Maine

Also see Specific Destinations, Travel and Location Humor.

Page Toppers

The Coast of Maine
Little Maine Town
The Maine Event
Maine is on the Move
Maine Nights
Spring in Maine
Summer in Main

Quotes

Did you ever see a place that looks like it was built just to enjoy? Well, this whole state of Maine looks that way to me. (Will Rogers)
Excellent education and an excellent environment are two hallmarks of our state. How we treat our environment is connected to so many other opportunities in Maine. (John Baldacci)
Friendship is a pretty village perched above a working lobster harbor. (Walter Cronkite)
I looked along the San Juan Islands and the coast of California, but I couldn't find the palette of green, granite, and dark blue that you can only find in Maine. (Parker Stevenson)
In this part of the world, only Maine gives winter the welcome and the worship it should have. (Tom Allen)
Maine's long and cold winters may help keep our State's population low, but our harsh climate also accounts for what is unique and valuable about our land and our people. (Tom Allen)
Portland people are steadied by the vistas that play a large part in their lives--vistas of sea and sky, of islands in the bay, of coves, of lighthouses outlined against craggy rocks. (Philip Hamburger)

Maine Symbols

Nicknames: The Pine Tree State; The Vacation State; The Border State; The Lumber State; The Polar Star State; The Switzerland of America
Slogan: Maine is on the Move
Motto: I lead
Song: State of Maine Song
Folk Dance: Square Dance
Animal: Moose
Cat: Maine Coon Cat
Bird: Black-capped Chickadee
Fish: Landlocked Salmon
Insect: Honeybee
Tree: Eastern White Pine
Flower: White Pine Cone and Tassel
Herb: Wintergreen
Fossil: Pertica quadrifaria
Mineral: Tourmaline
Berry: Wild Blueberry
Pie: Blueberry Pie (made with wild Maine blueberries)
Soft Drink: Moxie
Treat: Whoopie Pie

Facts About Maine

Capital: Augusta
Residents: Mainers
State Name Origin: possibly named after the French province of Mayne
Maine is the only state whose name is just one syllable.
Admitted to Statehood: 15 Mar 1820
Order of Admission: 23rd state
Coastline/Shoreline: 228/3,478 miles (about the same as CA)
The coastline has so many deep harbors it is thought all the navies in the world could anchor in them
Length: 320 miles
Width: 190 miles
Area: 35,385 square miles
Size Rank: 39
Number of Counties: 16
Lakes: 6,000 lakes and ponds
Streams and Rivers: 31,752 miles
Geographic Center: 18 miles N of Dover-Foxcroft in Piscataquis Co.
Mean Elevation: 600 feet
Highest Point: Katahdin Mountain, 5,268 feet
Lowest Point: Atlantic coast, sea level
Agricultural Products: low-bush blueberries (99 percent of the country's blueberries), apples, potatoes, dairy products, vegetables, poultry, eggs
Commercial Products: banking and insurance services, tourism, transportation equipment, fish and seafood (including 90 percent of the country's lobsters), wood and wood products (including 90 percent of the country's toothpicks), paper products, footwear, clothing
Average Annual Rainfall: 43.5 inches
Average Winter High Temperature: 20 degrees
Record Low Temperature: -48 degrees (19 Jan 1925 Van Buren)
Average Summer High Temperature: 70 degrees
Record High Temperature: 105 degrees (10 Jul 1911 North Bridgton
Official Language: English
More information about Maine

State of Maine Song

(words and music by Roger Vinton Snow)

Grand State of Maine, proudly we sing
To tell your glories to the land
To shout your praises till the echoes ring
Should fate unkind send us to roam
The scent of the fragrant pines,
The tang of the salty sea will call us home.

Oh, Pine Tree State
Your woods, fields and hills
Your lakes, streams and rockbound coast
Will ever fill our hearts with thrills
And tho' we seek far and wide
Our search will be in vain
To find a fairer spot on earth
Than Maine! Maine! Maine!

Items of Interest

Almost 89 percent of Maine is forested.
The snow plow, the thermostat, earmuffs, toothpicks, and power drills were all invented in Maine.
The Appalachian Trail ends in Baxter State Park.
Maine lies farther northeast than any other state.
The most eastern point of the U.S. is at Quoddy Head Light. Eastport is the most eastern city--the first place in the U.S. to receive the rays of the morning sun.
Augusta is the most eastern capital city in the United States.
In Wilton there's a cannery that imports and cans only dandelion greens.
Maine is the only state that shares its border with only one other state.
Maine's earliest inhabitants were descendants of Ice Age hunters.
In 1641 America's first chartered city was York.
Togus was the first Veteran's Hospital in the U.S. (founded in 1866)
The nation's first sawmill was established near York in 1623.
York became the nation's first incorporated city in 1642.
The first ship build by English colonists in Americas was launched on the Kennebec River in 1607.
The first naval battle of the Revolutionary War was fought off Machias in 1775.

Notable Natives

Some of these were born here, others just lived a while in the state.

F. Lee Bailey - attorney
Leon Leonwood "L.L." Bean - clothing manufacturer
Charles Browne - humorist
George W. Bush - former president (has a summer home in Kennebunkport)
Joshua L. Chamberlain (1828-1914) - received the only battlefield promotion to General during the Civil War, ME governor, president of Bowdoin College, last Civil War soldier to die of wounds incurred in the War (Brewer)
Cyrus Curtis - publisher (Portland)
Dorothea Dix (1802-1887) - humanitarian, social reformer (Hampden)
Dustin Farnum - actor (Hampton Beach)
John Ford - film director (Cape Elizabeth)
Melville Weston Fuller - U.S. chief justice (Augusta)
Hannibal Hamlin - U.S. vice president
Marsden Hartley - painter (Lewiston)
Sarah Orne Jewett - author (South Berwick)
David E. Kelley - television producer, writer
Stephen King - author (lives in Bangor)
William King - first governor of ME
Linda Lavin - actress (Portland)
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) - poet, scholar (Portland)
Hiram Stevens Maxim - inventor (Sangerville)
Edna St. Vincent Millay - poet (Rockland)
Marston Morse - mathematician (Waterville)
Frank Munsey - publisher (Mercer)
Edmund S. Muskie - first Democratic U.S. senator from ME, two-term governor of ME (Rumford)
Judd Nelson - actor
Lillian Nordica - opera singer
John Knowles Paine - composer
Sir William Phips - colony governor
Walter Piston - composer(Rockland)
George Palmer Putnam - publisher (Brunswick)
Thomas Brackett Reed - public official
Kenneth Lewis Roberts - historical author (Kennebunk)
Edwin Arlington Robinson - poet (Head Tide)
Joan Benoit Samuelson - athlete
Margaret Chase Smith - senator who spoke out against McCarthism, first female presidential candidate (Skowhegan)
Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896) - abolitionist, humanitarian, author of Uncle Tom's Cabin
Liv Tyler - actress
John Hay Whitney - publisher (Ellsworth)
Nathaniel Parker Willis - poet
Andrew Wyeth - artist

The State Flag
The flag background is the same blue as the US flag. It has yellow fringe. In the center is the state coat of arms. The scene on the shield has a moose, a pine tree, land and sea. Beside the shield are a seaman and a farmer (representing the work of the original settlers). Above the shield is the North star and the state motto--"Dirigo" (I lead). Below the shield is the state name.

You know you are from Maine if...

A deer throws itself under your wheels.
A girls basketball game fill's the school gym.
Camping is allowed it's only in steel sided campers.
Dressing up means wearing a tie with your flannel shirt.
Drive by shootings only occur on the evening news.
Every other vehicle is a 4X4.
In March your vehicle is 43 percent mud.
More than 1/2 the meat in your freezer is moose.
People drive a hundred miles to shop in a real mall.
The bumper jack in your pickup will lift a house.
The term "chill factor" is part of your daily vocabulary.
You can pay for six Big Macs with a personal check.
You can see the stars at night.
You don't use your blinker because everyone already knows where you're going.
You enjoy a hot chocolate more than you do a margarita.
You got a set of new snow tires for Valentines day.
You leave your keys in your car and the next morning your car is still there.
You only paid $5 to cut down your own Douglas fir Christmas tree.
You own more than four pair of gloves.
You pawned a snow blower instead of a set of golf clubs.
You put the car heater on your list of best friends.
You see numerous chauffeur-driven dogs.
You think you're in a traffic jam when you're in the second car at the light.
Your central heating system is fueled by large logs.
Your long john's don't come off until mid-May
You're on the shoulder of the highway with your hood up and somebody stops to help you.
When the sun goes down, you start looking for your coat.

Songs about Maine

Back to Maine - Chuck Kruger (1978)
Coast of Maine, The - Dick Curless (1950)
Farewell to Maine - Paul Sullivan (1987)
From Maine to Mexico - Leon Russell (1978)
Little Maine Town - Brian Dunn (2008)
Maine - Coleman Hawkins (1957)
Maine Nights - Cheryl B (2008)
Spring in Maine - Steve Allen (1960)
Summer in Main - Cheryl B (2008)

Songs about New England

Homesick for New England - Roger Williams (1960)
Weekend in New England - Barry Manilow (1976)
When Fall Comes to New England - Cheryl Wheeler (1992)
Whoever's in New England - Reba McEntire (1986)