock County-Bar Harbor Airport, Knox County Regional Airport, and the Northern Maine Regional Airport at Presque Isle. These airports are served by Cape Air with small planes. Many smaller airports are scattered throughout Maine, only serving general aviation traffic. The Eastport Municipal Airport, for example, is a city-owned public-use airport with 1,200 general aviation aircraft operations each year from single-engine and ultralight aircraft.^[48]

Highways[link]

The Penobscot Narrows Bridge, carrying U.S. Route 1 and Maine State Route 3 over the Penobscot River.

Interstate 95 runs through Maine, as well as its easterly branch I-295. In addition, U.S. Route 1 starts in Fort Kent and runs to Florida. The eastern terminus of the eastern section of U.S. Route 2 starts in Houlton, near the New Brunswick, Canada border to Rouses Point, New York, at US 11 . There is also another US 2A connecting Old Town and Orono, Maine, primarily serving the University of Maine campus. U.S. Route 2, Route 6 and Route 9 are often used by truckers and other motorists of the Maritime Provinces en route to other destinations in the United States or as a short cut to Central Canada.

In March 2011, Maine ranked amongst the top three best states in the American State Litter Scorecard, for overall effectiveness and quality of its public space cleanliness—primarily roadway and adjacent litter—from state and related debris removal efforts.^[49]

Rail[link]

Passenger[link]

A southbound Downeaster passenger train at Ocean Park, Maine, as viewed from the cab of a northbound train.

The Downeaster passenger train, operated by Amtrak, provides passenger service between Portland and Boston's North Station, with stops in Old Orchard Beach, Saco, and Wells. The Downeaster makes five southbound trips and five northbound trips every day.

Seasonal passenger excursions between Brunswick and Rockland are operated by the Maine Eastern Railroad, which leases the state-owned Rockland Branch rail corridor.

Freight[link]

Freight service throughout the state is provided by a handful of regional and shortline carriers: Pan Am Railways (formerly known as Guilford Rail System), which operates the former Boston & Maine and Maine Central railroads; St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railroad; Maine Eastern Railroad; Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway; and New Brunswick Southern Railway.

Law and government[link]

The Maine Constitution structures Maine's state government, composed of three co-equal branches - the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. The state of Maine also has three Constitutional Officers (the Secretary of State, the State Treasurer, and the State Attorney General) and one Statutory Officer (the State Auditor).

The legislative branch is the Maine Legislature, a bicameral body composed of the Maine House of Representatives, with 151 members, and the Maine Senate, with 35 members. The Legislature is charged with introducing and passing laws.

The executive branch is responsible for the execution of the laws created by the Legislature and is headed by the Governor of Maine (currently Paul LePage). The Governor is elected every four years; no individual may serve more than two consecutive terms in this office. The current attorney general of Maine is William J. Schneider. As with other state legislatures, the Maine Legislature can by a two-thirds majority vote from both the House and Senate override a gubernatorial veto.

The judicial branch is responsible for interpreting state laws. The highest court of the state is the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. The lower courts are the District Court, Superior Court and Probate Court. All judges except for probate judges serve full-time; are nominated by the Governor and confirmed by the Legislature for terms of seven years. Probate judges serve part-time and are elected by the voters of each county for four-year terms.

Counties[link]

Maine is divided into political jurisdictions designated as counties. As of 1860 there were 16 counties in the state, ranging in size from 370 square miles (960 km²) to 6,829 square miles (17,700 km²).

State and local politics[link]

See also: Maine gubernatorial election, 2006; Maine gubernatorial election, 2010; Maine Republican Party; Maine Democratic Party; Maine Green Independent Party; Libertarian Party of Maine; Electoral reform in Maine; Same-sex marriage in Maine

In state general elections, Maine voters tend to accept independent and third-party candidates more frequently than most states. Maine has had two independent governors recently (James B. Longley, 1975–1979 and Angus King, 1995–2003). Maine state politicians, Republicans and Democrats alike, are noted for having more moderate views than many in the national wings of their respective parties.

Maine is an alcoholic beverage control state.

On May 6, 2009, Maine became the fifth state to legalize same-sex marriage; however, the law was repealed by voters on November 3, 2009.^[51]

Federal politics[link]

In the 1930s, Maine was one of very few states which retained Republican Party sentiments. In the 1936 Presidential election, Franklin D. Roosevelt received the electoral votes of every state other than Maine and Vermont. In the 1960s, Maine began to lean toward the Democrats, especially in Presidential elections. In 1968, Hubert Humphrey became just the second Democrat in half a century to carry Maine, thanks to the presence of his running mate, Maine Senator Edmund Muskie, although the state voted Republican in every Presidential election in the 1970s and 1980s.

Maine has since become a left-leaning swing state and has voted Democratic in five successive Presidential elections, casting its votes for Bill Clinton twice, Al Gore in 2000, John Kerry (with 53.6% of the vote) in 2004, and Barack Obama in 2008. Although Democrats have carried the state in presidential elections in recent years, Republicans have largely maintained their control of the state's U.S. Senate seats, with Ed Muskie, William Hathaway and George Mitchell being the only Maine Democrats serving in the U.S. Senate in the past fifty years.

In the 2010 midterm elections, Republicans made major gains in Maine. They captured the governor's office as well as majorities in both chambers of the state legislature for the first time since the early 1970s.

Ross Perot achieved a great deal of success in Maine in the presidential elections of 1992 and 1996. In 1992 as an independent candidate, Perot came in second to Bill Clinton, despite the longtime presence of the Bush family summer home in Kennebunkport. In 1996, as the nominee of the Reform Party, Perot did better in Maine than in any other state.

Since 1969, two of Maine's four electoral votes are awarded based on the winner of the statewide election. The other two go to the highest vote-winner in each of the state's two congressional districts.

Famous politicians from Maine include Percival Baxter; James Blaine; Owen Brewster; William Cohen; Susan Collins; Hannibal Hamlin; George J. Mitchell; Edmund Muskie; Thomas Brackett Reed; Margaret Chase Smith; Olympia Snowe; and Wallace H. White, Jr..

Maine's U.S. senators are Republicans Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins. The current Governor is Republican Paul LePage. The state's two members of the U.S. House of Representatives are Democrats Chellie Pingree and Mike Michaud.

Municipalities[link]

Organized municipalities[link]

An organized municipality has a form of elected local government which administers and provides local services, keeps records, collects licensing fees, and can pass locally binding ordinances among other responsibilities of self-government. The governmental format of most organized towns and plantations is the Town Meeting, while the format of most cities is the Council-Manager form. As of 2007 the organized municipalities of Maine consist of 22 cities, 432 towns, and 34 plantations. Collectively these 488 organized municipalities cover less than half of the state's territory. Maine also has 3 Reservations: Indian Island, Indian Township Reservation, and Pleasant Point Indian Reservation.^[52]

• The largest municipality in Maine, by population, is the city of Portland (pop. 64,249).
• The smallest city by population is Eastport (pop. 1,640).
• The largest town by population is Brunswick (pop. 21,172).
• The smallest town by population is Frye Island, a resort town which reported zero year-round population in the 2000 Census; one plantation, Glenwood Plantation, Maine, also reported a permanent population of zero
• In the 2000 Census, the smallest town aside from Frye Island was Centerville with a population of 26, but since that Census, Centerville voted to disincorporate and therefore is no longer a town. The next smallest town with a population listed in that Census is Beddington, (pop. 29).
• The largest municipality by land area is the town of Allagash 128 square miles (332 km²)
• The smallest municipality by land area is the plantation of Monhegan Island 0.86 square miles (2.2 km²).

Unorganized territory[link]

Unorganized territory has no local government. Administration, services, licensing, and ordinances are handled by the state government. The Unorganized Territory of Maine consists of over 400 townships (towns are incorporated, townships are unincorporated), plus many coastal islands that do not lie within any municipal bounds. The UT land area is slightly over one half the entire area of the State of Maine. Year-round residents in the UT number approximately 9,000, about 1.3% of the state's total population, with many more people residing only seasonally within the UT. Only four of Maine's sixteen counties (Androscoggin, Cumberland, Waldo, and York) are entirely incorporated, although a few others are nearly so, and most of the unincorporated area is in the vast and sparsely populated Great North Woods of Maine.^[53]

Most populous cities and towns[link]

Fact Finder US Census Maine Portland:

Throughout Maine, many municipalities, although each separate governmental entities, nevertheless form portions of a much larger population base. There are many such population clusters throughout Maine, but some examples from the municipalities appearing in the above listing are:

• Portland, South Portland, Cape Elizabeth, Westbrook, Scarborough, and Falmouth
• Lewiston and Auburn
• Bangor, Orono, Brewer, Old Town, and Hampden
• Biddeford, Saco and Old Orchard Beach
• Brunswick and Topsham
• Waterville, Winslow, Fairfield, and Oakland
• Presque Isle and Caribou
• ^[54]

Education[link]

Public schools[link]

Public schools are run by one of four types of school districts: 1) local for a single school; 2) School Union whose members share only a superintendent; 3) School Administrative District containing multiple towns and one superintendent; and 4) Community School District that has one elementary school that towns share.

Private schools are less common than public schools. A large number of private elementary schools with under 20 students exist, but most private high schools in Maine can be perceived as "semi-private." This means that while it costs money to send children there, towns will make a contract with a school to take children from a town or School Administrative District at a slightly reduced rate. Often this is done when it is deemed cheaper to subsidize private tuition than build a whole new school when a private one already exists.

Culture[link]

Sports teams[link]

Professional[link]

• Maine Red Claws, basketball, NBA Development League
• Portland Pirates, minor league hockey, American Hockey League
• Portland Sea Dogs, minor league baseball, Eastern League (U.S. baseball)

Non-professional[link]

• Portland Phoenix FC, soccer, Premier Developmental League

NCAA[link]

• Maine Black Bears men's ice hockey, hockey, Hockey East, 1993 and 1999 NCAA Division I National Champions

State symbols[link]

• State berry: Wild Blueberry^[55]
• State bird: Black-capped Chickadee
• State cat: Maine Coon^{[citation needed]}
• State dessert: Blueberry pie made with wild Maine blueberries
• State fish: Land-locked salmon
• State flower: White Pinecone and Tassel
• State fossil: Pertica Quadrifaria
• State gemstone: Tourmaline
• State herb: Wintergreen^{[citation needed]}
• State insect: European honey bee
• State mammal: Moose
• State soft drink: Moxie
• State soil: Chesuncook soil series
• State song: State of Maine Song
• State treat: Whoopie pie^[56]
• State tree: Eastern White Pine
• State vessel: Arctic exploration schooner Bowdoin
• State motto: Dirigo ("I lead")

^[57]

Maine in fiction[link]

Literature[link]

• Charlotte Agell lives in Maine and has written several books set in Maine.
• Gerald Warner Brace (1901–1978) lived in Deer Isle. All of his novels are set in New England, some in Maine.
• Carolyn Chute (1947–) lives in Maine and set several novels in the fictional town of Egypt, Maine.
• Robert P. T. Coffin (1892–1955) — Iconic Maine writer.
• Terry Goodkind's The Law of Nines takes place in Maine.
• John Irving wrote The Cider House Rules, a novel (and later a motion picture), set in several fictional Maine towns.
• Sarah Orne Jewett (1849–1909) lived in South Berwick, Maine. Many of her novels and short stories were set in Maine.
• Elijah Kellogg Jr^[58] (1813–1901) — Popular author of Horatio Alger, Jr.-style boy's books. Many of these out-of-copyright books are available online at books.google.com.
• John Cariani is an actor and playwright whose play "Almost, Maine" is set in a fictional town in the state of Maine.
• Stephen King, a Maine native and resident of Bangor, bases much of his fiction in Maine.
• Dean Koontz wrote Night Chills, horror/suspense novel, which takes place in the fictional town of Black River, Maine.
• H. P. Lovecraft, who set almost all of his stories in New England, occasionally mentions Maine.
• Robert McCloskey (1914–2003 ) was a beloved children's author.
• Ruth Moore's novels were based almost entirely in Maine, although she rejected the label of "regional writer."
• Van Reid wrote The Moosepath League series of books, which are humorous adventures set in 19th-century Maine.
• Rhea Cote Robbins is the author of Wednesday's Child about a mill town, and coming of age experiences.
• Harriet Beecher Stowe composed Uncle Tom's Cabin almost entirely in Brunswick, Maine.
• Henry David Thoreau wrote The Maine Woods, which he visited during his stay at Walden Pond.
• Lewis Robinson's novel Water Dogs and many of his short stories in Officer Friendly and Other Stories are set in Maine.
• E. B. White lived in Brooklin, Maine and used Maine as the setting of Charlotte's Web. He also wrote many essays about his experiences in Maine including "Once More to the Lake."
• Kenneth Roberts (1885–1957) was a novelist of the Regionalist school, who wrote about Maine in works such as Arundel, Northwest Passage, Rabble in Arms and Boon Island.
• Janet Chapman writes several series of paranormal romance and contemporary romance novels set in Maine.