Maine ( ) is a state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and northwest, and shares a maritime border with Nova Scotia. Maine is the largest state in New England by total area, almost as large as the combined area of the remaining five states. Of the 50 U.S. states, it is the 12th-smallest by area, the 9th-least populous, the 13th-least densely populated, and the most rural. Maine's capital is Augusta, and its most populous city is Portland, with a total population of 68,408, as of the 2020 census.
The territory of Maine has been inhabited by Indigenous populations for about 12,000 years, after the glaciers retreated during the last ice age. At the time of European arrival, several Algonquian-speaking nations governed the area and these nations are now known as the Wabanaki Confederacy. The first European settlement in the area was by the French in 1604 on Saint Croix Island, founded by Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Mons. The first English settlement was the short-lived Popham Colony, established by the Plymouth Company in 1607. A number of English settlements were established along the coast of Maine in the 1620s, although the rugged climate and conflict with the local Indigenous people caused many to fail. As Maine entered the 18th century, only a half dozen European settlements had survived. Loyalist and Patriot forces contended for Maine's territory during the American Revolution. During the War of 1812, the largely undefended eastern region of Maine was occupied by British forces with the goal of annexing it to Canada via the Colony of New Ireland, but returned to the United States following failed British offensives on the northern border, mid-Atlantic and south which produced a peace treaty that restored the pre-war boundaries. Maine was part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts until 1820 when it voted to secede from Massachusetts to become a separate state. On March 15, 1820, under the Missouri Compromise, Maine was admitted to the Union as the 23rd state.
Today, Maine is known for its jagged, rocky Atlantic Ocean and bay-shore coastlines, mountains, heavily interior, and its cuisine, particularly wild lowbush blueberries and seafood such as American lobster and . Coastal and Down East Maine have emerged as important centers for the creative economy, especially in the vicinity of Portland, which has also brought gentrification to the city and its metropolitan area.
European contact with what is now called Maine may have started around 1000 CE when Vikings are believed to have interacted with the native Penobscot in present-day Hancock County, most likely through trade. If confirmed, this would make Maine the site of the earliest European discovery in the entire US. About 200 years earlier, from the settlements in Iceland and Greenland, the Norse first identified America and attempted to settle areas such as Newfoundland, but failed to establish a permanent settlement. Archeological evidence suggests that Vikings in Greenland returned to North America for several Century after the initial discovery to trade and collect timber, with the most relevant evidence being the Maine penny, an 11th-century Norwegian coin found at a Native American dig site in 1954.
The first European confirmed settlement in modern-day Maine was in 1604 on Saint Croix Island, led by French explorer Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Mons. His party included Samuel de Champlain, noted as an explorer. The French named the entire area Acadia, including the portion that later became the state of Maine. (It is possible that they named the region Maine after the French province; however, the origin of the name is uncertain.) The Plymouth Company established the first English settlement in Maine at the Popham Colony in 1607, the same year as the settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. The Popham colonists returned to Britain after 14 months. MPBN, "Rolling Back the Frontier" , The Story of Maine; accessed January 3, 2011
The French established two Jesuit missions: one on Penobscot Bay in 1609, and the other on Mount Desert Island in 1613. The same year, Claude de La Tour established Castine. In 1625, Charles de Saint-Étienne de la Tour erected Fort Pentagouet to protect Castine. The coastal areas of eastern Maine first became the Province of Maine in a 1622 land patent. The part of western Maine north of the Kennebec River was more sparsely settled and was known in the 17th century as the Territory of Sagadahock. A second settlement was attempted in 1623 by English explorer and naval Captain Christopher Levett at a place called York, where he had been granted by King Charles I of England. It also failed.
The 1622 patent of the Province of Maine was split at the Piscataqua River into the Province of New Hampshire to the south and New Somersetshire to the north. A disputed 1630 patent split off the area around present-day Saco as Lygonia. Justifying its actions with a 1652 geographic survey that showed an overlapping patent, the Massachusetts Bay Colony had seized New Somersetshire and Lygonia by force by 1658. The Territory of Sagadahock between the Kennebec River and St. Croix River notionally became Cornwall County, Province of New York under a 1664 grant from Charles II of England to his brother James, at the time the Duke of York. Some of this land was claimed by New France as part of Acadia. All of the English settlements in the Massachusetts Bay Colony and the Province of New York became part of the Dominion of New England in 1686. All of present-day Maine was unified as York County, Massachusetts under a 1691 royal patent for the Province of Massachusetts Bay.
Central Maine was formerly inhabited by the Androscoggin tribe of the Abenaki, also known as Arosaguntacook. They were driven out of the area in 1690 during King William's War. They were relocated to St. Francis, Canada, which was destroyed by Rogers' Rangers in 1759, and is now Odanak. The other Abenaki tribes suffered several severe defeats, particularly during Dummer's War, with the capture of Norridgewock in 1724 and the defeat of the Pequawket in 1725, which significantly reduced their numbers. They finally withdrew to Canada, where they were settled at Bécancour and Sillery, and later at St. Francis, along with other refugee tribes from the south.Bruce G. Trigger (ed.): Handbook of North American Indians. Vol. 15. Northeast. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C. 1978
Maine was much fought over by the French, English, and allied natives during the 17th and 18th centuries. These natives conducted raids against settlers and each other, taking captives for ransom or, in some cases, kidnapped for adoption by Native American tribes. A notable example was the early 1692 Abenaki raid on York, where about 100 English settlers were killed and another estimated 80 taken hostage." York commemorates Candlemas Raid ". The Portsmouth Herald. February 1, 2001. The Abenaki took captives taken during raids of Massachusetts in Queen Anne's War of the early 1700s to Kahnewake, a Catholic Mohawk nation village near Montreal, where some were adopted and others ransomed.John Demos, The Unredeemed Captive: A Family Story from Early America, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1994, pp. 186 and 224 Darren Bonaparte, "The History of Akwesasne" , The Wampum Chronicles, accessed February 1, 2010
After the British defeated the French in Acadia in the 1740s, the territory from the Penobscot River east fell under the nominal authority of the Nova Scotia, and together with present-day New Brunswick formed the Nova Scotia county of Sunbury, with its court of general sessions at Campobello. American and British forces contended for Maine's territory during the American Revolution and the War of 1812, with the British occupying eastern Maine in both conflicts via the Colony of New Ireland.Woodard, Colin. The Lobster Coast . New York. Viking/Penguin, , 2004, pp. 139–140, 150–151 The territory of Maine was confirmed as part of Massachusetts when the United States was formed following the Treaty of Paris ending the revolution, although the final border with British North America was not established until the Webster–Ashburton Treaty of 1842.
Maine was physically separate from the rest of Massachusetts. Longstanding disagreements over land speculation and settlements led to Maine residents and their allies in Massachusetts proper forcing an 1807 vote in the Massachusetts Assembly on permitting Maine to secede; the vote failed. Secessionist sentiment in Maine was stoked during the War of 1812 when Massachusetts pro-British merchants opposed the war and refused to defend Maine from British invaders. In 1819, Massachusetts agreed to permit secession, sanctioned by voters of the rapidly growing region the following year.
Maine's original state capital was Portland, Maine's largest city, until it was moved to the more central Augusta in 1832. The principal office of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court remains in Portland.
The 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment, under the command of Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, prevented the Union Army from being flanked at Little Round Top by the Confederate Army during the Battle of Gettysburg.
Four U.S. Navy ships have been named USS Maine, most famously the armored cruiser , whose sinking by an explosion on February 15, 1898, precipitated the Spanish–American War.
Maine is the easternmost state in the Contiguous United States both in its extreme points and its geographic center. The town of Lubec is the easternmost organized settlement in the United States. Its Quoddy Head Lighthouse is also the closest place in the United States to Africa and Europe. Estcourt Station is Maine's northernmost point, as well as the northernmost point in New England. (For more information see extreme points of the United States)
Maine's Moosehead Lake is the largest lake wholly in New England, since Lake Champlain is located between Vermont, New York, and Quebec. A number of other Maine lakes, such as South Twin Lake, are described by Thoreau in The Maine Woods (1864). Mount Katahdin is the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail, which extends southerly to Springer Mountain, Georgia, and the southern terminus of the new International Appalachian Trail which, when complete, will run to Belle Isle, Newfoundland and Labrador.
Machias Seal Island and North Rock, off the state's Downeast coast, are claimed by both Canada and the Maine town of Cutler, and are within one of four areas between the two countries whose sovereignty is still in dispute, but it is the only one of the disputed areas containing land. Also in this easternmost area in the Bay of Fundy is the Old Sow, the largest Tide whirlpool in the Western Hemisphere.
Maine is the least densely populated state east of the Mississippi River. It is called the Pine Tree State due to its largest distribution and presence of pine, including Pinus strobus and Pinus resinosa. Over 80% of its total area is forested or unclaimed, the most forest cover of any U.S. state. In the wooded areas of the interior lies much uninhabited land, some of which does not have formal political organization into local units (a rarity in New England). The Northwest Aroostook unorganized territory in the northern part of the state, for example, has an area of and a population of 10, or one person for every .
Maine is in the temperate broadleaf and mixed forests biome. The land near the southern and central Atlantic coast is covered by the mixed Quercus of the Northeastern coastal forests. The remainder of the state, including the North Woods, is covered by the New England–Acadian forests.
Maine has almost of ocean coastline (and of tidal coastline). West Quoddy Head in Lubec is the easternmost point of land in the 48 contiguous states. Along the famous rock-bound coast of Maine are lighthouses, beaches, fishing villages, and thousands of offshore islands, including the Isles of Shoals which straddle the New Hampshire border. There are jagged rocks and cliffs and many bays and inlets. Inland are lakes, rivers, forests, and mountains. This visual contrast of forested slopes sweeping down to the sea has been summed up by American poet Edna St. Vincent Millay of Rockland and Camden, in "Renascence":
Geologists describe this type of landscape as a "drowned coast", where a rising sea level has invaded former land features, creating bays out of valleys and islands out of mountain tops. A rise in land elevation due to the melting of heavy glacier ice caused a slight rebounding effect of underlying rock; this land rise, however, was not enough to eliminate all the effect of the rising sea level and its invasion of former land features.
Much of Maine's geomorphology was created by extended glacial activity at the end of the last ice age. Prominent glacial features include Somes Sound and Bubble Rock, both part of Acadia National Park on Mount Desert Island. Carved by glaciers, Somes Sound reaches depths of . The extreme depth and steep drop-off allow large ships to navigate almost the entire length of the sound. These features also have made it attractive for boat builders, such as the prestigious Hinckley Yachts.
Bubble Rock, a glacial erratic, is a large boulder perched on the edge of Bubble Mountain in Acadia National Park. By analyzing the type of granite, geologists discovered that glaciers carried Bubble Rock to its present location from near Lucerne, away. The Iapetus Suture runs through the north and west of the state, being underlain by the ancient Laurentia, and the south and east underlain by the Avalonia.
Acadia National Park is the only national park in New England. Areas under the protection and management of the National Park Service include:
Lands under the control of the state of Maine include:
The state's record high temperature is , set in July 1911, at North Bridgton. Precipitation in Maine is evenly distributed year-round, but with a slight summer maximum in northern/northwestern Maine and a slight late-fall or early-winter maximum along the coast due to "nor'easters" or intense cold-season rain and snowstorms. In coastal Maine, the late spring and summer months are usually driest—a rarity across the Eastern United States. Maine has fewer days of thunderstorms than any other state east of the Rocky Mountains, with most of the state averaging fewer than twenty days of a year. are rare in Maine, with the state averaging two per year, although this number is increasing. Most severe thunderstorms and tornadoes occur in the southwestern interior portion of the state,[6] NOAA National Climatic Data Center. Retrieved on October 24, 2006. where summer temperatures are often the warmest and the atmosphere is thus more unstable compared to northern and coastal areas. Maine rarely sees the direct landfall of , as they tend to recurve out to sea or are rapidly weakening by the time they reach the cooler waters of Maine.
In January 2009, a new record low temperature for the state was set at Big Black River of , tying the New England record.
Annual precipitation varies from in Presque Isle to in Acadia National Park.
+Average daily maximum and minimum temperatures for selected cities in Maine |
−0/−10 |
−2/−12 |
−2/−14 |
−2/−11 |
−6/−17 |
Maine's terrestrial fauna comprises mammals such as moose, black bears, and white-tailed deer, along with smaller species like , , and . Maine has the largest populations of moose and black bears in the contiguous United States. Avian diversity is evident with migratory birds like , American oystercatcher, and northern harrier, as well as resident species like black-capped chickadees, Jay, and . Wetlands provide habitat for amphibians such as spotted salamanders, , and toads. Freshwater habitats support fish species like brook trout, landlocked salmon, and multiple Game fish, while marine life in offshore waters includes , , , and American lobster. Maine's abundance of lobster makes the state the largest producer of lobster in the United States.
The mean population center of Maine is located in Kennebec County, just east of Augusta. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is the most densely populated with nearly 40% of Maine's population. This area spans three counties and includes many farms and wooded areas; the 2016 population of Portland proper was 66,937.
Maine has experienced a very slow rate of population growth since the 1990 census; its rate of growth (0.57%) since the 2010 census ranks 45th of the 50 states. In 2021 and 2022, however, Maine had the highest proportion of arriving residents to departing residents of any state in the country, with 1.8 arrivals for every departure. The modest population growth in the state has been concentrated in the southern coastal counties; with more diverse populations slowly moving into these areas of the state. However, the northern, more rural areas of the state have experienced a slight decline in population from 2010 to 2016.
As of 2020, Maine has the highest population age 65 or older in the United States.
According to the 2010 census, Maine has the highest percentage of non-Hispanic White American of any state, at 94.4% of the total population. In 2011, 89.0% of all births in the state were to non-Hispanic White parents." Americans under age1 now mostly minorities, but not in Ohio: Statistical Snapshot". The Plain Dealer. June 3, 2012. Maine also has the second-highest residential senior population.
According to HUD's 2022 Annual Homeless Assessment Report, there were an estimated 4,411 homeless people in Maine.
The table below shows the racial composition of Maine's population as of 2016.
+ Maine racial composition of population |
100% |
94.8% |
1.2% |
0.6% |
1.1% |
0.0% |
0.2% |
2.0% |
According to the 2016 American Community Survey, 1.5% of Maine's population were of Hispanic or Latino origin (of any race): Mexican American (0.4%), Puerto Ricans (0.4%), Cuban American (0.1%), and other Hispanic or Latino origin (0.6%). The six largest ancestry groups were: English American (20.7%), Irish American (17.3%), French American (15.7%), German American (8.1%), American (7.8%) and French Canadian (7.7%).
People citing that they are American are of overwhelmingly English descent, but have ancestry that has been in the region for so long (often since the 17th century) that they choose to identify simply as Americans.
Stanley Lieberson and Lawrence Santi, "The Use of Nativity Data to Estimate Ethnic Characteristics and Patterns", Social Science Research, Vol. 14, No. 1 (1985), pp. 44–6.Stanley Lieberson and Mary C. Waters, "Ethnic Groups in Flux: The Changing Ethnic Responses of American Whites", Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 487, No. 79 (September 1986), pp. 82–86.Mary C. Waters, Ethnic Options: Choosing Identities in America (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990), p. 36. French Canadian Emigration to the United States 1840–1930. Claude Bélanger, Department of History, Marianopolis College. French-Canadian Americans by Marianne Fedunkiw.Maine has the highest percentage of French Americans of any state. Most of them are of Canadian origin, but in some cases have been living there since prior to the American Revolutionary War. There are particularly high concentrations in the northern part of Maine in Aroostook County, which is part of a cultural region known as Acadia that goes over the border into New Brunswick. Along with the Acadians population in the north, many French-Canadians came from Quebec as immigrants between 1840 and 1930.
The upper Saint John River valley area was once part of the so-called Republic of Madawaska, before the frontier was decided in the Webster-Ashburton Treaty of 1842. Over a quarter of the population of Lewiston, Waterville, and Biddeford are Franco-American. Most of the residents of the Mid Coast and Down East sections are chiefly of British heritage. Smaller numbers of various other groups, including Irish American, Italian American, Swedish and Polish American, have settled throughout the state since the late 19th and early 20th century immigration waves.
Today there are four federally recognized tribes in Maine, including the Mi'kmaq Nation. In 2020, 7,885 identified as being Native American alone, and 25,617 did in combination with one or more other races.
+Live births by single race/ethnicity of mother | |||||||||||
> White | 11,774 (92.1%) | 11,654 (91.8%) | 11,563 (91.7%) | 11,484 (90.4%) | 10,958 (89.1%) | 11,022 (89.5%) | 10,401 (88.3%) | 10,231 (88.7%) | 10,619 (88.4%) | 10,640 (88.0%) | 10,015 (86.1%) |
Black | 455 (3.6%) | 450 (3.5%) | 473 (3.7%) | 411 (3.2%) | 545 (4.4%) | 546 (4.4%) | 541 (4.6%) | 514 (4.5%) | 551 (4.6%) | 679 (5.6%) | 790 (6.8%) |
Asian Americans | 253 (2.0%) | 248 (1.9%) | 186 (1.5%) | 192 (1.5%) | 219 (1.8%) | 202 (1.6%) | 217 (1.8%) | 195 (1.7%) | 197 (1.6%) | 163 (1.3%) | 199 (1.7%) |
American Indian | 118 (0.9%) | 158 (1.2%) | 143 (1.1%) | 97 (0.7%) | 88 (0.7%) | 99 (0.8%) | 96 (0.8%) | 85 (0.7%) | 71 (0.6%) | 76 (0.7%) | 70 (0.6%) |
Hispanic (of any race) | 172 (1.3%) | 200 (1.6%) | 251 (2.0%) | 238 (1.9%) | 229 (1.9%) | 224 (1.8%) | 257 (2.2%) | 258 (2.2%) | 305 (2.5%) | 338 (2.8%) | 334 (2.9%) |
Total | 12,776 (100%) | 12,698 (100%) | 12,607 (100%) | 12,705 (100%) | 12,298 (100%) | 12,311 (100%) | 11,779 (100%) | 11,539 (100%) | 12,006 (100%) | 12,093 (100%) | 11,627 (100%) |
In 2018, the top countries of origin for Maine's immigrants were Canada, the Philippines, Germany, India and Korea.
In 2014, the Roman Catholic Church was the largest religious denomination and the Baptists (7% Evangelical and 5% Mainline) were the state's largest Protestant denomination, followed by the Methodism (6%) and the Congregationalists (5%). The atheists and the agnostics are only 6% of the state, but 26% of Mainers said that they "Believe in God but they are Unaffiliated." Eighty-one percent of Mainers believed in God, while 3% did not know and 16% did not believe in God. Thirty-four percent of Mainers thought that religion was "very important" and 29% said that it was "important", while 21% said that religion was not important.
According to a survey through the Public Religion Research Institute in 2020, approximately 62% of the population were Christian; the religiously unaffiliated slightly increased to 33% from the separate 2014 study by the Pew Research Center. In a 2022 study by the Public Religion Research Institute, 63% of the population were Christian, and 30% were religiously unaffiliated. Among the non-Christian population in 2022, 1% were Unitarian Universalist, 5% Jews, and 1% .
According to the Association of Religion Data Archives in 2020, with Christianity as the dominant faith, the largest denominations by number of adherents were Catholicism (219,233 members), non-denominational Protestantism (45,364), and United Methodists (19,686). According to the same study, there were an estimated 16,894 Muslims in the state.
Maine's total gross state product was $91.1 billion in 2023. The state's per capita personal income for 2023 was $63,117, ranking 30th in the nation, and its median gross income was $69,543. , Maine's unemployment rate is 3.2%. , Maine's minimum wage is $14.65. Commercial fishing, once a mainstay of the state's economy, maintains a presence, particularly lobster fishing and groundfishing. While lobster is the main seafood focus for Maine, the harvest of both oysters and seaweed are on the rise. In 2015, 14% of the Northeast's total oyster supply came from Maine. The shrimp industry of Maine is on a government-mandated hold. With an ever-decreasing Northern shrimp population, Maine fishermen are no longer allowed to catch and sell shrimp. The hold began in 2014, but a pilot program allowing limited shrimp fishing began in 2025. Western Maine aquifers and springs are a source of bottled water for companies like Poland Spring.
Maine's industrial outputs consist chiefly of paper, lumber and wood products, electronic equipment, leather products, food products, textiles, and bio-technology. Naval shipbuilding and construction remain key as well, with Bath Iron Works in Bath and Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery.
Brunswick Landing, formerly Naval Air Station Brunswick, is also in Maine. Formerly a large support base for the U.S. Navy, the BRAC campaign initiated the Naval Air Station's closing, despite a government-funded effort to upgrade its facilities. The former base has since been changed into a civilian business park, as well as a new satellite campus for Southern Maine Community College. , Maine ports played a key role in national transportation. Beginning around 1880, Portland's rail link and ice-free port made it Canada's principal winter port, until the aggressive development of Halifax, Nova Scotia in the mid-20th century. In 2013, 12,039,600 short tons passed into and out of Portland by sea, which places it 45th of U.S. water ports. Portland International Jetport has been expanded, providing the state with increased air traffic from carriers such as JetBlue and Southwest Airlines.
Maine has very few large companies that maintain headquarters in the state, and that number has fallen due to consolidations and mergers, particularly in the pulp and paper industry. Some of the larger companies that do maintain headquarters in Maine include Covetrus in Portland; Fairchild Semiconductor in South Portland; IDEXX Laboratories in Westbrook; Hannaford Bros. Co. in Scarborough; L.L.Bean in Freeport; and Puritan Medical Products in Guilford. Maine is also the home of the Jackson Laboratory, the world's largest non-profit mammalian genetic research facility and the world's largest supplier of genetically purebred mice.
Many smaller airports are scattered throughout Maine, serving only general aviation traffic. The Eastport Municipal Airport, for example, is a city-owned public-use airport with 1,200 general aviation aircraft operations each year from single-engine and ultralight aircraft.
The legislative branch is the Maine Legislature, a bicameral body composed of the Maine House of Representatives, with 151 members, and the Maine Senate, with 35 members. The Legislature is charged with introducing and passing laws.
The executive branch is headed by the Governor of Maine (currently Janet Mills). The Governor is elected every four years; no individual may serve more than two consecutive terms in this office. The current attorney general of Maine is Aaron Frey. As with other state legislatures, the Maine Legislature can by a two-thirds majority vote from both the House and Senate override a gubernatorial veto. Maine is one of seven states that do not have a lieutenant governor. The highest court in the state's judicial branch is the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. The lower courts are the District Court, Superior Court and Probate Court. All judges except for probate judges serve full-time, are nominated by the Governor, and confirmed by the Legislature for terms of seven years. Probate judges serve part-time and are elected by the voters of each county for four-year terms.
In a 2020 study, Maine was ranked as the 14th easiest state for citizens to vote in. In 2012, Maine became one of the first U.S. states to establish marriage rights for same-sex couples.
The results of the elections are often Bipartisan. Maine is seen as a blue-leaning swing state, with unusually high support for independent candidates. The Republican Party has won Maine in 11 out of the past 20 presidential elections, and the governorship has been won by Democrats and independents three times each, and Republicans four times, since 1974.
Maine uses ranked choice voting in primary elections for state and federal offices, as well as in general elections for federal offices. Ranked choice voting was adopted by voters in a 2016 referendum.
Maine counties |
1.44% |
19.76% |
3.52% |
5.05% |
4.40% |
2.75% |
3.30% |
2.03% |
6.29% |
10.29% |
12.67% |
1.07% |
11.85% |
2.47% |
9.42% |
3.68% |
Total state area: |
Maine's per-student public expenditure for elementary and secondary schools was 21st in the nation in 2012, at $12,344.
The collegiate system of Maine also includes numerous baccalaureate colleges such as: the Maine Maritime Academy (MMA), College of the Atlantic, Unity Environmental University, and Thomas College. There is only one medical school in the state, (University of New England's College of Osteopathic Medicine) and only one law school (The University of Maine School of Law). There is one art school in the state, Maine College of Art, along with a private graduate school, Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts, which offers a Doctor of Philosophy to visual artists.
The Maine Community College System, founded in 1985 also serves "to provide associate degree, diploma and certificate programs directed at the educational, career and technical needs of the State's citizens and the workforce needs of the State's employers." This system includes Southern Maine Community College (SMCC), York County Community College (YCCC), Central Maine Community College (CMCC), Eastern Maine Community College (EMCC), Kennebec Valley Community College (KVCC), Northern Maine Community College (NMCC), and Washington County Community College (WCCC).
Private schools in Maine are funded independently of the state and its furthered domains. Private schools are less common than public schools. A large number of private elementary schools with under 20 students exist, but most private high schools in Maine can be described as "semi-private".
Maine also has Vocational Schools, such as the Biddeford Regional Center of Technology and Sanford Regional Technical Center that teach trades such as welding, construction and vehicle repair to students.
Historically, Maine was a center of agriculture before it achieved statehood. Prior to colonization, Wabanaki nations farmed large crops of corn and other produce in southern Maine. Maine was a center of grain production in the 1800s, until grain production moved westward. However, in the early 2000s the local food movement spurred renewed interested in locally grown grains. In 2007, the Kneading Conference was founded. In, 2012, the Skowhegan grist mill Maine Grains opened. The revival of grain farming and milling in Maine has led to the creation of other businesses, including bakeries and malthouses.
Maine has many vegetable farms and other small, diversified farms. In the 1960s and 1970s, the book "Living the Good Life" by Helen Nearing and Scott Nearing caused many young people to move to Maine and engage in small-scale farming and homesteading. These back-to-the-land migrants increased the population of some counties.
Maine food shares many ingredients with Wabanaki cuisine, including corn, beans, squash, wild blueberries, maple syrup, fish, and seafood. By 1902, the Maine Italian sandwich had been invented in Portland. Sandwich shops across Maine serve the sandwiches. Baked beans are a common dish in Maine, served at community suppers where the beans are sometimes cooked underground in a bean hole. In New England, Maine baked beans are one of two well-known regional styles of baked beans, the other being Boston baked beans. Maine baked beans use thicker skinned, native bean varieties such like Marafax, soldier, and yellow-eye beans. From 1913 until 2021, baked beans were canned on the Portland waterfront at the B&M Baked Beans factory.
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