All Non-Digital Titles

Photo by photo, discover the stories that have been made along Maine's stretch of Appalachian wildneress.

Maine native Myron H. Avery recruited friends from Washington, DC; Maine forest and warden service personnel; guides and sporting camp operators; and the Civilian Conservation Corps to extend the Appalachian Trail through Maine, despite questions of whether it would be possible to carve a trail through the state's wildlands. Volunteers of Maine's Appalachian Trail Club, created by Avery in 1935, have since maintained the trail, built shelters, relocated more than half of the original hastily constructed route, and taken on the task of managing the trail's protection corridor. Along Maine's Appalachian Trail illustrates the rich history of the trail's rugged mountains and vast forests, which have provided a livelihood for generations of workers and communities.

Beginning in the town of Solon, Old Canada Road winds for nearly 80 miles through the Upper Kennebec and Dead River Valleys before ending at the Canadian border.

Following ancient aboriginal trails and early trade routes to Quebec City, Old Canada Road was traveled by Benedict Arnold and his army of 1,100 men in their failed 1775 quest to capture Quebec. By the mid-19th century the small villages along the route grew as the immigration of French Canadians blossomed and logging became a major industry in the region. This pristine wilderness also became a sportsman's paradise, attracting wealthy families from Boston, New York, and beyond. Today the Forks and West Forks cater to a new breed of sport as the center of white-water rafting on the Kennebec and Dead Rivers. The region is a major hub for snowmobiling, hunting, and hiking throughout the year.

Beginning in the town of Solon, Old Canada Road winds for nearly 80 miles through the Upper Kennebec and Dead River Valleys before ending at the Canadian border.

Following ancient aboriginal trails and early trade routes to Quebec City, Old Canada Road was traveled by Benedict Arnold and his army of 1,100 men in their failed 1775 quest to capture Quebec. By the mid-19th century the small villages along the route grew as the immigration of French Canadians blossomed and logging became a major industry in the region. This pristine wilderness also became a sportsman's paradise, attracting wealthy families from Boston, New York, and beyond. Today the Forks and West Forks cater to a new breed of sport as the center of white-water rafting on the Kennebec and Dead Rivers. The region is a major hub for snowmobiling, hunting, and hiking throughout the year. Enjoy the rich history of Maine’s Old Canada Road in 15 historic black-and-white postcards.

Since the development of photography in the mid-nineteenth century, the camera has been used as a tool of both discovery and preservation.

Photographs bring alive our image of the past and can open a floodgate of memories and nostalgia or inspire curiosity and a sense of history. The Damariscotta River has always been an important resource to those who have lived and traveled along its shores. From Jefferson at the head of Damariscotta Lake to the bridge at Damariscotta and eventually on to the sea at Christmas Cove, this small but adaptable body of water has fostered a wide range of human activities. The fishing, shipbuilding, and brick-making industries were the first to harvest and harness the river. As these industries eventually declined and word of the scenic beauty and simple charm of the region spread, summer cottages, and camps began to appear along the river's banks. Today, the Damariscotta River region is an evocation of Maine life past and present, and it remains one of the most captivating and extraordinary regions in the Northeast.

Over 200 images document the fascinating history of the towns along the banks of Maine's Union River, chronicling their evolutions.

Along the Union River weaves together more than two hundred images with intriguing and informative text to create an immensely enjoyable journey through the history of the towns along the banks of Maine's majestic Union River and its tributaries. The region comprising Hancock and Penobscot Counties was originally settled by soldiers who came to work in the woods and tanneries. Soon, supporting industries, stores, copper shops, lumber camps, and ladies millinery shops were established, but it was the shipbuilding industry that flourished most prominently. Here, we explore Bingham Millions, Mariaville's ""Greenhouse Settlement,"" and Lucerne's ""Little Switzerland,"" and experience the wild beauty of this world-famous countryside.

Surrounded by rugged mountains and bordered by a beautiful, jagged coastline, the city of Ellsworth and the town of Blue Hill exemplify ""Downeast Maine"" at its best.

Few areas in Maine have retained as much nineteenth-century charm: lighthouses, cottages, gardens, and even a castle enhance the natural beauty of the region, which has always drawn visitors from far and wide. At the same time, Maine traditions of Yankee pride and hard work shine through, with granite quarries and copper mines, as well as busy fishing seasons testifying to the industrious spirit of this coastal people. It is this combination of natural beauty and strength of spirit that has always made the Ellsworth and Blue Hill area one of the most compelling and dynamic regions in all of Maine.

With Around Hallowell, author Bob Briggs has created a nostalgic look at his home from the Civil War era to the 1940s.

Incorporated in 1771, Hallowell is one of Maine's oldest permanent settlements. Incredibly, the 1807 American Encyclopedia predicted that Hallowell would one day be one of the nation's largest cities. This book focuses on the city in its heyday of prosperity, culture, and education, and it gives the reader insight into the now-vanished industries of shipping, granite, lumber, and ice that comprised the staple of Hallowell's financial prosperity. Over the years, urban renewal has claimed many of Water Street's most prominent landmarks. Manu of the 200 rare photographs included in this volume depicts these historic buildings and street scenes as they once were. Covering the area along the Kennebec River between Farmingdale and Augusta, these images speak volumes about a time when life moved at a leisurely pace, enabling residents to take time out for cultural and spiritual refinement.

Around Houlton documents the history of this town with Yankee pioneer spirit from potato farming to Market Square.

Since the development of photography in the mid-19th century, the camera has been used as a tool of both discovery and preservation. Photographs bring alive our picture of the past in a way that other historic relics cannot, and they tell us much more than at first appears. Houlton, Maine, is a town still infused with the Yankee pioneer spirit, an independence that can be traced back to Houlton's roots at the beginning of the 19th century. This is reflected in nearly every face in this delightful selection of images of the people of Houlton and its surrounding communities in the century between 1850 and 1950. Some of the best photographs are those that simply show ""how things used to be""--pictures of potato farming, of industry, of lively activity in Market Square, and of peaceful summer recreation at cottages at Nickerson, Grand, and Drew's Lakes.

Around Rockland is a fascinating pictorial history of this dynamic city, documenting its development from 1870 to 1970.

This wonderful photographic history of Rockland by the Shore Village Historical Society brings to life the story of this dynamic city between 1870 and 1970. Rockland's unique industrial heritage is documented in great detail--particularly lime manufacturing, which has brought national attention to Rockland over the years. Lime burning led to shipbuilding and other commercial endeavors, making Rockland the shipping and quarrying center of Midcoast Maine, and many of the photographs collected here show the proud shipping and quarrying traditions of the city in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Most of the images that have been selected for this book are rare and previously unpublished, and many of them--although they may have seemed commonplace when originally taken--give us a tremendous insight into the way life was lived in the last century. At once comprehensive and accessible, this delightful book will earn a lasting place on the bookshelves of area homes and cottages, as well as in the hearts of Rocklanders young and old alike.

The Kennebec and Sheepscot Rivers of Maine, natural boundaries for the Wiscasset region, provided the water highways for early explorers, traders, and missionaries.

For over 360 years, the area has been home to shipbuilders, fishermen, farmers, and tradesmen. This marvelous photographic chronicle traces not only the rich historical traditions of the area, but also the shared sense of life’s unbroken continuity present in the towns of the Wiscasset region: Alna, Dresden, Westport Island, Wiscasset, and Woolwich. Vintage photographs profile a few of those who quietly inspired others through their efforts to make life better in the region, as well as those men and women of wealth and vision who provided the area with a legacy by their lifestyles and great homes. The book also features views of local taverns, courthouses, general stores, churches, and schools—all the foundations of a changing, vivacious, and growing community.

Take a fascinating journey through the history of Auburn, Maine with more than 200 vintage photographs and anecdotes from the locals who experienced it.

According to local lore, Auburn's name comes from Sweet Auburn, loveliest village of the plain, a line from Oliver Goldsmith's poem, The Deserted Village.

The first settlers were drawn to the Auburn area by the remarkable falls, lakes, and streams, which provided power for early shoe and textile manufacturers as well as opportunities for recreation. Visitors were also attracted by the tremendous natural resources of Sweet Auburn and tourism boomed in the nineteenth century, with people from away flocking to the area to enjoy cruises on Lake Auburn and to partake of spring waters and tonics.

As Auburn grew and changed, photographers began to preserve these developments on film. For the past 130 years, they have recorded the daily lives of the people of Auburn: their workplaces, schools, and houses; their modes of dress and moments of leisure; and the celebrations and disasters that have brought the people of Auburn together.

More than two hundred images of Auburn, many of which are from the archives of the Androscoggin Historical Society, have been woven with informative text to create this remarkable visual history. Allow the images to lead you back into the past; it is a journey worth making, and one that you will never forget.

Bangor has grown in many ways since Jacob Buswell and his family, the first white settlers, built their cabin by the Penobscot River in 1769.

Over the course of the nineteenth century, Bangor developed into a cosmopolitan center of Maine, but to this day it retains some of the proud characteristics of a town that was once the lumbering capital of the world. Collected in this fascinating visual history are over 200 photographs that together reflect the city's rich and diverse history. The photographs show more than a century of change, with stirring images of four-masted schooners in the harbor, of log drives, of floods, and of fires. People fill the book: Amelia Earhart and Presidents Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Nixon, and Kennedy pictured on visit; the Brady Gang, shot by the FBI in 1937 as the nation's most wanted criminals; and especially the hardworking men and women who built Bangor into the Queen City of the East.

Bath Iron Works was established by Gen. Thomas Hyde in 1884 and launched its first ship in 1891. This collection of shipbuilding photographs brings to life the proud history of Bath Iron Works.

Since then, the shipyard on the Kennebec River has built dozens of luxurious yachts, hardworking freighters, tugs, trawlers, lightships, and more than two hundred twenty warships for the U.S. Navy. Today, Bath Iron Works continues a shipbuilding tradition that began nearly four hundred years ago when the first ship built in America was constructed just a few miles downriver from Bath. Bath Iron Works showcases a unique collection of photographs that provides a rare view inside one of the nation's great shipyards. The book shows the yard's origins in a few simple buildings, its expansion into a modern shipbuilding facility, and its rapid growth into an industrial powerhouse during World War II. During these years, Bath Iron Works produced famous ships such as the America's Cup defender Ranger, the yachts Aras and Hi-Esmaro, the record-setting destroyer USS Lamson, and fully one fourth of all destroyers built for the U.S. Navy during World War II. Bath Iron Works gives an insider's view of these great vessels and many others, as skilled craftspeople turn raw materials into complex ships, each uniquely suited to its purpose.

Baxter State Park is the guardian of this vast wilderness area for all to enjoy. Baxter State Park and Katahdin draws on rich collections of archival images dating back to the 19th century.

The character of Baxter State Park and the great mountain at its heart can be powerfully conveyed through two words: forever wild. The mountain was known as Ktaadn, or the greatest mountain, to native peoples who first frequented Maine's interior northern forest. They were followed by colonial adventurers who explored its cirques and massive granite walls, by those who studied its geology and flora and fauna, and later by loggers who came to extract the virgin timber from nearby valleys. Finally, recreational climbing and camping led to an effort to protect the rugged beauty of these mountains, lakes, and valleys. When calls for preservation went unheeded, former governor Percival P. Baxter, beginning in the 1930s, purchased some 201,000 acres over a period of 30 years and gifted them to the state.

Long before Maine became known as Vacationland in the 1890s, Wells beckoned promoters and guests from the inland cities of New England.

Founded in 1643, Wells is the third-oldest town in Maine, but with the expansion of the railroad in the 1800s, the small beach town's tourist industry has thrived for more than a century. Miles of beach, rock-bound coast, and refreshing seabreezes beckon vacationers to return annually. In turn, Wells' economy, landscape, and development has catered to the needs of both these visitors and the year-round residents. Perhaps the beautiful landscape and pristine beaches aren't the only things keeping tourists returning year after year-- Wells also holds the nickname of "the friendliest town in Maine'?!

Halfway up the coast of Maine, on the northwest shore of Penobscot Bay, lies the city of Belfast.

The Penobscot people once hunted its forests and speared sturgeon in the Passagassawakeag River.In 1770, envisioning a prosperous town, like-minded Scots-Irish farmers settled here.During the 19th century, hardworking men and women established Belfast as a major seaport and shipbuilding center, thanks to its abundant resources and accessible harbor.As the maritime economy faded, enterprising citizens invested in manufacturing as the city’s chief employer.Belfast takes the reader back to the early settlement, through the bustling shipbuilding heyday and gritty industrial decades, up to the city’s centennial celebration in 1953.Join us as we sail a tall ship, stitch boots inside the noisy shoe factory, and eat chicken barbecue on the shores of the bay.

Moosehead Lake is the largest lake in Maine, covering nearly 75,000 acres in the Highlands Region. Greenville, located on its southern shore, became the gateway to the lake early on because of its location and by being the last village to get supplies before the North Woods.

The area of Blair Hill in Greenville was at first the farm of early settler Edmund Scammon and his family, but it soon became famous for its view of Moosehead Lake. Successful business leaders like Victor Macfarlane and Andrew Jackson Sloper built summer homes on Blair Hill to enjoy the climate and scenery. The Highlands area on the southern side of Blair Hill was developed for vacationers and contained small affordable cabins as well as the famous Moosehead Coffee House. From stately mansions to simple cabins, the retreats constructed here were as varied as the people who built them.

Local authors Sean and Johanna Billings explore the fascinating history of this area and its people.

Nineteenth-century archeological digs found relics of the ancient Red Paint People and Native Americans in Brooklin. In the early 1900s, Col. Adam Wesley Powell dug artifacts of these people, and later, the famous Norse coin was found here. In North Brooklin, the creatures in E.B. White's barn inspired the characters for Charlotte's Web. On Naskeag Point, a Revolutionary War battle was fought by the local residents. At Center Harbor, sardines and clam factories made Brooklin rich, and in Haven, Noah Tibbets started a summer colony of prominent residents. On Flye Point, another colony was founded on land deeded to the Flye family by the king of England. Boats were built at Allen's Cove, Herrick's Bay, Bridges Point, Benjamin River, and Center Harbor. With its numerous boatyards, the famous WoodenBoat School, and WoodenBoat magazine, Brooklin has been called the "Boatbuilding Capital of the World."

Photographs bring alive our picture of the past and can open a floodgate of memories and nostalgia or inspire curiosity and a sense of history.

Since the development of photography in the mid-nineteenth century, the camera has been used as a tool of both discovery and preservation. Both joined and separated by the Androscoggin River, Brunswick and Topsham were carved from the same land grant in 1715. Despite their proximity, the towns developed separate identities: Brunswick became a manufacturing, commercial, and educational center, while Topsham combined its farms with factories. This fascinating pictorial history illuminates the daily lives of the residents of the two towns, and reveals how life has changed over the past 120 years.

From the era of the indigenous Passamaquoddy people to the booming growth that led to its development as a 20th-century commercial hub, the history of Calais is distinctly American.

Briefly settled by Europeans in 1604 when a French group that included Samuel de Champlain spent an ill-fated winter fraught with casualties, Calais’s first permanent settlers arrived in 1779. As the lumber trade developed, the young city thrived in spite of its remote location. The first industrial railroad in the state was built in Calais in 1832 to fuel its development as the second-busiest port on the Eastern Seaboard, and soon, families like the Murchies and the Becketts were heavily involved in furthering local businesses. Lumber, shipbuilding, and granite quarrying each contributed to Calais’s rise—as well as its gradual 20th-century decline as the respective industries collapsed.From a height of nearly 8,000 residents in 1900, Calais’s population steadily dwindled to less than 3,000 today.

Author Lura Jackson, MA, has been promoting the work of the St. Croix Historical Society, of which she is an officer, for several years. The former editor of the Calais Advertiser, Jackson has a strong passion for highlighting and preserving Calais history in the interest of better informing the future. Al Churchill, retired public defender and president of the St. Croix Historical Society, provides the foreword.

In 1604, when Frenchmen landed on Saint Croix Island, they were far from the first people to walk along its shores.

For thousands of years, Etchemins—whose descendants were members of the Wabanaki Confederacy—had lived, loved and labored in Down East Maine. Bound together with neighboring people, all of whom relied heavily on canoes for transportation, trade and survival, each group still maintained its own unique cultures and customs. After the French arrived, they faced unspeakable hardships, from the Great Dying, when disease killed up to 90 percent of coastal populations, to centuries of discrimination. Yet they never abandoned Ketakamigwa, their homeland. In this book, anthropologist William Haviland relates the history of hardship and survival endured by the natives of the Down East coast and how they have maintained their way of life over the past four hundred years.

From Fort George and Fort Madison to ""Battleground of Four Nations,"" Castine documents the history of this bucolic Maine village.

Castine is a delightfully tranquil village located on a peninsula bounded by the Bagaduce River on one side and Penobscot Bay on the other. It makes a powerful impression upon all who visit: indeed the very name Castine conjures up images of verdant landscapes, of sea-washed shores, and of life in a serene Maine village; images so magical that they become ingrained in one's memory. Castine is a charming, peaceful place, but it has not always been so. Visited as early as 1604 by European explorers and traders, Castine has since been known as the ""Battleground of Four Nations"" because French, Dutch, English, and American soldiers have fought for control of this strategically important place over the years. The remains of two forts-- Fort George and Fort Madison--stand testimony to the part that Castine played in America's formative wars.

Collected in this intriguing visual history are more than 200 photographs that bring to life the history of Colby College from 1813 to 1963.

Since the development of photography in the mid-nineteenth century, the camera has been used as a tool of both discovery and preservation. Photographs bring alive our image of the past, and can open a floodgate of memories and nostalgia or inspire curiosity and a sense of history. Collected in this intriguing visual history are more than 200 photographs that bring to life the history of Colby College from 1813 to the sesquicentennial in 1963. From President Chaplin's voyage up the Kennebec River to the relocation of Colby to Mayflower Hill, it focuses on the events, and more importantly on the people that have defined Colby's history. Using material from the Colby College Archives, Anestes Fotiades leads us on a unique journey into the past, where the faculty, staff, and students of Colby are remembered with reverence and pride; people like President J. Seelye Bixler, Webster ""Bugsy"" Chester, Julian Taylor, and many others. The photographs have been chosen to provide an accurate history as well as a delightful voyage of nostalgia into the heritage of one of Maine's most progressive institutions of higher education.

Color your way through Maine!

Best-selling author-illustrator Martha Day Zschock introduces young readers to the beautiful and exciting sites of Maine. Young travelers and locals alike can color the boats in Sebago Lake, visit Acadia National Park, and explore the coastline, forests, and cities in the Pine Tree State. Color in ice cream and lobster and historic sites as you celebrate all that Maine has to offer!

Take a journey back in time through the charming scenes of small-town life in the vibrant community of Cumberland.

See for yourself how the Maine communities of Deer Isle and Stonington grew and changed from its very beginnings.

The island communities of Deer Isle and Stonington lie in Penobscot Bay, a region known and loved by sailors the world over.Deer Isle and Stoningtonportrays life on the island from the age of ferries and steamships, to the building of the Deer Isle-Sedgwick Bridge, through World War II.

Represented in this piece are landmarks such as the Mark and Pumpkin Island lighthouses, the Stonington Opera House and the oldest buildings on the island. The vital industries of seafaring, sail making, commercial fishing, granite quarrying, and yachting are pictured here alongside images of everyday life-celebrations and ceremonies, shopping and picnics, education and worship, work and play.

A thrilling tale fit for sailing experts and history buffs alike,  historian Mark J. Gabrielson delivers the exciting tale of the Deer Isle Crew: a sailing story that offers an uncommon glimpse into American life at the turn of the twentieth century.

In 1895, emissaries from the New York Yacht Club traveled to Deer Isle, Maine, to recruit the nation's best sailors, an All American crew. This remote island in Penobscot Bay sent nearly thirty of its fishing men to sail Defender, and under skipper Hank Haff, they beat their opponents in a difficult and controversial series. To the delight of the American public, the charismatic Sir Thomas Lipton sent a surprise challenge in 1899. The New York Yacht Club knew where to turn and again recruited Deer Isle's fisherman sailors. Undefeated in two defense campaigns, they are still considered one of the best American sail-racing teams ever assembled. Read their fascinating story and relive their adventure.

This fascinating collection of photographs brings to life the history of the community of Dexter—in its bounty and its bad times

Author Frank Spizuoco has collected over two hundred unforgettable images from the archives of the Dexter Historical Society which together paint a vivid picture of the community and its environs from the 1840s to the 1990s.

Elizabeth O'Connell and Stephen Harding capture the magic of Eagle Island through years of research, interviews, and the collection of photographs and visual images by the Friends of Peary's Eagle Island (FOPEI).

Eagle Island, located off the coast of Harpswell, Maine, is far enough into Casco Bay to offer isolation but close enough to capture the fascination of a young man. Its rocky spine meets the open Atlantic in rugged cliffs with the strength to transform the momentum of ocean swells into plumes of brilliant spray. The interior, covered with a diversity of flora, presents a gentle welcoming to seabirds and the occasional fauna. Robert E. Peary, a Bowdoin College graduate, bought the island and, using local craftsmen, built a cottage for his family to use as their summer home. After his discovery of the North Pole in 1909 with its celebration and controversy, Eagle Island became the family retreat, a refuge from the public scrutiny attendant an international hero. This is the story of three generations of the Peary family and their Eagle Island home. Peary's Promised Land, now a State of Maine Historic Site and museum, has become a magical place for countless visitors, resulting in its designation as a National Historic Landmark in 2014.

Far on the northeastern coast of Maine sits a small island whose size belies the depth of its storied past.

Over the course of its existence, Eastport has been a part of the ancestral homeland of the Passamaquoddy, seized from American hands by the British, who would occupy it for four years, and ground zero for the North American sardine industry. Its remote location and stunningly rugged environment make it appealing to a wide variety of people, from fisherfolk and sailors to artists and performers from all over the world. Once serving as the stomping grounds of Benedict Arnold (having gone from traitor to trader), it was later frequented by a young Franklin D. Roosevelt, who became enchanted by its coastal charms. Habituated to facing periods of strife and of runaway success alike, the story of Eastport is one that changes as steadily as its momentous tides.

Lura Jackson was raised in Eastport. She became an award-winning community journalist writing for the Quoddy Tides and the Calais Advertiser and developed a strong passion for local history after becoming involved with the St. Croix Historical Society. She holds a master’s degree in peace and reconciliation from the University of Maine. Hugh French, director of the Tides Institute & Museum of Art, provides the foreword, while the institute provided dozens of rare photographs to the book’s interior.

From a small farming and fishing town to a growing community, uncover the history of Falmouth through a collection of rarely-seen images.

Falmouth began as a farming and fishing town with an active wooden ship-building industry along the Presumpscot River Estuary. The town later developed a number of small villages, each with a post office, stores, and its own school. Following the Civil War, the population dropped and did not begin to increase until the beginning of World War II. Wealthy Portland residents and out-of-state visitors established summer estates in Falmouth Foreside. With the introduction of the automobile and the electric trolley in the early 1900s, the Falmouth Foreside and West Falmouth areas enjoyed an influx of people who could live in Falmouth and work in Portland. After World War II, Falmouth continued to increase in size as roads were improved and more houses were built. Today Falmouth remains a growing community with extensive retail, health, retirement, and service facilities.

Historian Frank Sleeper catalogues a history of the area's successes and failures, but also captures the amazing triumph of the human spirit.

Maine is a colorful jigsaw puzzle made up of towns and communities that fit together to give the state a unique identity. This photographic collection features Farmington, Wilton, Kingfield, and Sugarloaf, a perfect example of communities working as complements to create an area with a wide appeal to diverse interests. While Farmington serves as the political, educational, and commercial center, Wilton acts as the industrial hub, and Kingfield and Sugarloaf provide the area with recreational attractions. Though the towns may differ in their focus, a scenic beauty does run throughout--whether it be the gentle waters in Wilson Lake, the cascades of the Sandy River, or the stalwart splendor of the mountains. However, to truly understand any place means meeting its people. This volume focuses on three families in particular: the Bass family in Wilton; the Mills family in Farmington; and the Winter family in Kingfield and Sugarloaf.

Maine has a collection of unique characters and tales that has helped to shape its identity. Meet the Artist Who Played Robin Hood, the Hermit of North Pond and the Mysterious Billy Smith.

Uncover the state’s hidden gems with stories like the Midas Scam in Lubec, which left investors with little but salt water to show for their investment. From the tragedy of the Wreck of the Circus Ship to the uplifting story of the Schoolgirl Ambassador, Maine author and veteran storyteller Jim Harnedy brings out the offbeat characters and events that have made the Pine Tree State so unique.

Nearly one-third of Maine residents have French blood and are known as Franco-Americans.

Many trace their heritage to French Canadian families who came south from Quebec in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to work in the mills of growing communities such as Auburn, Augusta, Biddeford, Brunswick, Lewiston, Saco, Sanford, Westbrook, Winslow, and Waterville. Other Franco-Americans, known as Acadians, have rural roots in the St. John Valley in northernmost Maine. Those of French heritage have added a unique and vibrant accent to every community in which they have lived, and they are known as a cohesive ethnic group with a strong belief in family, church, work, education, the arts, their language, and their community. Today they hold posts in every facet of Maine life, from hourly worker to the U.S. Congress. These hardworking people have a notable history and have been a major force in Maine's development.

For eight decades, an epic power struggle raged across a frontier that would become Maine.

Between 1675 and 1759, British, French, and Native Americans soldiers clashed in six distinct wars to claim the land that became the Pine Tree State. Though the showdown between France and Great Britain was international in scale, the decidedly local conflicts in Maine pitted European settlers against Native American tribes. Native and European communities from the Penobscot to the Piscataqua Rivers suffered brutal attacks. Countless men, women and children were killed, taken captive or sold into servitude. The native people of Maine were torn asunder by disease, social disintegration and political factionalism as they fought to maintain their autonomy in the face of unrelenting European pressure. This is the dark, tragic and largely forgotten struggle that laid the foundation of Maine.

In this unique pictorial history, discover the early days of Gorham and the residents who established the community's traditions and quality of life.

Located just 10 miles west of the state's largest city, Gorham, Maine, is known as a college town, a bedroom community, and a suburb of Portland. In this unique pictorial history, discover the early days of Gorham and the residents who established the community's traditions and quality of life. With the advent of the automobile and a new accessibility to other cities, the face of Gorham was changed forever. Residents no longer traveled via the York-Cumberland canal or electric trolleys; gone were the livery stables, gunpowder mills, and tanneries of an early Gorham. View the early industries and activities of the community in this carefully crafted historical tribute, compiled and written by local historian David Arthur Fogg. Included in Gorham are the schools founded in its early days and the educators who shaped the lives of residents. John Green became Gorham's first paid teacher in 1765, receiving three pounds yearly for keeping school. The Western Maine Normal School, now known as the University of Southern Maine, is included as well.

Bar Harbor welcomes millions of visitors each year, and the popular seaside town is known for its hospitality. However, not many people know that Bar Harbor is one of the most haunted seaport towns on the coast of Maine, nestled at the edge of Acadia National Park. Ghostly sightings abound from the woods to the waters. Restless spirits like the Carpenter of Kennebec Street and the Caretaker join other souls from the Cottage Era, when people like the Astors, Vanderbilts and Rockefellers made the town their summer playground. Seafaring shadows and those lingering at the beautiful—but very haunted—Criterion Theatre create a space filled with souls both alive and dead.

Jennifer Pictou and D. Michael Fleming unveil a mysterious town where the sound of horse hooves can still be heard, along with the apparition of a much-beloved cow.