Maine State Facts

Catch up on your trivia with these Maine history firsts and fun facts.

Northeast

Maine History Firsts - Maine State Facts

• 1607 - 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.
• 1607 - First ship build by English colonists in Americas was launched on the Kennebec River.
• 1623 - First sawmill in the nation was established near York. 
• 1641 - First chartered city in America was York.
• 1642 - First incorporated city in the nation's .
• 1775 - First naval battle of the Revolutionary War was fought off Machias.
• 1807 - 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".
• 1814 - 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.
• 1820 - Maine was admitted to the Union as the 23rd state on March 15, 1820.
• 1832 - Portland was first temporarily selected as the state capital. In 1832 the capital was moved to the centrally located site of Augusta.
• 1840 - One of Maine's most important industries, cotton and woolen textiles, emerged in the 1840s in towns along the Androscoggin and Kennebec rivers.
• 1844 - 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.
• 1866 - Founded in 1866, Togus became the first Veteran’s Hospital in the U.S.

Maine History Firsts - Maine State Facts

• 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.
• American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow spent much of his childhood in Portland.
• Maine's coastal waters attract a steadily increasing number of saltwater sports fishing enthusiasts.
• More than nine-tenths of Maine's total land area is forested, the highest percentage of forest coverage of any state.
• In Wilton there is a cannery that imports and cans only dandelion greens
• Maine is the only state in the United States whose name has one syllable.
• Maine is the only state that shares its border with only one other state.
• Bath is known as the City of Ships.
• 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.
• 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
• More wooden toothpicks are produced in Maine that in any other state.
• Eastport is the most eastern city in the United States, receiving the first rays of the morning.
• Freeport is home to the L.L. Bean Company.
• Maine is the only state in the United States whose name has one syllable.
• Almost 40 million pounds, 90%, of the nation’s lobster supply is caught off the coast of Maine. Maine also produces 99% of all the blueberries in the country
• Aroostook County at 6,453 square miles covers an area greater than the combined size of Connecticut and Rhode Island.
• Approximately 40 millions pounds (nearly 90 percent) of the nation's lobster supply is caught off the coast of Maine.
• Maine produces 99% of all the blueberries in the country making it the single largest producer of blueberries in the United States.
• Maine’s earliest inhabitants were descendants of Ice Age hunters.
• Acadia National Park is the second most visited national park in the United States.
• West Quoddy Head is the most easterly point in the United States.
• Augusta is the most eastern capital city in the United States.
• Mount Katahdin is the state's highest point at 5,268 feet above sea level.
• Portland is the birthplace of poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
• 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.
• Author Steven King is a resident of Bangor.
• Former President George Bush has a summer home in Kennebunkport.
• The skating scene in the movie "The Preacher's Wife" was filmed in Deering Oaks Park in Portland.
• The chickadee is the official state bird.
• Maine lies farther northeast than any other state.
• Maine's nickname as the Pine Tree State comes from the pines that once dotted the state's forests.
• 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.
• The state flower is the white pine cone and tassel.
• The coastline boasts so many deep harbors it is thought all the navies in the world could anchor in them.
• Maine lobsters have won international fame for their flavor and contribution to the culinary world.
• The Penobscot Marine Museum in Searsport houses numerous historic buildings and marine memorabilia.
• Numerous lighthouses dot the Main coast including Fort Point Lighthouse at Fort Point State Park in Stockton Springs and Grindle Point Lighthouse on Isleboro.
• The Sailor's Memorial Museum in Isleboro features displays depicting life at sea.
• 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.
• Maine's blueberry crop is the largest in the nation.
• The honeybee is the official state insect.
• Maine contains 542,629 acres of state and national parks.
• Edmund S. Muskie became the first Democratic United States senator ever elected by popular vote in Maine. He was also elected governor for two terms. He was born in Rumford.
• Maine's government entities are comprised of 16 counties with 22 cities, 435 towns, 33 plantations, 424 unorganized townships and 3 Indian reservation.