Wiscasset, Maine

Bath Iron Works has built warships for the U.S. Navy since 1884, earning Bath the nickname 'City of Ships' and making it one of the most important shipyards in American history.

Ever wondered how people kept things cold before refrigerators? You're about to drive past a living relic of that ingenious past! This isn't just an old building; it's the Thompson Icehouse, a place where the vital…

Marvel at the lavish Italianate styling of this 1851 house, a testament to the wealth brought to Bath by shipbuilding. This magnificent home at 619 High Street was built in 1851 for a ship's captain. Its opulent…

From Knights of Pythias meetings to captivating performances, this historic opera house has been a center of community life in Boothbay Harbor for generations. Imagine Boothbay Harbor in 1894. That's when this very…

Ever wondered what life was like for a shipbuilder during Maine’s golden age of sail? Welcome to the William T. Donnell House, a stunning glimpse into the opulence of 19th-century maritime wealth. Built in 1868, this…

Here, at Fort William Henry, stood the largest and most contested fort in New England. Built in 1692 by the English, Fort William Henry was intended to protect the region from French and Native American raids. Just four…

Imagine a frontier outpost, a constant tug-of-war between empires and cultures – that's Pemaquid. This spot was a key battleground in the struggle for control of early America. Back in the late 1600s and early 1700s,…

Stephen King's first published novel almost ended up in the trash. Literally. In the early nineteen seventies, King, his wife Tabitha and their two kids lived in a trailer in Hermon, Maine. Tabitha later wrote that he…

Carrie White was built out of real memories. Before he was a full-time novelist, Stephen King worked odd jobs, including a stint as a janitor at Brunswick High School. Cleaning the girls' showers there gave him the…

In nineteen seventy three the Kings were so broke they had given up their telephone to save money. So when Doubleday said yes to Carrie, Tabitha had to call Stephen at Hampden Academy, where he taught English. He was…

In Stephen King's nineteen seventy four novel Carrie, prom night starts out like a fairy tale. For the first time, Carrie White is accepted. Kids talk to her. She starts to relax. Her date, Tommy Ross, finds himself…

In Stephen King's nineteen seventy four novel Carrie, the prom is only the start of the worst night Chamberlain ever had. Standing outside the gym, humiliated, Carrie decides to give back what she's been given. She…

Here's a strange bit of Maine trivia. There really is a Chamberlain, Maine. It's a small village in the town of Bristol, along State Route thirty-two, and its post office opened in nineteen oh five. But say Chamberlain…

Here's a surprise. Stephen King's breakout book isn't one of his favorites. Carrie came out on April fifth, nineteen seventy four, with a first printing of thirty thousand copies, and the hardcover sold modestly. The…

In Stephen King's novel Carrie, the strange things in Chamberlain, Maine start long before prom night. When Carrie White was a little girl, her fiercely religious mother was cruel to her. Afterward, stones fell out of…

In Stephen King's novel Carrie, the long night ends quietly, in a parking lot. Carrie, badly hurt after a final showdown with her mother, makes her way to a roadhouse. That's where Sue Snell finds her. Carrie believes…

Stephen King is Maine all the way through. He was born in Portland on September twenty-first, nineteen forty seven. When he was eleven, the family moved to Durham, where his mother cared for her parents. He went to high…

In Stephen King's novel Carrie, everything turns on one awful day. Carrie White is sixteen. In the girls' locker room after gym class, something happens to her body that her mother never explained, and she panics. Her…

In Stephen King's novel Carrie, one guilty conscience sets the whole night in motion. After the locker-room bullying, the gym teacher gives the girls involved a week of detention. Chris Hargensen refuses, so she's…

Imagine navigating these rocky Maine waters without a reliable light – shipwrecks were common! That's why Burnt Island Light, Maine's second-oldest surviving lighthouse, is such a crucial landmark. Built in 1821, the…

This lighthouse isn't just a pretty picture; it's been the difference between life and death for sailors navigating Maine's treacherous waters since 1829. Imagine the dark, stormy nights before this light existed.…

Pemaquid Point Lighthouse, commissioned by John Quincy Adams in 1827 and rebuilt in 1835, sits atop dramatic striped metamorphic rock formations and appears on the Maine state quarter.

This iconic lighthouse has guided ships through treacherous waters since 1827, and its image was even chosen for the Maine state quarter! You're approaching Pemaquid Point Light, perched right at the tip of Pemaquid…

Ever wondered what it took to tame the wild Kennebec River for safe passage? You're about to discover the story behind Squirrel Point Light, built in 1898 to dramatically improve navigation right here. This lighthouse,…

Ever wondered where Maine's agricultural heart truly beats? You're about to pass one of its oldest surviving landmarks. This sturdy wooden structure, the Topsham Fairgrounds Grandstand, has been a silent witness to…

Pull over! You're about to pass the home of a man who literally wrote the book on American minerals. This isn't just any old house; it's where Parker Cleaveland, a pioneering mineralogist, lived and worked for over 50…

Ever wondered what it was like to live in a town shaped by both the sea and higher learning? You're driving through it right now! This district tells the tale of Brunswick's rise. In the late 18th century, Brunswick was…

Ever wonder where a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet found his voice? Look no further than this unassuming house right here in Gardiner, Maine! This is the former home of Edwin Arlington Robinson, one of America's most…

Think of this spot as the finishing touch on a grand plan to light up the Kennebec River for good. Before 1898, navigating this stretch of water after dark was a real gamble for ships carrying everything from timber to…

Bowdoin College produced Longfellow, Hawthorne, a U.S. President, and the Civil War hero of Little Round Top, all from a small school in a Maine mill town.

Bowdoin College graduate Robert Peary claimed to reach the North Pole on April 6, 1909, launching one of the greatest controversies in exploration history.

Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote 'Uncle Tom's Cabin' while living in Brunswick, Maine, in 1851-1852, producing the novel that Abraham Lincoln allegedly said started the Civil War.

Walk through the heart of a 19th-century port and industrial center that once thrived on the Kennebec River. Imagine the bustling docks and busy streets that defined Gardiner's golden age. This district was once a…

Look out there! That remote island, Damariscove, was one of the earliest sites of European contact in North America, and it holds a dramatic story. Imagine this: as early as the late 1500s and into the 1600s, European…

Ever wondered about the brave souls who faced down Maine's treacherous waters? Right here, at the Damariscove Lifesaving Station, surfmen risked everything to pull sailors from the jaws of shipwrecks. It was a perilous…

Imagine the tension of a nation divided as you gaze upon Fort Popham. This imposing granite fortress was built to protect the Kennebec River from Confederate naval attacks during the Civil War. Construction began in…

Before Plymouth Rock, there was Popham. This quiet stretch of Maine coastline was the site of one of England's earliest attempts to colonize North America. In 1607, just months after Jamestown, the Plymouth Company…

This seemingly peaceful island hides a dark chapter in Maine's history: the story of Malaga Island. In the mid-1800s, Malaga Island became home to an interracial community, many of whom worked as fishermen and laborers.…

Pull over, history buff! Up ahead, you're about to witness Maine's only known design by the acclaimed architect Charles H. Ingraham. It's a stunning example of Shingle Style architecture, right here in Phippsburg. This…

Everyone knows about Jamestown. Almost no one knows that England planted a second colony the same year, right here at the mouth of the Kennebec River. In August 1607, about 120 men arrived under George Popham and…