Maine History Online

Following the logic of the landscape, early roads often smoothed and widened well-used native trails to connect communities to each other and to existing water routes to the coast.

Talleyrand detailed one such road and its connections as he observed it in 1794: "A single road, opened by the public authority, traverses the whole country in an east to west direction. It touches close to the head of all the bays, encountering thus the principal existing settlements, and bringing letters from Boston as far as the adjacent plantations every two weeks.

"As far as Machias and Passamaquoddy this road, cut only two years ago and passable only by very intrepid pedestrians and the half-wild horses of the country, was determined rightly by the existence and present location of habitations and not calculated to correct the course of migrations.

"This could be changed only by opening roads in an entirely different direction, and they would have to be very good to counterbalance the powerful attraction of the landing places which are graduated according to all needs, from the canoe to ships of commerce."

Now a scenic highway, Route 1 is nonetheless recognizable from Talleyrand’s description.

Acknowledging both the significance of Portland and the importance of roads to Maine's well being, Timothy Dwight reported, "No American town is more entirely commercial; and, of course none is more sprightly. Lumber, fish, and ships, are the principal materials of their commerce. Several roads from the interiour of New-Hampshire, and Vermont, partly made, and partly in contemplation, are opening an extensive correspondence between Portland and these countries. The importance of this fact needs no explanation."

Nineteenth-century logging companies spearheaded road building into the interior for their own ends, although local communities often benefited. Not until the middle of the 20th century, when the post-war push for highway construction mandated greater access in the name of civil defense, did a full network of roads emerge in Maine.

Even so, seasonal ice, flooding, and frost heave can mean potholes, detours, and an altogether unnerving drive, particularly along the minor routes that inevitably followed "the course of migrations." Rivers, long used as primary routes of travel in Maine, declined in importance as roads developed. Still potent, most are now used recreationally.

The need for water permeates history, just as its abiding presence in Maine has conditioned human activities. Efforts to direct or impede the flow of water developed in the earliest river valley civilizations of Mesopotamia, China, and Egypt and the technology has continued to develop over time.

Maine also diverted its waters to address domestic and commercial demands, channeling it through sluices to control log runs, building dams to power sawmills, and gouging canals to facilitate transport.

Canals throughout the northeast expanded inland access to major sea or lake ports. While many were begun in the 1790s, their heyday occurred between the 1820s and the 1850s, when rail transport largely supplanted them. Built over stages, the Erie Canal, for example, ultimately connected Hudson River traffic from New York City north and westward to ports on the Great Lakes by the 1820s.

Maine's Cumberland and Oxford Canal, constructed in the 1830s, linked towns on Long Lake to those on Sebago Lake, and on down to Portland. The Telos Cut canal, in conjunction with dams, diverted logs away from New Brunswick toward Bangor area mills, sparking a regional conflict in the process.

Serviceable for a short period of time, canals generally were eclipsed by the extension of the railroad, which offered superior and rapidly expanding continental connectivity.

What shipping did for Maine's association to the world at large, the railroad did for its relationship to the rest of the continent. Early railroads in Maine were limited affairs, built to expedite transport of cut lumber to port cities like Calais, Machias, and Bangor for loading on waiting ships.

Most of the state acquired more complete rail service by the mid to late 19th century, funded through creative combinations of private speculation and public monies. Aroostook County was the last, but among the most important to be served, considering the impact rail transport had on stimulating the lumber and potato economies of the area.

It took years for local, state, and national practices to mesh, particularly in standardizing track gauges, connecting trunk lines, and establishing fixed schedules for arrivals and departures. Once those aspects were in place, Maine was ready for the many promotional excursions targeting urban hunters and fishermen, outdoor enthusiasts, and tourists as railroads coordinated service with popular resort and recreational destinations.

Mainers also ventured by rail to the 1893 Chicago World's Fair where they could visit their state's many exhibits including a mounted moose, a grand collection of canned goods, an award-winning shipbuilding display, and an entire building created from Maine granite, which, "being at the extreme end of the line, was a favorite resting place for the weary."

Transportation infrastructure over the years also included experiments in turnpikes and other toll roads, major and minor bridge building activities, public and private ferries, and city trolleys.

Except for that last, Timothy Dwight seems to have traveled on all the above at some point during his two trips to the area commenting on the "new toll-bridge" near Portland, the "good turnpike road" at Dover (whose "toll-gatherer" estimated the annual income to be $4,000), and a ferry at Bath where he crossed the river "safely in a boat of moderate size; but not without anxiety."

Maine used its natural transportation advantages in conjunction with its natural resources to build ships, transport raw materials and manufactured goods, bring goods and tourists into the state, and connect Maine to the region, nation, and the world.