Interesting facts and trivia about Maine (Portland, Bangor: home, school, college)

[Bewitched]

1. 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.

2. In Wilton there's a cannery that imports and cans only dandelion greens.

3. Maine is the only state in the United States whose name has one syllable.

4. Maine is the only state that shares its border with only one other state.

5. Bath is known as the City of Ships.

6. 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.

7. The White Mountain National Forest covers nearly 800,000 acres, the forest covers a landscape ranging from hardwood forests to the largest alpine area east of the Rocky Mountains

8. Aroostook County at 6,453 square miles covers an area greater than the combined size of Connecticut and Rhode Island.

9. Approximately 40 millions pounds (nearly 90 percent) of the nation's lobster supply is caught off the coast of Maine.

10. Maine produces 99% of all the blueberries in the country making it the single largest producer of blueberries in the United States.

11. Maine’s earliest inhabitants were descendants of Ice Age hunters.

12. Portland was first temporarily selected as the state capital. In 1832 the capital was moved to the centrally located site of Augusta.

13. In 1641 America's first chartered city was York.

14. Acadia National Park is the second most visited national park in the United States.

15. West Quoddy Head is the most easterly point in the United States.

16. Augusta is the most eastern capital city in the United States.

17. Mount Katahdin is the state's highest point at 5,268 feet above sea level.

18. Togus was the first Veteran's Hospital in the United States. The facility was founded in 1866.

19. An unsuccessful attempt at establishing a permanent English settlement in the New World was at the location now known as Popham Beach. Sir George Popham led the expedition in 1607.

20. 90% of the country's toothpick supply is produced in Maine.

21. 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.

22. Author Steven King is a resident of Bangor.

23. Former President George Bush has a summer home in Kennebunkport.

24. Freeport is the home to the L.L. Bean Company.

25. The skating scene in the movie "The Preacher's Wife" was filmed in Deering Oaks Park in Portland.

26. 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.

27. The coastline boasts so many deep harbors it is thought all the navy's ships in the world could anchor in them.

28. Maine lobsters have won international fame for their flavor and contribution to the culinary world.

29. 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.

30. 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.

31. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was considered the most influential poet of his day. The writer was born in Portland, on February 2, 1807. His most popular works include "The Courtship of Miles Standish", "Evangeline" and "Hiawatha".

32. The nation's first sawmill was established near York in 1623.

33. York became the nation's first incorporated city in 1642.

34. The first ship build by English colonists in Americas was launched on the Kennebec River in 1607.

35. The first naval battle of the Revolutionary War was fought off Machias in 1775.

36. Maine was admitted to the Union as the 23rd state on March 15, 1820.

37. The honeybee is the official state insect.

38. Maine contains 542,629 acres of state and national parks.

39. 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.

40. Maine's government entities are comprised of 16 counties with 22 cities, 435 towns, 33 plantations, 424 unorganized townships and 3 Indian reservations.

[Iamsuperwoman77]

I gotta say, I absolutely LOVED this little factoid page you posted! I really enjoy little known facts. Now I REALLY want to move to Maine. Thanks again!

[The Mysterious Lady]

Originally Posted by Bewitched

1. 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.

While it is true that Eastport is the most eastern city in the US, actually the town of Lubec is the easternmost point in the continental US - whereby giving them the claim to fame for receiving the first rays of the morning sun.

[Bydand]

And Maine is the largest producer of WILD blueberries. for cultivated blueberries there are several states that out produce us. Personally I think the wild type have a better flavor.

[mollysmiles]

Originally Posted by The Mysterious Lady

While it is true that Eastport is the most eastern city in the US, actually the town of Lubec is the easternmost point in the continental US - whereby giving them the claim to fame for receiving the first rays of the morning sun.

The people of Bar Harbor believe that Cadillac Mountain receive the first rays of sun....there was such a huge issue that the news feeds all (the major 3 plus CNN, Fox, and a couple of others I can't remember) were there for the sunrise January 1, 2000....and then 4 were sent to Eastport as well.

[mollysmiles]

Maine had a strong anti-slavery tradition even before the Civil War, abolitionist societies were active for an estimated 11 years before the War. Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author of Uncle Tom's Cabin, was the wife of a Bowdoin College professor, and lived in Brunswick.

[Bydand]

Just came back from a vacation and one of the things we got to see was a plaster cast of Harriet Beecher Stowes' writing hand taken when she was still alive. Along with a life mask of Abe Lincoln and a live cast of his hand as well. It was kind of cool.

[dmyankee]

The town of Sangerville, Maine has the distinction of being the home of two men Knighted by the British crown.

Sir Harry Oakes

Sir Hiram Maxim...inventor of the machine gun.

Monson slate covers the roof of St. Patrick's Cathedral in NYC. It is also used in the Kennedy Memorial in Arlington, marking the resting place of J.F.K.

Maine Tourmaline was the first gem mined by early settler in the continental U.S. The Mt. Mica mine yielded a crystal weighing 14.3kg. making it the largest in the world. A flawless 256 carat blue-green cut stone sits in the Smithsonian, from this mine.

The Temperance Movement began in Portland in 1815. Maine approved a total ban on liquor in 1851 and pretty much remained until 1934.

Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote "Uncle Tom's Cabin" in Brunswick, Maine. This helped fuel the abolitionist movement.

E. B. White wrote many pieces including Charlotte's web and Stuart Little.

Hannibal Hamlin was the first Republican Mainer to hold national office.

Maine was the only state to vote for Ross Perot!

The Red Paint People were Maine's first inhabitants. Long before the Micmac and Abnaki, they left huge mounds of discarded oyster shells along the Damariscotta estuary. They lined the graves of their dead with native red clay, hence the name.

[The Mysterious Lady]

Originally Posted by mollysmiles

The people of Bar Harbor believe that Cadillac Mountain receive the first rays of sun....there was such a huge issue that the news feeds all (the major 3 plus CNN, Fox, and a couple of others I can't remember) were there for the sunrise January 1, 2000....and then 4 were sent to Eastport as well.

That's interesting. I had no idea about Cadillac Mountain.

I wonder if the issue was ever officially solved. I wish it would be since so many places list incorrect "facts". Like school teachers who teach that the Great Wall of China is the only man-made structure that can be seen from the moon ... of course that is not true at all, no man-made structure on earth can be seen from the moon. But the myth abounds anyway.

[dramamama6685]

Originally Posted by The Mysterious Lady

While it is true that Eastport is the most eastern city in the US, actually the town of Lubec is the easternmost point in the continental US - whereby giving them the claim to fame for receiving the first rays of the morning sun.

Wow something I actually new!!! Enjoyed the rest of the facts. Thanks, bunches.