Hype for the Future 62W: City of Presque Isle, Maine

Introduction

The City of Presque Isle is largely known as the largest city in Northern Maine, referring specifically to Aroostook County and the communities within county limits. Located along United States Route 1, Presque Isle is also accessible along Route 163 from the west and along Route 167 from the east.

Downtown Presque Isle

The downtown amenities of the City of Presque Isle include the Northeastland Hotel and the Common Gallery, with the Historical Museum and nearby Historical Society each located slightly to the north of the center of downtown, albeit somewhat separately. Numerous shops and stores are located within the downtown area to serve the general public, including both locals and tourists in Presque Isle and the larger area of Aroostook County, Maine.

University of Maine-Presque Isle

The University of Maine-Presque Isle, interestingly, hosts a solar system model continuing south for nearly one hundred miles through central and southern portions of Aroostook County for highway travelers along United States Route 1 north of Houlton. Located on the southern side of the City of Presque Isle, UMaine-Presque Isle also hosts the Northern Maine Museum of Science for the general public and contains an art gallery independent of the downtown gallery, known as the Reed Art Gallery.

Hype for the Future 62V: Town of Mars Hill, Maine

Introduction

The Town of Mars Hill is a smaller town between the larger communities of Houlton (south) and Presque Isle (north) along United States Route 1. Just west of the easterly line of the State of Maine with the Canadian Province of New Brunswick, the town is perhaps most notable for representing the first sunrise of the contiguous United States of America during the summer months. Mars Hill is also home to the Central Aroostook Historical Society, logically named relatively to the Southern Aroostook Agricultural Museum in Littleton just to the north of Houlton.

Hype for the Future 62R: Moro Plantation, Maine

Introduction

Moro Plantation is a plantation in the southern portion of Aroostook County, Maine, identified as part of the fifth range west of the easterly line of the State with New Brunswick, Canada. Despite the Aroostook County location, Moro Plantation is home to lodging associated with the relatively distant Mount Katahdin further west into Penobscot and Piscataquis Counties.

The Aroostook Scenic Highway

The Aroostook Scenic Highway, Maine Route 11, first enters Aroostook County from the south at the Town of Hersey, shortly followed by Moro Plantation, with the Katahdin Lodge as the first primary attraction in the Plantation, followed by the hunting club at the North Country Lodge.

Hype for the Future 62Q: City of Caribou, Maine

Introduction

Only Presque Isle is larger than Caribou within Aroostook County. However, the City of Caribou, though nowadays residential, has been a significant influence on the potato farming region historically and is now home to surprisingly interesting history located to the north of Presque Isle. Today, a National Weather Service office is located in the City of Caribou to serve the interior counties of the State of Maine.

Tourist Attractions

Though the city of Caribou itself is not a tourist hotspot—not even for just the area in Northern Maine—the city is located directly in the middle of a region with the UMaine-Presque Isle Solar System Model to the south and the Saint John Valley to the north. However, of local interest on the southern side of the City of Caribou is the Caribou Historical Society, which provides historical insights including the potato farming of the surrounding areas.

Hype for the Future 62O: UMaine-Presque Isle Solar System Model

Introduction

The University of Maine-Presque Isle has developed a solar system model for a nearly one-hundred-mile stretch of Route 1 along the Canadian border showcasing the relative distances of the planets to the sun, scaled down from the true distances by far more than one million.

Solar System Model, Neptune to the Sun

• Neptune: Town of Littleton
• Uranus: Town of Bridgewater (the driver will pass through the Town of Monticello between the aforementioned towns)
• Saturn: Town of Westfield (following Blaine and Mars Hill)

Starting with Jupiter, the remainder of the solar system model by UMaine-Presque Isle is associated with the city proper of Presque Isle, Maine.

Hype for the Future 62L: Fort Fairfield, Maine

Introduction

The Town of Fort Fairfield, Maine, is located in Aroostook County, just west of the Easterly Line of the State with the Province of New Brunswick, Canada. Fort Fairfield contains three villages, all unincorporated as with most other villages throughout New England except in parts of Vermont.

Etymology

The name “Fort Fairfield” is an English name originally, but in the sense of the Aroostook Valley has originally referred to a particular military outpost during the time of the Aroostook War.

Hype for the Future 62I: Portage Lake, Maine

Introduction

Portage Lake is a town in Aroostook County, Maine, with a historical society included within the village area at the southeastern edge of town limits. The community is accessible primarily by Route 11 north to south and elsewhere by mostly unpaved roads from any direction.

Cabins and RV Parks

As with many communities in the Maine North Woods, access to cabins and recreational vehicle parks is often restricted by the logging and timber industries of the extremely rural communities in the State. However, Portage Lake actually does contain lakeside cabins in the area of Portage Lake itself.

Hype for the Future 62F: Town of Van Buren, Maine

Introduction

Located in the Acadian Saint John Valley of Northern Maine and Aroostook County, the Town of Van Buren is most notable in tourism for the Acadian Village, a living history museum and tribute to the early Acadian settlers on both sides of the Saint John Valley.

Amenities

Like most of the Saint John Valley, the region in Northern Maine is largely residential, though the scenic and recreational elements are also relevant to the Francophone lifestyle and experience within the northernmost sections of the State. In the village area of Van Buren, however, are only the basic services for travelers including a motel and a few local shops, which are typically not accustomed to tourists, including Acadian tourism, as much as to Francophone tourism at times.

Hype for the Future 62E: Town of Madawaska, Maine

Introduction

The Town of Madawaska is located in Aroostook County, Maine, and is smaller than the Canadian City of Edmundston, Madawaska County, New Brunswick, on the opposite side of the Saint John River.

Acadian Heritage

Like much of Aroostook County, and especially the Saint John Valley, the Madawaska area is largely determined by the Acadians and their cultural influence and heritage throughout the region. Influence also comes from the United Empire Loyalists, many of whom had previously settled in Saint John, New Brunswick, or in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia, during the Loyalist migration to British North America.

Heritage Sites

Though a mostly residential and small-scale commercial community without much in terms of business opportunities, the Town of Madawaska does not have much in terms of sites associated with heritage, unlike the Canadian city opposite the Saint John River. In Madawaska itself, the Inn of Acadia is a two-star hotel, and the Martin Acadian Homestead and Learning Center is located further west and also defines culture in the region.

Infrastructure

While the United States Customs 🛃 and Border Protection of the Department of Homeland Security maintain an official border crossing in the area between Madawaska and Edmundston, the only internal highway of the United States serving the Madawaska area is United States Route 1, serving west-to-east as a north-to-south route.

Hype for the Future 62D: Town of Fort Kent, Maine

Introduction

Fort Kent is a town located at the northern terminus of United States Highway 1 in Aroostook County, Maine, and is located in the Saint John Valley.

Infrastructure

Three main highways exist in the Fort Kent area. United States Route 1, largely descended from New England Route 1 in the region, exists to service the communities along the eastern border of Maine with New Brunswick before turning to finally parallel the Atlantic Ocean. Route 11 is a north-south state highway roughly following the central spine of the State of Maine, though the actual highway route is located somewhat further to the east. Route 161, which also cuts through Fort Kent, leads west toward Allagash and east toward Caribou by way of New Canada and dispersed Swedish settlements in the region. Though Route 11 is largely directed through remote rural areas of the Maine North Woods, the next community of any significance is the Town of Ashland, at the junction with eastbound Route 163.

University of Maine

Though not the main campus of the University of Maine (UMaine), which is located in Orono in Penobscot County, the Town of Fort Kent contains the University of Maine-Fort Kent, serving a disproportionately Francophone community in northern Maine opposite the Canadian Province of New Brunswick and relatively nearby to Edmundston, NB.

America’s First Mile

The phrase “America’s First Mile” refers to the northernmost mile of United States Route 1, as the highway enters the United States from Canada opposite the Saint John River, though the area on the Canadian side is actually more rural.

Historic Sites

While not much exists within the Town of Fort Kent—not even the traditional “college town” vibe nor the associated amenities—the Town is actually home to the Daigle-Dube House and the Fort Kent State Historic Site.

Hype for the Future 62A: Town of Allagash, Maine

Introduction

The Town of Allagash is a town of around three hundred people in the northern part of the State of Maine, directly located along the Saint John River at the mouth of the Allagash River.

Watershed

Generally, the community of Allagash will flow into the Bay of Fundy by way of the Saint John River, passing through the communities of Fredericton and Saint John along the journey. The chief tributary of the Saint John River, the Allagash River, is the namesake of the town located to the west of Houlton.

Highways

The Town of Allagash, Maine, is located exclusively on Maine Route 161, which leads east toward Fort Kent and west toward Pohénégamook, Québec, Canada.

Places to Stay

The Town of Allagash is only known for camping and recreational vehicle (RV) parks. Traditional lodging options tend not to exist in closer proximity to the town than around Fort Kent, Maine, at the northern end of United States Highway 1.

Cultural Amenities

Unfortunately, as an extremely rural settlement, the only amenity that might be recorded as a thing to do is the Allagash Historical Society, located on the upper side of the town along the Saint John River.