The story of how a German tourist ended up mistaking Bangor for San Francisco https://www.byteseu.com/2442324/ #BangorHistory #Evergreen #Germany #MaineHistory
#mainehistory — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #mainehistory, aggregated by home.social.
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The story of how a German tourist ended up mistaking Bangor for San Francisco
This story was originally published in October 2020. Erwin Kreuz, a genial, unassuming 49-year-old Bavarian brewery worker, was…
#Germany #DE #Europe #EU #Europa #Bangorhistory #evergreen #MaineHistory
https://www.europesays.com/germany/107227/ -
State of Maine: Maine State Archives offers expanded digital access with Open Access. “Secretary of State Shenna Bellows today announced the official launch of Open Access, the Maine State Archives (MSA) new online platform for publicly accessible, digitized and born-digital public records. The platform can be accessed at https://digitalarchives.maine.gov or from the Maine State Archives […]
https://rbfirehose.com/2026/10/04/state-of-maine-maine-state-archives-offers-expanded-digital-access-with-open-access/ -
D'oh! 🤦🏼
From Wikipedia:
"Approaching the mouth of the river from the northeast, the pilot issued three orders for port rudder to align the vessel with the channel's centerline. Satisfied with the approach, the pilot then intended to order hard starboard to enter the channel. Instead, the pilot accidentally ordered the ship hard port. While the order was corrected only seconds later, the vessel could not alter course in time..."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julie_N_oil_spill
#JulieN #JulieNOilSpill #Maine #MaineHistory #OilSpill #ForeRiver #CascoBay
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30 Years Later: Remembering the Julie N oil spill in Casco Bay
by Max Williams, WGMEWed, September 23, 2026
PORTLAND (WGME) — "It was a beautiful fall day on Casco Bay 30 years ago, but the scene quickly turned dark when an oil tanker slammed into Portland’s Million-Dollar Bridge.
"The Julie N, carrying more than 8 million gallons of oil, struck the bridge on Sept. 27, 1996, spilling more than 179,000 gallons into Casco Bay and the Fore River in what became the largest oil spill in Portland’s history."
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Portland Press Herald: Biddeford library to archive memorial items honoring ICE shooting victim. “Since [Sebastián] Durán Guerrero’s death on July 13, community members have left cards, flowers, notes, art and other items at two memorial sites. Archiving those items will preserve an important part of Biddeford history, the library said. Archivist and reference librarian Rose Dionne said […]
https://rbfirehose.com/2026/09/06/portland-press-herald-biddeford-library-to-archive-memorial-items-honoring-ice-shooting-victim/ -
Harpswell Anchor: Harpswell Anchor launches archives website. “The archives of the Harpswell Anchor, from its first edition in July 1998 through June 2026, are now available in a searchable database at harpswell.historyarchives.online. The website is the culmination of an effort to digitize and preserve years of Anchor archives previously unavailable to the public. It also allows readers to […]
https://rbfirehose.com/2026/08/07/harpswell-anchor-harpswell-anchor-launches-archives-website/ -
Civil War reenactors celebrate Memorial Day at 5th Maine Museum on Peaks Island
Drums and bugles sounding, and muskets at the ready: Civil War reenactors took over the lawns in …
#Conflict #Conflicts #War #5thmainemuseum #abolitionistsentiment #cannonpart #civilwar #civilwarreenactor #civilian #fifthmainemuseum #historian #ianstevenson #keybattle #mainehistory #matthewbray #memorialday #peaksisland #reenactments #regiment #Soldier #union #UnionArmy #war #year
https://www.europesays.com/3013430/ -
https://www.europesays.com/3013430/ Civil War reenactors celebrate Memorial Day at 5th Maine Museum on Peaks Island #5thMaineMuseum #AbolitionistSentiment #CannonPart #CivilWar #CivilWarReenactor #civilian #Conflicts #FifthMaineMuseum #historian #IanStevenson #KeyBattle #MaineHistory #MatthewBray #MemorialDay #PeaksIsland #reenactments #regiment #Soldier #union #UnionArmy #war #year
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Midcoast Villager: Lost Stories Found: 124 Years of Midcoast History, Online and At Your Fingertips. “Last week, 1,500 editions of the The Courier-Gazette — one of the four historic newspapers whose legacy is now carried forward by the Midcoast Villager — were uploaded to the Maine State Library’s DigitalMaine Repository, joining the existing historical archives which spanned from the […]
https://rbfirehose.com/2026/04/05/lost-stories-found-124-years-of-midcoast-history-online-and-at-your-fingertips-midcoast-villager/ -
1928 Scarborough Maine Airport Postcard
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#ScarboroughMaine #Scarborough #Maine #MaineAviation #EarlyAviation #1920sAviation #HistoricAirfield #AirportHangar #VintageAircraft #AviationHistory #MaineHistory #avgeek -
How soon people forget...
A century ago, #FrancoAmericans were targeted in #Maine like today’s #Somali #immigrants
Opinion by Tommy Pinette, March 3, 2026
"Two years ago, I learned the infamous #KuKluxKlan exploded in popularity throughout Maine during its resurgence in the 1920s. Across the United States, the terrorist group amassed hundreds of thousands of new followers in a rather clever dissemblance as a community service and fraternal organization. At one point, in fact, approximately 30% of Maine’s native-born population were enrolled members of the KKK. Yet they did not target Somali-Americans, people on work visas, or permanent residents from Africa — they vehemently attacked the people we now call Franco-Americans.
"Prominent Franco communities in #LewistonME, #RumfordME, #OldTownME, #AugustaME, and #WatervilleME, called 'petits Canadas,' became targets of violence for the #KKK.
"One local history of the Franco-American community of Old Town recounts a horrific stand-off at French Island: holding torches and weapons, a mob of angry klansmen attempted to cross the bridge onto the island in order to burn it down. Only the rapid efforts of men in the community to block the bridge physically kept the island from going up in flames.
"And yet, I hear many of my Franco relatives talk poorly about immigrants. They repeat similar slogans to the ones President Donald Trump spreads about immigrants who come from Africa, particularly those from East Africa: “they shouldn’t be here … Somalia is not even a country” Animus defines how many Franco-Americans understand immigrants, the people who stand in the very same place their ancestors once stood a couple generations ago.
"Do not forget that our #WhitePrivilege came at a great historical cost in the forms of systemic French language suppression, decades of shameful stereotypes, and barriers to higher education. For almost 70 years, the state of Maine had a legislative policy of only offering public education in English. We must remember our ancestors, the memères and pepères who endured the same xenophobic insults immigrants in America face today."
Archived version:
https://archive.ph/83Hi6#USPol #WorldPol #MainePol #NewAmericans #NewMainers #USHistory #MaineHistory #ICESucks #AbolishICE #Hypocrisy
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#CastineME - Mači-pikʷátohsək: A Wayfinding Walk
Featuring the voices of #JenniferNeptune and #FloEdwards
Sunday, October 5, 2025
1–6 p.m.*Related programming Saturday, October 4*
"Mači-pikʷátohsək (Majabigwaduce), or #Castine, is known for its unique historical signs first installed by the Village Improvement Society in 1908. While these panels are considered by many to be a distinctive part of the town's character, they reflect outdated historical interpretations and contain problematic content, often focusing on European #colonization while invisibilizing #Wabanaki history and sense of place and erasing the traces of Castine’s #Black residents.
"Mači-pikʷátohsək : A Wayfinding Walk will use signage as a central theme, examining both the stories these signs tell and the histories they leave out, encouraging participants to critically reflect on visible elements of the commemorative landscape while learning about Penobscot worldview, wayfinding techniques, and relationship to place.
"Join us as we walk together to reflect and reimagine the many layers of stories that unfold in this landscape.
"In addition to the Wayfinding Walk on Sunday, all are invited to join WHERE and the Castine Historical Society on Saturday, October 4, 2025 from 2:00 - 5:00 pm for a lecture and performance that will provide critical insight into the suppressed history of this region’s role in the slave trade while illuminating some of the ways that people of African heritage have made their own freedom."
Events are free, but pre-registration is required (and a liability waiver for the walk on Sunday).
FMI and to register:
https://www.walkwhere.org/castine#MaineEvents #NativeAmericanHistory #BlackHistory #MaineHistory #CastineMaine
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Most of #HollisME burned down as well!
The Year a State Burned: #Maine Fires of 1947 Wipe Out 9 Towns
It also destroyed half of Acadia National Park and many Bar Harbor mansions
"An eight-mile-long wall of fire burned in #Kennebunkport. In #NorthWaterboro, nearly 60 residents and volunteers were trapped for more than an hour behind a line of fire before escaping.
"In #YorkCountyME, the fires destroyed most of the homes in #Shapleigh and #Waterboro. then swept toward the sea and consumed swathes of #Alfred, #Lyman, #Newfield, Kennebunk, #Kennebunkport, #Arundel, #Dayton, #Wells, #Biddeford and #Saco."
Read more:
https://newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/maine-fires-1947-year-state-burned/ -
Piscataquis Observer: Thanks to the community, Sponsor the Observer Project completed: “The digital archive maintained by the Thompson Free Library and the Dover-Foxcroft Historical Society is a tremendous resource for our community. And now, we have made it even better by rescanning the Piscataquis Observer collection between 1921 and 1986, replacing badly damaged images with clean ones, […]
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Portland Press Herald: Brick Store Museum launches Just History Project. “The Just History Project website, an initiative aimed at uncovering and documenting the often-overlooked histories of Black, Indigenous, and people of color in Kennebunk and the surrounding towns of Wells, Kennebunkport and Arundel, has been launched by the Brick Store Museum.”
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ICYMI - From 2016:
Tuesday Marks 20th Anniversary of #Maine’s Worst #OilSpill
Maine Public | By Keith Shortall
Published September 27, 2016 at 5:34 PM EDT"It was 20 years ago Tuesday that the tanker Julie N crashed int the bridge connecting #PortlandMaine and #SouthPortlandMaine, spilling 180,000 gallons of oil into the #ForeRiver in the worst oil spill in Maine’s history.
"The spill was contained primarily to the Fore River, but approximately $40 million was spent on cleaning up 14 miles of contaminated #shoreline. The Coast Guard said at the time that nearly 80 percent of the spilled oil was recovered. Much of the rest stayed west of the bridge, toward the #marshes near the Portland Jetport and away from Casco Bay and the islands.
"#PortlandHarbor was closed, and fishing and shellfish harvesting was banned in parts of #CascoBay and the Fore River for more than a month."
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#MalagaIsland: The harrowing history of Maine's mixed-race community forced from their homes
February 20, 2023
Talia Clarke shared the story of Malaga's Island, a dark chapter in the state's history. There a mixed-race community was forcibly removed from their homes, some institutionalized and sterilized only to have their ancestor's bodies later exhumed from their graves.
"[Maine State archivist Kate McBrien] says around the turn of the 20th century, tourism became the financial focus for #Maine.
"'Maine didn't want to be known as the home of what they felt was a very different community,' McBrien said. 'If there was a black person and a white person marrying... because that was not socially accepted.'
"A state land agent and attorney general were ordered to investigate the ownership of Malaga Island. Since island residents were not able to provide a deed, the state determined that someone else owned it.
"'So the state purchased the island and evicted the community because they thought that was how they could fix what they saw as a problem,' McBrien said."
#BlackHistory #MaineHistory #RacismRead more:
https://www.wmtw.com/article/malaga-island-maine-mixed-race-community-forced-from-homes/42991638