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Western & Eastern Treasures

Ghost Town USA Column Index for Maine

Sitting in the far northeast corner of the United States, is the state of Maine. From the rugged, wind-blown coast, up through the forested interior to the Canadian border, Maine has seen a booming and fading of fishing towns, agricultural hamlets, logging camps, railroad construction camps, and military posts in over 400 years of European exploration, colonization, and civilization.

Wild-eyed, hard living logging camps and railroad construction camps exploded across the forested mountains and river lands. Some of these camps settled down and grew into respectable towns, while others faded away faster than evaporating water. Military posts popped up in the backcountry to protect the new settlers, and faded into as obscurity as the physical threats of fighting between the Native-American occupants and the newcomers lessened.

From all these sources came hundreds of ghost towns, of which the following guide only opens the book on what remains hidden. Some of Maine’s ghost towns are readily accessible, others extremely difficult to find or gain access to. Most are on private property or state-owned land. Others crouch abandoned behind protective "No Trespassing" signs. Even so, most are open and available for the avid ghosttowner who can research out the sites, and obtain any needed permission to visit the sites.

If you visit any of these locations, please honor any signs that might be visible. If the site is located on private property, obtain written permission from the legal landowner, and tenant (if appropriate) to visit. This will help to protect us so that we may enjoy these ghosts in the future. Maine's ghost towns have suffered grievously from the encroachment of modern man and his malicious methods of destroying things, as well as extreme weather conditions. They have suffered tremendous vandalism and abuse. It is up to each of us as concerned ghosttowners and citizens to protect our rights to visit, and the ghost town's right to exist. Ghost Towns and even semi ghost towns with visible ruins or standing buildings have become an endangered species, so much care must be exercised to prevent their total extinction.

If you know of any ghost towns in Maine that are not listed here, or know the current status of towns listed with little information, please contact us…

PLEASE NOTE: 

Where photos are indicated thusly (PHOTO!), please use your browser’s “BACK” button to return to this page.  More photos will be added over time.

ASKWITH

Somerset Co.

Between Greenville and Rockwood. It once had a post office, but is not shown in the Rand McNally Commercial Atlas.  In 1895 there was no post office or express office, but it did have a railroad.  Exact location not determined

On May 22, 2002, Kevin Tremblay contacted me and added this info: “There is only one other reference that I have seen to this town.  The Maine Department of Conservation has a town place name Askwith as being Taunton and Raynham Academy Grant, which is contiguous to Rockwood.

    “This section of the state has unincorporated townships.  The Dept of Conservation lists the county as Piscataquis.  However from the shore the area is Somerset County.  Taunton & Raynham are in Somerset County.

    “This appears to be on the shore of Moosehead Lake.  The rail road stopped in Rockwood years ago.”

GNIS lists the ASKWITH Post Office as a variant name for the TARRATINE Post Office (est 1900).  It also lists the BRADBURY Post Office as another variant name. However no location is noted.  Tarratine is located in Township T1R1, in Somerset County, just west of the southeastern tip of Brassua Lake, southwest of Rockwood, on the Canadian Pacific Railroad, about seven miles west of the scattered rural community of Moosehead.  Moosehead is located on SH 6/15 and the railroad, at the western shore of Moosehead Lake.  So whether Askwith is the same location as Tarratine or the Askwith post office relocated there and changed names is unclear.  The GNIS/Google map shows the Tarratine railroad siding just west of where SH 6/15 crosses the tracks. No buildings are visible in the aerial photos/topo maps.

·        Latitude: 45.61841

·        Longitude: -69.84396

BIGELOW

Franklin Co.

Also known as Bigelow Station, this old town site is on SH 16/27 and the South Branch of the Carrabassett River, eight miles southeast of Stratton.  It is not listed in the 1895 Maine atlas, and it did have a post office at one time.  Itb was located south of Flagstaff Lake.

There was also a Bigelow Post Office in operation 1900-1911, that was listed by GNIS in the Town of Crockertown, which is not shown on the map.

·        Latitude: 45.0808884 / 45° 04’ 51” N

·        Longitude: -70.3206230 / 70°19’ 14” W

BISBEE COPPER MINE

Hancock Co.

Located 1.5 miles southwest of Blue Hill, which is on SH 15, along the coast 14 miles southwest of Ellsworth. The topographic map on GNIS shows an unnamed mine on the southeast side of Second Pond, along with tailing piles.  This may be the old mine. 

·        Latitude: 44.39306

·        Longitude: -68.62082

CAPE ROSIER MINE

Hancock Co.

On the GNIS topographic map, a “tailing pile” is shown on Old Mine Road about 0.75 miles southeast of Harborside, along the west side of the inlet east of Harborside, due south of Castine.  Harborside is located on the east side of Penobscot Bay, on the northwestern side of Cape Rosier.

Harborside is located at the following coordinates:

·        Latitude: 44.3489664 / 44° 20’ 56” N

·        Longitude: -68.8147523 / 68° 48’ 53” W

·         

The tailing pile is at:

·        Latitude: 44.34311

·        Longitude: -68.80681

DANFORTH

Washington Co.

In 2000 this class E town had 629 people, but it once had over 1500. In the 1895 Maine Atlas lists it at 832 folks.  It is located at the junction of US 1/SH 169, at northern county line. The post office was still active in 1995.

·        Latitude: 45.660278 / 45° 39′ 37″ N

·        Longitude: -67.868333 / 67° 52′ 06″ W

DOCHET ISLAND

Washington Co.

Also called the St Croix River French Settlement, this colonial French settlement is at or near Red Beach, which is on the St. Croix River, just north of Passamaquoddy Bay in the far eastern tip of the state, along the Canadian border.

Red Beach is located at:

·        Latitude: 45.1203538 / 45° 07’ 13” N

·        Longitude: -67.1466529 / 67° 08’ 48” W

DREW

Penobscot Co.

Nothing remains where this busy community once stood on the Mattawamkeag River, between Kingman and Wytopitlock, in the northeastern corner of the county. The area had 57 people in 1980.  It once had a post office.

EAGLE LAKES LOGGING CAMPS

Piscataquis Co.

Near Chamberlain Lake, possibly south side? Exact location not determined.

EAST BROWNFIELD

Oxford Co.

At the junction of SH 160 & 5/113, seven miles south of Fryeburg. It once had a post office.

FOREST CITY

Washington Co.

This tiny former lumbering town still has a handful of people, and sits on an unnumbered road that runs northeast of Brookton, almost due east of Dansforth along west side of Chiputneticook Lakes.  It once had a post office.

FORT BALDWIN

Sagadahoc Co.

This former military post was about ten miles south of Bath, near Parker Head, on the east side of the peninsula & one mile north of Ft. Popham.

FORT GORGES

Cumberland Co.

On Hog Island, in Portland Bay.

FORT KENT MILLS

Aroostook Co.

Today less than 200 people remain in this former lumber town located on SH 11 just south of Fort Kent.

FORT PENTAGOET

Hancock Co.

On the bank of the Bagaduce River on east side of Penobscot Bay near Castine.

GEORGETOWN

Sagadahoc Co.

Was support town for Watt's Garrison, which was a military post three miles south of modern Georgetown.  It once had a post office.

HURRICANE ISLAND

Knox Co.

Hurricane Island is off the coast of Rockland, near Vinalhaven. It was a granite mining town in the late 1800 - early 1900's. Currently, it is the site of the Outward Bound School, and all that's left of the original town is some foundations of buildings. There's actually a book about it by Eleanor Motley Richardson called "Hurricane Island, The Town that Disappeared". My family has vacationed in Vinalhaven for years, and a family friend went to school with the last remaining residents of Hurricane Island back in the 1930's.

Contributed by Erin Nantais, Oct 15, 2004

JESUIT COLONY

Hancock Co.

On Mt Desert Island (Bar Harbor)

KATAHDIN IRON WORKS

Piscataquis Co.

Now a State park. Seven miles northwest of SH 11, at a point 15 miles north-northwest of Milo.

LEAD MOUNTAIN CCC CAMP

Hancock Co.

This 1930s era Civilian Conservation Corps camp was located north of SH 9, just west of the county line.

NORTH NEWRY

Oxford Co.

On SH 26, five miles northwest of Newry, which is on SH 2, 18 miles southwest of Rumford.  It once had a post office.

OXBOW

Aroostook Co.

Tiny town of 35 people on a dirt road five miles west of SH 11 at a point five miles south of Masardis.  It once had a post office.

PEMAQUID

Lincoln Co.

45 people still live here. Pemaquid is located on SH 130, 12 miles south of Newcastle, & ten miles south of Damariscotta.  It once had a post office.

PEMBROKE IRON MINE & FURNACE

Washington Co.

One-time iron forge and mine located on SH 1 near town of Pembroke.  Exact location not determined.

PENTAGOET

Hancock Co.

This French colonial settlement was located on the bank of the Bagaduce River on east side of Penobscot Bay near Castine. It began as a trading post dating to the early 1600s. By 1635 the French forced the British out of the region, and in 1654, the British returned the favor.  In 1670, the region was returned to the French.  They fortified the site and made it the capital of French Acadia from 1670-1674.  In 1674 the fort and settlement were attacked and destroyed, never to be rebuilt.

This was our Ghost Town of the Month for January 2007

POPHAM COLONY

Sagadahoc Co.

At site of Fort Baldwin, about ten miles south of Bath.

SPRING’S TAVERN

Oxford Co.

Former roadhouse/tavern between Hiram & E. Brownfield? Exact location not determined.

STEVENSON TAVERN

Waldo Co.

Former roadhouse/tavern located about two miles north of Belfast, on US 1.

WALLAGRASS

Aroostook Co.

50 people live in this tiny town located on SH 11, ten miles south of Fort Kent, at the north end of state.  It once had a post office.

WALLAGRASS STATION

Aroostook Co.

On the railroad just east of Wallagrass.

Historians estimate that there may be as many as 50,000 ghost towns scattered across the United States of America.

Gary B. Speck Publications is in process of publishing unique state, regional, and county guides called

The Ghost Town Guru's Guide to the Ghost Towns of “STATE”™

These original guides are designed for anybody interested in ghost towns. Whether you are a casual tourist looking for a new and different place to visit, or a hard-core ghost town researcher, these guides will be just right for you. With over 30 years of research behind them, they will be a welcome addition to any ghost towner's library.

Thank you, and we'll see you out on the Ghost Town Trail!

For more information on the ghost towns of MAINE, contact us at

Ghost Town USA.

E-mailers, PLEASE NOTE:

Due to the tremendous amount of viruses, worms and “spam,” out there, I no longer open or respond to e-mails with unsolicited attachments, OR messages on the subject lines with “Hey”, “Hi”, “Need help”, “Help Please”, “???”, or blank subject lines, etc.  If you do send E-mail asking for information, or sharing information, PLEASE indicate the appropriate location AND state name, or other topic on the “subject” line.

THANK YOU!  :o)

IMPORTANT

These listings and historical vignettes of ghost towns, near-ghost towns and other historical sites in MAINE above are for informational purposes only, and should NOT be construed to grant permission to trespass, metal detect, relic or treasure hunt at any of the listed sites.

If the reader of this guide is a metal detector user and plans to use this guide to locate sites for metal detecting or relic hunting, it is the READER'S responsibility to obtain written permission from the legal property owners. Please be advised, that any state or nationally owned sites will probably be off-limits to metal detector use. Also be aware of any federal, state or local laws restricting the same.

When you are exploring the ghost towns of MAINE, please abide by the

Ghost Towner's Code of Ethics.