22 Obscure Facts About Maine That Will Leave You Confused

Besides Pennywise the Dancing Clown, there is much to discover in the state of Maine. With a population of about 1.4M people, there is a lot to learn about New England’s northernmost state.

Here are 22 obscure facts about the “Pine Tree State” Maine:

1. Maine was the first state to pass a statewide prohibition law in 1846. National Prohibition was not passed until 1920; Maine got the ball rolling by banning the manufacture, transportation, and sale of alcohol. In case you missed it, Maine completely lifted its ban on alcohol in 1934.

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3. As expected, lobster pulls in millions of dollars a year for the state of Maine. An estimated 80-100 million pounds of lobster are caught each year (depending on the quality of the fishing season). In 2018, the peak season saw 119 million pounds of lobster caught.

4. Get ready for this: a Maine sea captain invented the donut hole. In 1847, Captain Hanson Crockett Gregory poked a hole in the dough before frying it, thus being credited with creating the donut hole.

5. Billboards are illegal statewide. Maine is one of four states that ban billboards (the others are Vermont, Alaska, and Hawaii). Like all four, it is designed to preserve the beauty of the environment.

6. Van Buren, Maine, is one of the northernmost towns in Maine. Kittery is one of the southernmost towns in Maine. They are about 371 miles apart, which means it would be a shorter trip to New York City (268 miles). It is less miles to go through three states than to go “wire-to-wire” in the state of Maine. “America’s First Mile” is almost equally far north. Point: Maine is sneaky extensive and time consuming to navigate.

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9. Want to know the origin of where Maine got its name from? Too bad. It is still unknown. Although speculation can obviously point to a “continent,” we can never get confirmation.

11. Maine only borders one other state (New Hampshire). Of the 50 states, Maine is the only one next to only ONE other State. Alaska and Hawaii do not share any states, and all other coastal states border at least two different states. Pretty wild.

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13. Pine trees cover about 89% of Maine’s land. For reference, Maine is about 17.5 million total acres. By comparison, humans don’t come close to filling the space in Maine, making it one of the emptiest states along with Alaska.

14. Maine has 18 Carnegie-funded public libraries. These libraries were funded by Scottish-American businessman and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. There are a total of 2,509 Carnegie libraries worldwide.

15. Until 1820, Maine was originally part of Massachusetts. Although the state of Maine was not part of the original 13 colonies, what is now Maine today was the only modern state that was fully part of the Massachusetts Bay Province. Which means: the sum area of ​​Maine is the only land of the United States that is part of the original colonies And NOT being part of the original colonies. Weird, isn’t it?

16. The easternmost point at Quoddy Head, Maine is closer to Northwest Africa than Florida due to the curvature of the Earth and the shape of the Atlantic. This makes Maine the closest US state to the continent of Africa.

19. Maine is where to be to see the first sunrise in the United States. There are three different places where you can see “the first light.” Those places include Cadillac Mountain, West Quoddy Head Light, and Mars Hill.

20. Freeport, Maine is home to LL Bean. When it comes to outdoor clothing, the popular retail store founded by Leon Leonwood Bean in 1912 was one of the most popular stores for all things outdoors.

21. Maine has more than 32,000 miles of rivers and streams. The longest river that flows through Maine, St. John River, spans 418 miles. The longest river in the borders of Maine is the Penobscot River, which is about 350 miles.

22. And finally, more water? Sure! Maine has over 6,000 lakes and ponds. The largest lake, Moosehead Lake, covers nearly 75,000 acres. Lots of fishing and canoeing opportunities throughout the state. I stick to wildlife watching.

Do you know any interesting facts about Maine? Please share them in the comments below!

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