Maine

Mt. Katahdin sits at the terminus of the Appalachian Trail, a sublimely gratifying sight for weary hikers. Our Maine history books offer enterprising readers a similar satisfaction. The defiant crags of Midcoast Maine yield to the flowering wildwoods of Acadia National Park. The vile deeds of North Woods killer James Hicks are countered with the unflagging nobility of Mainer nurses and firefighters. From the confines of Portsmouth Naval Prison to the remotest logging trails of the Pine Tree State, discover history that could only be made in Maine. [View all Maine books]

4 products

Sort

Calais

Paperback

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

Freeport through the Years

Paperback

$23.99 $17.99 Save 25%

Sepia toned vintage steam locomotive on display with a Portland Company plaque.

The Portland Company

Paperback

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

The Maine Lobster Industry

Paperback

$21.99 $16.49 Save 25%

Calais

9781467105231

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

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.

Freeport through the Years

9781467127349

$23.99 $17.99 Save 25%

Like other towns in coastal Maine, Freeport was settled in the 18th century by residents of the southern part of the state–Massachusetts, which it was a part of until 1820. The Harraseeket River provided mill power and transportation, enabling growth and separation from North Yarmouth in 1789. The arrival of the railroad in 1849 led to a late-century economic boom fueled by entrepreneur E.B. Mallet. Piggybacking on the established industrial infrastructure, L.L. Bean and other retailers prospered in the next century, forming the core of activity at the heart of Freeport Village today. South Freeport was sustained by shipbuilding that ebbed and flowed through the 20th century, and largely because of that industry, it remains a historic village to this day. Because of Freeport's rapid growth and a number of downtown fires, historic buildings have been lost, moved, or altered over time, though the historical society has advocated for preservation and maintains a broad collection of photographs that visually record these changes.

The Portland Company

9780738511405

$24.99 $18.74 Save 25%

The Portland Company commenced operations in 1846 in Portland, Maine, under the leadership of John A. Poor. It was founded primarily to manufacture railroad locomotives for the Atlantic & St. Lawrence Railroad. The company played a major role in the economy and development of the state of Maine and continued in business until 1982, producing a wide range of cast-metal and fabricated products.

The Portland Company manufactured a total of six hundred thirty steam locomotives, starting in 1848, along with hundreds of railroad cars, boilers, marine engines, ships, steam fire engines, elevators, and paper and textile mill equipment. Locomotives, ships, and cannons were built for the Civil War, and munitions were manufactured for both world wars. Later, the Portland Company produced snowplows, nuclear plant components, and common castings from manhole covers to streetlights. In the early 1900s, the company sold five makes of new automobiles and trucks. In this rich photographic history, the Portland Company and the city of Portland, with its great waterfront and industrial heritage, come to life.

The Maine Lobster Industry

9781626194106

$21.99 $16.49 Save 25%

Since the first recorded lobster catch in 1605, the Maine lobster fishery has grown into a multibillion-dollar force. Cathy Billings of the University of Maine Lobster Institute embarks on a journey from trap to plate, introducing readers to lobstermen, boat builders, bait dealers, marine suppliers and the expansive industry that revolves around the fishery. Maine lobster families extend generations back with an eye to their legacies. Strides in sustainability have been a hallmark of the Maine fishery throughout the centuries, from the time lobstermen themselves introduced conservation measures in the mid-1800s. Today, Maine's lobster fishery is a model of a co-managed, sustainable fishery. The people who work Maine's lobster fishery have developed a coastal economy with an international influence and deep history.