"Not to miss" stops in the following towns? (Portland: rental, houses)

[ontheroad]

I have very little doubt about seaside communities being tourist ranges.

On both coasts, too.

But it is just a little more on the West than the East. Wish it were otherwise.

Nothing like the glorious Atlantic!

Originally Posted by Unhappycamper

Its very true, trust me.

[Acadianlion]

I agree with Forrestbeekeeper....unorganized territories are great unless you have some sort of need...children will do that, and medical conditions will do that as well. But the crisis in Maine regarding income and property taxes is such that several towns applied for permission from the state legislature to unincorporate last year.

At the end of the day, if a more "primitive" kind of life is what is desired, then there are many options all though the state. The specific towns that were mentioned are in fact "hubs", and circling them are smaller towns...villages, perhaps, where "more primitive" is to be found. A lot of these small towns will have no school at all, so children will take a bus ten or fifteen miles each way, every day. That will mean that on snow days, the children will stay at home, creating a child care issue for families where both parents work.

I think that what you should do is follow the coast line and look at the towns that you have chosen. If you drive up coastal Route One as far as the fork where Route 3 will take you to through Winterport and to Bangor, you will see a lot of the coast. Once you get to Bangor you will see the biggest city in the extreme northeast corner of the United States. You will see what is there, and in fifteen minutes on any road outside of Bangor, you will begin to see "primitive", and there are many choices. From what you have said and where you are from, I would make the trip up Route One, but not plan to stay in any one area more than a day or so. Stay in Bath for two days, and drive around that area, including Brunswick and Wiscasset. The next day stay in Rockland in a motel, and explore Rockland, Rockport and visit Camden. You will drive a lot, of course, but you can get a feeling for each area that way.

After that, go to Bangor and make that your center for a couple of days. Bangor is a good center from which to make day trips as far as Bar Harbor on Mt Desert Island which would include Ellsworth, Trenton, Lamoine and east as far as Winter Harbor. You can also get to Orono and Old Town easily from Bangor because of the Interstate. AND the bonus is that you can head inland or north from Bangor,a nd see real wilderness in about twenty minutes.

Once you have done that...and it is possible to do a lot in ten days...you will be exhausted, but can just get on I-95, hit cruise and head for Texas. Take lots and lots of pictures, and make lots and lots of notes about each picture....it will be a great trip, and who knows, you might find something early on that will make further travel unnecessary.

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by Acadianlion

I agree with Forrestbeekeeper....unorganized territories are great unless you have some sort of need...children will do that, and medical conditions will do that as well. ...

Our youngest attends Old Town high school, so by my 'un-organized township' not having it's own school does not hurt us.

We are seven miles from the freeway on-ramp, and 12 miles further from Bangor.

My DW has been in the St. Josephs hospital cardiac ward. She works in Bangor, and we do not feel that this is a terribly long trip to get to a hospital.

[Elcarim]

Wonderful advise and info, guys! Thanks so much!!! We do plan to visit each town/area for a day as we go along, just to make sure we have time to get the true feel of the area and the people.

March 9-19, where would we be most likely to enjoy snow while we're there? I'm assuming north and somewhat inland. Any suggestions? Thanks!

[MsJL]

I've got about 14 tons of the stuff in my yard - help yourselves.

[chickadee]

In an unorganized township, who is responsible for road maintenance, fire protection, and police work? Does a property owner have difficulty getting home insurance?

Originally Posted by forest beekeeper

I am in an 'un-organized township' and I-95 cuts right through it. We are 12 miles North from Bangor.

Our son attends Old Town highschool. Old Town is a very nice small town.

I am on 42 acres of riverfrontage, that I paid $900/acre for. My land is woodlot. Land across the road from me [without river access] sells for $300/acre.

Each property around me, is also woodlot. The owners each have a seasonal cabin, at the end of a dirt road, in the middle of thick forest.

Our road is paved and plowed. We have power / phone / DSL all right at the pavement.

We have lots of moose, deer, beaver, and wild turkey.

You could buy a 10 by 20 cabin from Home Depot [or better yet the Amish community up North in Smyrna], drop it in place and your started.

And the best part? Property taxes run $1.05/acre. I pay $47 each year.

Obviously a 10 by 20 cabin is small and primitive. But I gave it as an example, of how quick and simple you could be living in peace and harmony.

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by chickadee

In an unorganized township, who is responsible for road maintenance, fire protection, and police work? Does a property owner have difficulty getting home insurance?

The state and county have budgets for snow plowing. The state DOT does the road maintenance.

We have both state troopers and county sheriffs drive through here, plus game wardens.

I do not know about fire protection. I have been told the state forestry handled fires. It is all thick trees, so if you did have a fire it would likely be a forest type fire.

I do not follow about your question on insurance. We do not have any insurance offices. At least not in Argyle. We do not have any store-front businesses. We could but we don't.

Over in Alton they do, a beauty salon, a car mechanic, a grocery, and a dance hall, were all running before they got the idea that they wanted to start paying town taxes. So they got a bunch of folks who signed petitions to start-up. They built a building, and ran elections and now they have their own tax assessor.

[chickadee]

Originally Posted by forest beekeeper

I do not follow about your question on insurance. We do not have any insurance offices. At least not in Argyle. We do not have any store-front businesses. We could but we don't.

Sorry, I should have worded my question more clearly. What I mean is, Are home insurance companies willing to cover properties in the unorganized townships that don't have readily available fire and police protection?

Also, is the situation in the plantations similar to these townships re: taxes, road maintenance, and police and fire protection?

[Elcarim]

I may need to keep my nose out of this one, since we don't yet live in Maine, but.....having an insurance background, I can say for most states *most* homes are insurable if they meet the basic underwriting guidelines for that state. Fire protection services are not usually a requirement, but a home is rated at a higher premium if the area is considered "unprotected".

Also, DH is an emergency medic and firefighter, so I can comment on that one, as well, as it applies to our area. Most small towns without the necessary funding are serviced on a volunteer department basis. There are many unorganized communities in our area, and if they are so small that even volunteer services are unavailable, they are serviced by the nearest county's emergency department. In his 6 months of research on our own relocation to Maine, he is yet to come by a town that does not have at least volunteer protection services in place.

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by chickadee

Sorry, I should have worded my question more clearly. What I mean is, Are home insurance companies willing to cover properties in the unorganized townships that don't have readily available fire and police protection?

Also, is the situation in the plantations similar to these townships re: taxes, road maintenance, and police and fire protection?

I do not know.

I 'think' that home insurance is available, though without the discounts that you might otherwise get if you lived very near a fire department.

We do have police 'protection'. When we call 911, we are dispatched the state trooper, or a sheriff deputy.

I have had occasion to call the police, so I know. [a vehicle slid off the road into the ditch on my land, and then sat there for two days, so on the third day I called the police. They arrived within the hour, contacted the owner and got the vehicle moved].

I have not had the occasion to call about a fire.

I have no mortgage on my Maine property, thus no requirement for insurance.



It is my understanding that long ago, a wealthy fellow has given a deed for a big 'plantation' by the governor, and so he and his servants and their families lived there without owing taxes to a township. After his death, those plantations evolved into communities much the same as a township.

Very near us is 'Veazie', I heard a radio talk show last summer which gave a very interesting oral history of the founding of Veazie. What I described above was basically how it was done.

It is my understanding that today a 'township' and a 'plantation' are basically the same except for in spelling.

If I am in error [and I may be] I do apologize. I am not a local as such. I am from away. I only moved here two years ago.