Maine State Facts - Maine History Firsts

Catch up on your state trivia with these Maine history firsts and interesting fun facts about the state.

Official Name Maine
Capital Augusta
Location
Region		 44.33064 N, 069.72971 W
Northeast
Constitution Ratified 1820
Statehood March 15, 1820
23rd state
Number of Counties 16 Counties in Maine
Largest County
(by population)		 Cumberland County
265,612
836 sq. mi.

Maine History Firsts & State Facts


Maine History Firsts & 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, New Hampshire.
  • 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.
  • Aroostook County at 6,453 square miles covers an area greater than the combined size of Connecticut and Rhode Island. 
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Maine has 3,478 miles of coastline - more than California (3,427), and over 5,000 miles of coast if you include all of the islands as well. Only Florida and Louisiana (mostly bayou) have more miles of coastline. The coastline boasts so many deep harbors it is thought all the navies in the world could anchor in them.
  • Maine is most famous for... Lobster and harvests the majority of the lobster in the United States. Approximately 40 millions pounds (nearly 90 percent) of the nation's lobster supply is caught off the coast of Maine. Maine lobsters have won international fame for their flavor and contribution to the culinary world.
  • Maine has 3,166 off-shore islands. Only about 1,200 Maine coast islands have an acre or more, 600 comprise 95% of the island acreage.
  • Maine has over 32,000 miles of Rivers and Streams.
  • The Vikings are believed to have discovered Maine 1,000 years ago.
  • The Penobscot Marine Museum in Searsport houses numerous historic buildings and marine memorabilia.
  • Number of Maine Lighthouses: 67 (Quoddy Head Light is the eastern most point in the U.S.) Numerous lighthouses dot the Main coast including Fort Point Lighthouse at Fort Point State Park in Stockton Springs and Grindle Point Lighthouse on Isleboro.
  • Acadia National Park is one of the most visited U.S. National Parks, with over 2 million annual visitors. The Park was first established and opened in 1916.
  • 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.
  • 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.
County Information and County History

Androscoggin,  Aroostook,  Cumberland,  Franklin,  Hancock,  Kennebec,  Knox,  Lincoln,  Oxford,  Penobscot,  Piscataquis,  Sagadahoc,  Somerset,  Waldo,  Washington,  York

State Facts & History Firsts
State Fun Facts - History Firsts