Maine Memory Network

Music in Maine - Military Marching Bands

"Chandler's Band uniform, ca. 1950Maine Historical Society Chandler's Band hat, ca. 1950Maine Historical Society Town bands carried on the…"

Music in Maine - Drum, Stockton Springs, ca. 1840

"1840 Contributed by Maine Historical Society Description Colonel Freeman McGilvery (1823-1864) of Stockton commanded the Artillery at…"

The Devil and the Wilderness

Anglo-Americans in northern New England sometimes interpreted their own anxieties about the Wilderness, their faith, and their conflicts with Native Americans as signs that the Devil and his handmaidens, witches, were active in their midst.

Music in Maine - Community Music

"1895Maine Historical Society George Washington Kemp, Leeds, ca. 1890Maine Historical Society George Washington "Wash" Kemp, came to Maine in…"

Music in Maine - Music Education

"… with ukulele, Sanford, 1931Maine Historical Society/MaineToday Media The Portland Sunday Telegram featured five-year-old Robert Cheney of Sanford…"

Liberty Threatened: Maine in 1775

At Lexington and Concord, on April 19, 1775, British troops attempted to destroy munitions stored by American colonists. The battles were the opening salvos of the American Revolution. Shortly, the conflict would erupt in Maine.

We Used to be "Normal": A History of F.S.N.S.

Farmington's Normal School -- a teacher-training facility -- opened in 1863 and, over the decades, offered academic programs that included such unique features as domestic and child-care training, and extra-curricular activities from athletics to music and theater.

Home: The Wadsworth-Longfellow House and Portland - Researching Your Home

"The records give details about the structure, its size, numbers of rooms, bathrooms, etc., as well as a photograph, and, often, other details."

Rum, Riot, and Reform - Influential & Interesting Documents

"The log entry of August 31, 1812 records her most famous capture, the brig Dianna loaded with 212 puncheons of rum."

Gunpowder for the Civil War

The gunpowder mills at Gambo Falls in Windham and Gorham produced about a quarter of the gunpowder used by Union forces during the Civil War. The complex contained as many as 50 buildings.

Auto Racing in Maine: 1911

The novelty of organized auto racing came to Maine in 1911 with a hill-climbing event in Poland and speed racing at Old Orchard Beach. Drivers and cars came from all over New England for these events.

High Water

Melting snow, ice, warmer temperatures, and rain sometimes bring floods to Maine's many rivers and streams. Floods are most frequent in the spring, but can occur at any season.

Elise Fellows White: Music, Writing, and Family

From a violin prodigy in her early years to an older woman -- mother of two -- struggling financially, Skowhegan native Mary Elise Fellows White remained committed to music, writing, poetry, her extended family -- and living a life that would matter and be remembered.

John Y. Merrill: Leeds Farmer, Entrepreneur, & More

John Y. Merrill of Leeds (1823-1898) made terse entries in diaries he kept for 11 years. His few words still provide a glimpse into the life of a mid 18th century farmer, who also made shoes, quarried stone, moved barns, made healing salves -- and was active in civic affairs.

Presque Isle and the Civil War

Presque Isle had fewer than 1,000 residents in 1860, but it still felt the impact of the Civil War. About half of the town's men went off to war. Of those, a third died. The effects of the war were widespread in the small community.

Rum, Riot, and Reform - 1620 to 1820: New England's Great Secret

"… Aside from that historic toast, Josselyn recorded some of the common medical uses of alcohol he observed."

Scarborough: They Answered the Call

Scarborough met every quota set by the state for supplying Civil War soldiers for Union regiments. Some of those who responded became prominent citizens of the town.

Lock of George Washington's Hair

Correspondence between Elizabeth Wadsworth, her father Peleg Wadsworth and Martha Washington's secretary about the gift of a lock of George Washington's hair to Eliza.

Capturing Arts and Artists in the 1930s

Emmie Bailey Whitney of the Lewiston Journal Saturday Magazine and her husband, noted amateur photographer G. Herbert Whitney, captured in words and photographs the richness of Maine's arts scene during the Great Depression.

A Snapshot of Portland, 1924: The Taxman Cometh

In 1924, with Portland was on the verge of profound changes, the Tax Assessors Office undertook a project to document every building in the city -- with photographs and detailed information that provide a unique view into Portland's architecture, neighborhoods, industries, and businesses.

Fallen Heroes: Jewish Soldiers and Sailors, The Great War

Thirty-four young Jewish men from Maine died in the service of their country in the two World Wars. This project, including a Maine Memory Network exhibit, is meant to say a little something about some of them. More than just names on a public memorial marker or grave stone, these men were getting started in adult life. They had newly acquired high school and college diplomas, they had friends, families and communities who loved and valued them, and felt the losses of their deaths.

Photojournalism & the 1936 Flood

Photojournalism & the 1936 Flood examines the monumental destruction caused by the historic flood of 1936 through the comprehensive and innovative photojournalism done by the Guy Gannett Publishing Company in the weeks surrounding the flood.

Big Timber: the Mast Trade

Britain was especially interested in occupying Maine during the Colonial era to take advantage of the timber resources. The tall, straight, old growth white pines were perfect for ships' masts to help supply the growing Royal Navy.

Building the International Appalachian Trail

Wildlife biologist Richard Anderson first proposed the International Appalachian Trail (IAT) in 1993. The IAT is a long-distance hiking trail along the modern-day Appalachian, Caledonian, and Atlas Mountain ranges, geological descendants of the ancient Central Pangean Mountains. Today, the IAT stretches from the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument in Maine, through portions of Canada, Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and Europe, and into northern Africa.