Maine

About Maine

History of Maine

Originally settled in 1607 by the Plymouth Company, the coastal areas of western Maine first became the Province of Maine in a 1622 land patent. Eastern Maine north of the Kennebec River was more sparsely settled and was known in the 17th century as the Territory of Sagadahock.

The province within its current boundaries became part of Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1652. After the defeat of the French in the 1740s, the territory from the Penobscot River east fell under the nominal authority of the Province of Nova Scotia, and together with present day New Brunswick formed the Nova Scotia county of Sunbury, with its court of general sessions at Campobello. The whole of the territory of Maine was confirmed as part of Massachusetts when the United States was formed.

Because it was physically separated from the rest of Massachusetts and was growing in population at a rapid rate, it became the 23rd state along with Missouri on March 15, 1820. This has become known as the Missouri Compromise because admitting both states into the union kept the balance between slave and free states. Maine’s original capital was Portland until 1832, when it was moved to the more geographically central city of Augusta.

Maine

Augusta     Bangor     Bar Harbor     Bath     Belfast     Bethel     Blue Hill     Brewer     Bridgton     Brunswick     Bucksport     Camden     Ellsworth     Freeport     Glen Clove     Houlton     Kennebunk     Kennebunkport     Kingfield     Kittery     Lewiston     Millinocket     Newry     Old Orchard Beach     Orono     Paris     Portland     Rockport     Saco     Sanford     Scarborough     South Paris     South Portland     Southport     Southwest Harbor     Trenton     Waterville     Westbrook