Facts about Maine: Nickname, population, history and more

Today's blog provides a look at the northeasternmost state, Maine! You may find out some things you didn't know!

ABOUT MAINE: Maine, the northeastern-most U.S. state, is known for its rocky coastline, maritime history and nature areas like the granite and spruce islands of Acadia National Park. Moose are plentiful in Baxter State Park, home to Mt. Katahdin, endpoint of the Appalachian Trail. Lighthouses such as the candy-striped beacon at West Quoddy Head, dot the coast, as do lobster shacks and sandy beaches like Ogunquit and Old Orchard.

FAST FACTS (from National Geographic) -Capital: Augusta -Population: 1.372 million (2021) -Unemployment rate: 3.7% (Nov 2022) -Nickname: The Pine Tree State - Why? in honor of its many white pine trees, which are the biggest eastern conifers (or evergreen trees that bear cones) in the United States. -Statehood: 1820; 23rd state -Capital: Augusta -Biggest City: Portland -Abbreviation: ME -State bird: black-capped chickadee -State flower: white pinecone and tassel -Attorney general: Aaron Frey (Democratic Party) -Governor: Janet Mills (Democratic Party) -Motto: Dirigo -Senators: Susan Collins (Republican Party), Angus King

 

HOW LONG WOULD IT TAKE TO DRIVE THE ENTIRETY OF MAINE ? The state is loaded with scenic drives, coastal roads, city streets, and village cut-throughs. Maine also includes the most famous road in the entire country, U.S. Route 1. The North-South highway is over 2,300 miles long and stretches from Fort Kent all the way down to Key West. In fact, it's quite a tourist attraction on the little island. I probably have a picture or two from it somewhere on my phone when I was down there a few years ago. 

HIGHWAY DRIVING - Time: 5 hours 48 minutes and miles: 362

MAINE HISTORY (from National Geographic) The first inhabitants of the land now called Maine probably arrived around 12,000 years ago. Over the course of this land’s history, Native American tribes such as the Maliseet, Passamaquoddy, Abenaki, and Penobscot lived on the land.

Viking explorer Leif Ericsson and his crew possibly sailed to the area in the year 1000. About 600 years later British and French colonists established some of Maine’s first permanent European settlements. In 1652 southwestern Maine became part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

In defiance of Britain’s high taxes, Maine’s residents burned a shipment of British tea in 1774, one year after the Boston Tea Party. In response, British forces shelled and burned Falmouth, Maine. After the Revolutionary War started in 1775, Maine’s residents participated in the first naval battle of the war.

When the American Revolution was over, Maine joined the United States as part of Massachusetts. But many Maine settlers wanted to have their own state. In 1820 Maine separated from Massachusetts, becoming the 23rd state in the union. This was done as part of the Missouri Compromise, a deal that admitted Missouri as a state as well.

Several Native American tribes still exist in Maine, including descendants of the original Passamaquoddy, Maliseet, and Penobscot tribes.