July 28, 1759: Britain’s construction of Fort Pownall, in what now is the town of Stockton Springs, is completed. It is named for Massachusetts Bay provincial Gov. Thomas Pownall, who oversaw construction. The fort is intended to make the area safe for European settlement and to drive off Norridgewock and Penobscot tribes. It is later […]
Bicentennial
Stories about Maine’s 202 Bicentennial from the Sun Journal.
Posted inBicentennial, Maine
On this date in Maine history: July 27
July 27, 2011: Transportation officials from Maine and New Hampshire agree to close the Memorial Bridge across the Piscataqua River permanently – about a year ahead of what was expected. The announcement essentially puts U.S. Route 1 businesses on either side of the 88-year-old bridge, in Kittery and Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on dead end roads […]
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On this date in Maine history: July 26
July 26, 1819: Maine residents vote overwhelmingly for separation from Massachusetts, 17,091 to 7,132, in contrast to the two much closer referendums held in 1816. The pro-separation result is strongest in Kennebec County, where the “yes” tally exceeds 75 percent in all but six towns. A majority of voters in each other county opts for […]
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On this date in Maine history: July 25
July 25, 1722: Massachusetts Bay Colony Gov. Samuel Shute declares war on the Wabanaki Confederacy. This begins what is referred to variously as Lovewell’s or Dummer’s War among other names as well. It is during this three-year conflict that English raiders in 1724 destroy the Native American settlement at Norridgewock, killing and scalping The Rev. […]
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On this date in Maine history: July 24
July 24, 1927: Two months after his pioneering solo trans-Atlantic flight in the Spirit of St. Louis, aviator Charles Lindbergh lands the same plane in Old Orchard Beach while on a goodwill tour. His original landing site – Portland’s new airfield in Scarborough – is fogbound, so he uses Old Orchard Beach instead. “You see, […]
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On this date in Maine history: July 23
July 23, 1849: Gov. John Dana signs a bill permitting the incorporation of Augusta, Maine’s capital, as a city. At a special meeting held the following Dec. 31, voters approve the incorporation, 586-196. City government and its departments are organized in 1850. In the first mayoral election, candidates run on a partisan basis, unlike the […]
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On this date in Maine history: July 22
July 22, 2010: The only financial backer of a proposed $1 billion liquefied natural gas terminal in the small Canadian-border city of Calais withdraws from the project. The pullout of investment bank Goldman Sachs and its subsidiary, GS Power Holdings, LLC, was one of many problems that doomed the project. A group called Calais LNG […]
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On this date in Maine history: July 21
July 21, 1957: Kenneth Roberts, known chiefly for his many historical novels, dies at the age of 71 in Kennebunkport, where he was born and where he lived for many years. Roberts’ best-known works include “Northwest Passage,” a French and Indian War-era tale that was published in 1937 and made into a 1940 movie starring […]
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On this date in Maine history: July 20
July 20, 1970: A fire of unknown origin destroys a B-52 Stratofortress bomber on the ground at Loring Air Force Base in Limestone. The $7.7 million (about $51.4 million in 2019) jet burns down to the tarmac in less than an hour. Small explosions occur when fuel tanks rupture and the plane’s tires burst. Two […]
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On this date in Maine History: July 19
July 19, 1969: A fire breaks out in the amusement area known as the White Way in Old Orchard Beach, destroying about two blocks and one-third of the town’s famous pier, from which many visitors are evacuated by ladder. The fire, striking at the height of the tourist season, inflicts severe burns on one person […]