Maine
Maine names 4 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below. 1 of them is described by more than one encyclopedia.
Maine man, the most northeasterly state of the American Union
Described by 2 of the 6 encyclopedias.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
man, the most northeasterly state of the American Union. The name was used by writers to distinguish the mainland from the islands along the coast. The area, including fresh waters, is 33,040 square miles. It comprises nearly one-half of New England . The irregularity of the northern boundary is due to the Ashburton Treaty negotiated by Daniel Webster in 1842. Maine neighbors with New Brunswick and Quebec. The only state of the Union with which it borders is New Hampshire . The Atlantic coast is 225 miles in length, measured from headland to headland; but the numerous estuaries and indentations of the sea have a tide water line of 2,500 miles in length and give rise to the poetical expression "Hundred-harbored Maine." CHARACTERISTICS. Maine is preeminently a granite state. Enormous masses of granite heave their bald heads up into the air. The most noteworthy is Mount Katahdin, whose summit is 5,385 feet above sea level. The state is remarkable for a large number of lakes. Their aggregate surface is equivalent to about one-thirteenth of the area of the state. The largest is Moosehead, thirty-five miles long by ten wide. These lakes are crystal clear and are stocked with fish. Although the state comes within fifty miles of the St. Lawrence River, the drainage is entirely into the Atlantic Ocean. The largest rivers are the Kennebec and the Penobscot. The northern portion of the state is drained by the headwaters of the St. John. The various rivers furnish an immense water power, estimated in the aggregate at 3,000,000 horse power , a large part of which is not utilized. Granite and limestone are quarried for building purposes. Slate of excellent quality is found in the central part of the state. It is used for roofing, blackboards, table tops, mantels, and the like. There are beds of porcelain clay and of sand suitable for glass. There are small deposits of iron, zinc, and tin, with traces of silver and gold. ANIMALS. The interior of the state is too rocky for agricultural purposes, and is still the home of the lumberman, the hunter, and the trapper. Moose, caribou, and deer are still found in the forests. Many fur-bearing animals, as the bear, catamount, wolverine, wildcat, wolf, beaver, raccoon, marten, and sable, are taken by the trapper. Fur dealers claim to get 70,000 fox skins from Maine yearly. Porcupines, woodchucks, rabbits, and squirrels are numerous. The song birds of New England, the owls, hawks, kingfishers, gulls, and eagles find nesting places around the lakes or in the vast forests. Among game birds are the woodcock, partridge, pigeon, quail, and various kinds of waterfowl. The shore fisheries of the clam, mussel, and the lobster employ many fishermen. Fresh water and sea fish of all sorts abound. About 17,000 persons are engaged in this industry. FORESTS. The forests of Maine were noted at an early date as affording the best of ship timber. Giant pines were brought down to the coast and taken to England for masts. Shipbuilding became an important industry. The forests of white pine, for which the state was noted, gave it the name of the "Pine Tree State." Lumbering was reduced to a science first in Maine. The details of cutting, hauling, driving, and sawing were worked out in Maine and have spread westward through the evergreen belt of the northern United States . The methods now followed on the Pacific coast had their origin in Maine. The lumber industry of the state is not at an end, but it has undergone change. The material now cut is almost entirely second growth. White birch is cut largely to supply the thread factories of the United States and Great Britain with spools. Pulp and paper mills have sprung up at various points. American makers of toothpicks depend on Maine for birch wood. In 1904 225,000,000 feet of logs were cut along the Penobscot. Half of it was spruce for the paper mills. AGRICULTURE. The agricultural areas of the state are confined chiefly to the river valleys. The principal crops, taken in order of importance, are hay, potatoes, oats, buckwheat, corn, barley, wheat, and rye. Next in importance come dairying and the raising of horses. Maine is an excellent orchard state. Apples are the chief fruit. Plums, cherries, and pears do well. Peaches are raised in the southwest corner. Strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries thrive. Large tracts are devoted to the blueberry industry. The valley of the Aroostook is celebrated for potatoes. HISTORICAL. The first settlement in Maine was made by George Popham in 1607, but it did not prove permanent. In 1613 the Jesuits established a mission on Mount Desert Island, but this was broken up. English fishermen settled here and there along the coast as early as 1614, Maine was a part of the territory claimed under the charter of Massachusetts. An earlier grant to Sir Ferdinando Gorges gave rise, however, to a dispute of long standing. In 1677 Massachusetts bought out the heirs of Gorges. At the close of the Revolutionary War Massachusetts retained possession, calling it the district of Maine. Opinion was divided for a long time. Some of the inhabitants took pride in being considered a part of the old Bay State; others desired separate statehood. March 15, 1820, Maine was admitted to the Union as a separate state. In 1851 a state prohibitory law was enacted. A clause in the state constitution adopted in 1884 forbids the manufacture or sale of intoxicating liquors. EDUCATION. The public school system is well supported. A law passed in 1821 compels the levying of a school tax of not less than forty cents per person. Two hundred towns and townships report free high schools. There are five public normal schools. There are several colleges in the state, including Bowdoin at Brunswick, Bates at Lewiston, and Colby at Waterville. The University of Maine is situated at Orono. The percentage of illiteracy, excluding persons of foreign birth, is very small. The population in 1905 was 694,-466. The Indians who formerly inhabited the state are now few in number. They are gathered on small reservations, where an effort is made to educate and civilize them. They farm in a small way, hunt, fish, trap, and act as guides. STATISTICS. The following statistics are the latest to be had from trustworthy sources: Land area, square miles ..... 29,895 Population (1906) ..... 714,494 Portland ..... 57,675 Lewiston ..... 25,615 Bangor ..... 23,500 Biddeford ..... 17,165 Auburn ..... 13,971 Augusta ..... 12,379 Bath ..... 11,527 Waterville ..... 10,899 Number counties ..... 16 Members of state senate ..... 31 Representatives ..... 151 Salary of governor ..... $3,000 U. S. representatives ..... 4 Presidential electors ..... 6 Assessed valuation of property ..... $354,000,000 Bonded indebtedness (1908) ..... $713,000 Annual state revenue ..... $3,300,000 Acres improved land ..... 2,400,000 Agricultural Products- Corn, bushels ..... 567,000 Wheat, bushels ..... 120,000 Oats, bushels ..... 4,000,000 Potatoes, bushels (1908) ..... 26,000,000 Buckwheat, bushels ..... 690,000 Butter, pounds ..... 20,000,000 Eggs, dozens ..... 13,000,000 Wool, pounds ..... 1,200,000 Exports (Portland) ..... $12,000,000 Manufacturing establishments ..... 3,145 Capital invested ..... $144,000,000 Operatives ..... 75,000,000 Raw material ..... $80,000,000 Output of manufactures ..... $144,000,000 Lumber products ..... $20,000,000 Gallons of mineral water ..... 1,200,000 Output of textiles ..... $32,000,000 Output of boots and shoes ..... $12,000,000 Quarry products ..... $2,700,000 Domestic Animals- Horses ..... 116,000 Mules ..... 353 Milk cows ..... 183,000 Other cattle ..... 151,000 Sheep ..... 267,000 Swine ..... 67,000 Goats ..... 279 Miles of railway ..... 2,144 Teachers in public schools ..... 6,755 Pupils enrolled ..... 132,000 Percentage of male teachers ..... 10.2 Average monthly salary of men teachers ..... $39.98 Average salary of women teachers ..... $29.56 Average annual expenditure per pupil ..... $22.67
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a State of the North Atlantic Division of the North American Union; bounded by Quebec, New Brunswick, the Atlantic Ocean, Bay of Fundy, and New Hampshire; admitted to the Union, March 15, 1820; counties, 16; area, 29,395 square miles; pop. (1890) 661,086; (1900) 694,466; (1910) 742,- 371; (1920) 768,014; capital, Augusta. Topography. The surface of the State is as a rule hilly and mountainous, excepting along the coast, where it is flat and sometimes marshy. The main mountain system crosses the State in a N. E. direction from the White Mountains, past Mount Katahdin and Mount Abraham to Mars Hill near St. John river. The highest elevation is Mount Katahdin, in the center of the State, 5,383 feet. The coast line is very irregular, and, with its numerous indentations, presents a length of over 2,000 miles. The sea coast E. of the Kennebec rises abruptly to a height of from 1,000 to 2,800 feet, while the W. portion consists of swamps and sand flats, extending 10 to 20 miles inland. The rivers rise in the mountains at the N. of the State and in Canada and New Hampshire, and flow rapidly and with numerous falls and rapids to the sea, affording excellent water power. The principal ones are the St. John, forming most of the Canadian boundary; the Penobscot, Kennebec and Androscoggin, rising in the N. and central portions of the State, and flowing into the Atlantic. Maine has over 1,500 lakes. Moosehead Lake, the largest, is 35 miles long, 10 miles wide, and 1,023 feet above sea-level. Rangeley and Richardson Lakes, in the E., have an altitude of 1,500 feet. Geology. The rocks of Maine are largely of igneous and palæozoic origin. The Upper Silurian limestones appear in the N. W., and fossiliferous limestone and argillaceous schists of the Lower Silurian are found in the central portion of the State. The old red sandstone appears in the N., and strata of post- Tertiary, Miocene, and Pliocene formations exist in the S. E. Much of the seacoast formations are of recent origin. Mineralogy. The State abounds in minerals of many kinds, some of them rare, but the chief production is in stone products, especially of granite. The is valued annual production of granite at nearly $2,000,000. Clay products to the value of $1,000,000 are produced. The total mineral production is valued at about $5,000,000 per year. Soil. The State presents a great variety of soil. That on the sea-coast and mountain lands is sterile and does not repay cultivation. The soil in the river valleys between the Penobscot and Kennebec is of alluvial formation_and exceedingly valuable for cereals. The great valley of the Aroostook contains the most fertile lands E. of the Mississippi valley, producing excellent wheat, potatoes, barley, rye and other grains in great abundance. The upland is the best for grazing and the clay loam for hay. The are of great value. forests of the State In the N. the trees are principally pine, fir, spruce, hemlock, and other evergreens, with cedars in the N. E. In the central portion of the State the white and red oak, maple, beech, birch, and ash are abundant, while further S. the poplar, elm, basswood, dogwood, sassafras, juniper, butterwood, butternut, chestnut, alder, and willow abound. Agriculture. Maine has agricultural interests of great importance. The N. E. part, embracing Aroostook county, produces the largest and best potato crops in the world. The potatoes are used largely for seed in other parts of the United States and foreign countries. Garden fruits and vegetables are also produced in large quantities. The principal farm crops in 1919, with their value, was as follows: Corn, 1,100,000 bushels, valued at $2,145,000; oats, 5,- 746,000 bushels, valued at $5,286,000; wheat, 228,000 bushels, valued at $502,- 000; hay, 1,146,000 tons, valued at $27,- 227,000; potatoes, 24,480,000 bushels, valued at $34,272,000. The live stock statistics are as follows: Horses, about 115,000, valued at $17,000,000; milch cows, about 160,000, valued at about $9,000,000; other cattle, about 100,000, valued at about $2,600, 000; sheep, about 165,000, valued at about $800,000; swine, about 100,000, valued at about $1,500,000. About 1,000,- 000 pounds of wool are produced annually in the State. Maine ranks second among the New England States in the value of its fisheries. Manufactures.- Maine is an important manufacturing State. It has excellent water power, and this is used to develop power for many large textile, paper, and other mills. In 1914 there were 5,378 manufacturing establishments, employing 82,140 wage earners. The capital invested was $233,844,000; the amount paid in wages, $43,254,000; the value of the materials used was $117,655,000; and the value of the completed products was $200,450,000. Banking. On Oct. 31, 1919, there were 64 National banks in operation, having $6,915,000 in capital; $5,846,506 in outstanding circulation and $5,355,750 in United States bonds. There were also 44 mutual and stock savings banks with $97,253,000 in deposits; and 53 trust and loan associations, with $4,599,000 capital. The exchanges at the United States clearing house at Portland during the year ending Sept. 30, 1919, aggregated $129,199,000. Education. The school population of the State in 1919 was 228,489. The average daily attendance in elementary schools was 97,638; in secondary schools, 15,247. The total school enrollment in elementary schools was 131,313; in secondary schools, 17,956. There were 4,848 teachers in the elementary schools and 849 in the secondary schools. The average yearly salary in the elementary schools was $462.46, and in the secondary schools, $857.73. The total expenditure in 1919 for elementary schools was $3,- 892,279, and for secondary schools $1,- 257,114. The State is well supplied with public high schools and private schools. There are four colleges: Bowdoin College at Brunswick, Bates College at Lewiston, University of Maine at Orono, and Colby College at Waterville. Churches. The strongest denominations in the State are the Roman Catho- Episcopal, Regular Baptist, Freewill Baptist, lic, Congregational, Methodist vent Christians, Protestant Episcopal, and Universalist. Finance. The total expenditures for the year ending Jan. 1, 1919, amounted to $8,199,235, and the receipts to $8,323,- 521. There was a balance on hand at that date of $1,986,494. The trust funds of the State amount to about $1,600,000. Transportation. -The total railway mileage in the State in 1919 was 2,304 miles. The Maine Central and the Bangor and Aroostook railroads have the longest mileage. The former is 995 miles long and the latter 630 miles. The Canadian Pacific railroad has 177 miles of track within the State, and the Boston and Maine about 140 miles. Charities and Corrections. There are State hospitals at Augusta and Bangor, the Maine School for Feeble-minded, and the Bath Military and Naval Asylum, located at Bath. In addition to these are the Maine Industrial School for Girls at Hallowell, the State School for Boys at South Portland, and the Maine State Prison at Thomaston. State Government. - The governor is elected for a term of two years and receives a salary of $5,000 per annum. Legislative sessions are held biennially, beginning on the first Wednesday in January, and have no time limit. The
Maine UNIVERSITY OF Legislature has 31 members in the Senate and 151 in the House
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
UNIVERSITY OF Legislature has 31 members in the Senate and 151 in the House. There are four representatives in Congress. The State government in 1920 was Republican. History. The first attempt to settle on the territory was made by the French under De Monts, who, having received a patent from the French king, planted a large large colony on Neutral Island in the St. Croix river. In 1613, French Jesuits established a mission on Mount Desert Island, which was expelled by the English the next year. In 1616, Sir Ferdinando Gorges, a leading promoter of colonization in Maine, sent his agent, Richard Vines, with a small company to Saco to remain during the winter, explore the country, and test the climate. Capt. John Smith visited and explored the coast in 1614, examining it as far S. as Cape Cod. In 1620 the King of Great Britain made a division of the grand charter of 1606, and granted to the Plymouth Company in England the whole country lying between lat. 40° and 48° N., and to the Virginia Company the S. portion of the original patent. From 1630 to 1632 settlements were commenced in Saco, Biddeford, Scarboro, Cape Elizabeth, and Portland, all of which continued to prosper till the Indian War of 1625, when they were all overthrown. The territory between the Kennebec and Penobscot rivers was granted by Charles II., in 1664, to his brother, the Duke of York, who had the year before established a seat of gov ernment there at the city of Pemaquid, where a strong fort was built. This country was surrendered to Massachusetts in 1686, which took possession, exercised government over it as far E. as Penobscot, which, with all the territory E. to the St. Croix and Nova Scotia, was confirmed to her by the provisional charter of 1691. She afterward relinquished Nova Scotia, but all the remainder was secured to her by the treaty of 1783, which established the independence of the United States, and she retained possession and jurisdiction till the separation of 1820 took place, which constituted Maine a separate and independent member of the Federal Union.
Maine UNIVERSITY OF, a coeducational non-sectarian institution in Orono
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
UNIVERSITY OF, a coeducational non-sectarian institution in Orono, Me.; founded in 1865; reported at the close of 1919: Professors and instructors, 160; students, 1,213; volumes in library, 66,000; funds from the State amounted to $199,986; from the Federal Government, $99,909; from trust funds, $4,000; president, Robert Judson Aley, Sc. D.
Maine an old province of France
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
an old province of France, having Normandy on the N., Brittany on the W., and Anjou on the S., corresponding to the modern department of Sarthe and Mayenne; its chief town was Le Mans.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Aiton's 1910 account still describes a working frontier of lumbermen, trappers and hunters, with moose, caribou, wolverine and wolf taken in the interior; the caribou vanished from Maine early in the twentieth century and reintroduction attempts failed, while wolves are gone and the state's fur trade is a fraction of its old self. Two of the landmarks named here are now protected in ways the writer could not have foreseen: Mount Desert Island, site of the 1613 Jesuit mission, became Acadia National Park, and Mount Katahdin was given to the state by Governor Percival Baxter to form Baxter State Park, its summit now surveyed at about 5,267 feet rather than the 5,385 quoted. The constitutional ban on manufacture and sale of liquor, in force when Aiton's wrote and the earliest such law in the nation (1851), was abandoned in the 1930s with national repeal. Lumber gave way largely to pulp and paper, as the entry anticipated, and that industry has itself contracted sharply since 2000, while lobster has become by far the most valuable fishery, and Maine's population, now roughly 1.4 million, has the oldest median age of any state.
Written for this edition, 2026.