Radio Script #1334

Little Talks on Common Things
January 2, 1983

On this first broadcast of 1983 let us review some interesting facts about the State of Maine.

Every Maine middle-grader knows that Maine has sixteen counties, but even most adults do not know how long it took to get them. When Maine became a separate State in 1820, it already had nine counties that had been formed by the Massachusetts Legislature. They had begun with York in 1658, which then included all of Maine. In 1760, a full century later, Cumberland was set off from York, and it included all of Maine east of Cape Elizabeth. A few years later came Lincoln, at that time Maine’s largest County, for it took in all of Maine east of the Androscoggin River. In 1769 we got Hancock County and in 1789 Washington.

Few people know that Maine thus had two eastern counties before Kennebec was created in 1799. Before the dawn of the 19th century Maine thus had six counties. Then, during the next twenty years before 1820 we got three more: Oxford in 1805, Somerset in 1809, and Penobscot in 1816.

The Maine Legislature since 1820 has created seven of Maine’s 16 counties. Waldo county was set up in 1827, then Franklin and Piscataquis in 1838. Many assume that Aroostook is Maine’s newest county, but it is actually the thirteenth, coming in 1839. Later than Aroostook came Androscoggin in 1854 and Sagadahoc in 1855. Maine’s youngest county is Knox, formed in 1860. So 122 years have elapsed since Maine had exactly the same number of counties that it has today. Aroostook, Maine’s largest county, contains four million acres. Three other counties each has more than two million. They are Piscataquis, Somerset and Penobscot. Washington, Oxford, Franklin and Hancock each has more than a million acres. Kennebec is one of Maine’s smaller counties, 11th in size, with a few more than half a million acres.

Just as it took a long time to get our 16 counties, it took more than 150 years to get our 22 cities. In 1820 there was not a single city in Maine. Not until 12 years later in 1832 did Portland become our first city. Two years later it was followed by Bangor. When the Civil War broke out in 1861, Maine had eleven cities. Besides Portland and Bangor, they were, in order of incorporation, Bath, Augusta, Gardiner, Belfast, Calais, Hallowell, Rockland, Biddeford and Lewiston. Between the end of the Civil War and the beginning of the 20th century, city government came to Saco, Auburn, Ellsworth, Waterville, Brewer, Westbrook, Old Town, Eastport and South Portland. Since 1950 have come the youngest two: Presque Isle and Caribou.

As for town government, eight of Maine’s incorporated towns came early in American history, all of them in the 17th century, First was Kittery in 1652. Before 1700 had come York, Wells, Saco, Arundel, Scarborough, Falmouth and North Yarmouth.

As towns proliferated during the 18th century, four in Central Maine were all incorporated on the same day, August 26, 1771. They were Winthrop, Hallowell, Vassalboro and Winslow. At the dawn of the 19th century Maine had 51 incorporated towns.

As for Maine’s lakes and ponds, 60 are more than five miles long, and there are also 60, each of which covers more than five square miles. Well known is the fact that Moosehead is our largest lake, and second in size is Sebago. But who can name the third? It is Chesuncook. Grand Lake in far eastern Maine is longer than Chesuncook but smaller in area. Naming Maine lakes and streams has been subject to much repetition. In fact the names showed little imagination. Even though Maine has 46 Long Ponds, that is not the most common name, because we have 65 Mud Ponds. Round Ponds number 32, Beaver Ponds 34, Moose Ponds 18 and Pleasant Ponds 12. Some surprising names are duplicated. Maine has eight Goose Ponds, seven Sand Ponds and six Spectacle Ponds. Of the streams there are 25 Beaver Brooks, 23 named Alder, 12 Otter and 8 Indian.

Of Maine islands, 17 are named Green, 16 Bar, 14 Hog, 13 Sheep, 10 Black and 9 Crow. As for mountains and hills, Maine has 19 named Bald, 13 Peaked, 11 Hedgehog, 10 Bear and 8 called Porcupine. The famous ski resort is not Maine’s only Sugarloaf Mountain. There are three others. Some interesting duplicates are Mouse Island, Hay Brook, Grassy Pond, Factory Stream and Calf Island.

Maine has ten towns with the same name as one of its counties, but often the town is not located in the county of the same name. Towns in the county of the same name are Cumberland, Oxford, Hancock, Penobscot, Waldo and York.

Maine has no mountains to compare in height with Mt. Washington and other White Mountains in New Hampshire, but we do have 50 peaks rising more than 3,000 feet above the sea. Next to our highest, Katahdin, is the ski area Sugarloaf, which lifts its head just 20 feet above a mile.

Of Maine rivers the longest is the St. John, 331 miles, although only part of it is in Maine, because much flows through Canada. The Penobscot extends for 240 miles, the Kennebec for 176, the Androscoggin for 174, the Saco for 121, and the Aroostook for 102. Altogether Maine has 73 streams more than 20 miles long.

In addition to its national park, Acadia on Mount Desert, Maine has seven State Parks. The largest is Baxter, gift of Maine’s great public philanthropist governor. Lake St. George Park covers more than 5,000 acres, as does also Mt. Blue Park in Weld. The very popular Sebago Lake Park has 1,300 acres. The smallest is Salmon Falls Park in Buxton with only 80 acres.

Large areas of Maine were land grants to schools and colleges, not for the institution to be built on that land, but to yield income from sale of land or timber. Most of these grants were made by the Massachusetts Legislature before Maine became a State, and went to schools in Massachusetts. After the grant to Berwick Academy in 1793, however, schools within Maine got land. Among them were Fryeburg, Hallowell, Hebron,
Bridgton, Monmouth and Lincoln Academies. Maine’s first college, Bowdoin, got 93,000 acres, but Williams College got even more, 105,000 acres. Maine’s second college, Colby, founded as the Maine Literary and Theological Institution in 1813, got a single township of about 29,000 acres on the west side of the Penobscot above Old Town.

Maine had a lot of what was called “Wild Land”. Between 1790 and 1820 the Massachusetts Legislature had granted or sold four million acres of it. Then after 1820 Maine granted or sold six million more. Between 1820 and 1859 Maine and Massachusetts held in common about four million acres, which they disposed of by sale to individuals or corporations. In 1862 Maine bought what was left of Massachusetts’ share, paying $362,000 for two million acres.

On this program I have previously referred to the laws that set up so-called “Reserved Lots” in Maine towns. When in 1786 Massachusetts put up for sale by lottery what were termed its Eastern Lands, all located in Maine, it decreed that any town to be incorporated in those lands must set aside four public lots for schools, ministry and such other purposes as the Legislature should designate. In 1788 the designations were one lot for the first settled minister, one for support of the ministry, one for a school and the fourth for the benefit of Harvard College. In 1831 the Maine Legislature required each new town to set aside 1,000 acres for public use, and the earlier requirement for ministerial lots was changed to support of primary schools.

Well known is the fact that the 45th parallel of latitude, half way between the equator and the North Pole, passes through Maine. But through what towns does it run? East to west, from Robbinston to Rangeley, it goes through 40 Maine towns, townships and plantations.

Maine has 18 islands each of which covers more than three square miles. The largest is Mt. Desert, with Deer Isle second and Vinalhaven third. Maine has some interesting names for geographical phenomena. A bar is a sandbank in a stream. A bight is a bend in the coast forming an open bay. A chimney is a narrow opening in the face of a cliff. A hogback is a long, narrow ridge. A pitch is a sudden drop in a stream.

Year: 1983