Blueberries, one of several crops identified with Maine, grow wild in much of the state and are mentioned in some early accounts of European encounters with Maine Indians.
Commercial harvesting began in the 1840s and soon thereafter Maine became the first place to can blueberries, many years ahead of other states.
Abijah Tabbot's development of a metal blueberry rake in 1882 helped make the industry profitable, as did the shift by the last quarter of the century to privately owned blueberry barrens. Until then, the fields were considered public and anyone might harvest the ripe berries.
