Maine Miscellaneous Topics

Four U.S. Navy ships have been named USS Maine in honor of the state.

The noted American ecologist Rachel Carson did much of her research at one of the Maine seacoast's most characteristic features, a tide pool for her classic "The Edge of the Sea." The spot where she conducted observations is now preserved as the Rachel Carson Salt Pond Reserve at Pemaquid Point.

Maine is the only U.S. state to have a name one syllable long; all other 49 states have at least two syllables.

Maine is the only U.S. state to only be bordered by one state (New Hampshire); all other 49 states have multiple or zero bordering states.

The town of Lubec, Maine is the eastern-most point within the contiguous United States - for more information see extreme points of the United States. Eastport, Maine is the eastern-most city in the United States.

Estcourt Station is Maine's northernmost point and also the northernmost point in the New England region of the United States.

Maine is the number one exporter of blueberries and toothpicks. The largest toothpick manufacturing plant in the United States is located in Strong, Maine. The Strong Wood Products Incorporated plant produces twenty million toothpicks a day.[7]

Cadillac Mountain in Bar Harbor, Mt. Katahdin in Baxter State Park, and Mars Hill Mountain in Mars Hill each battle to be the first site in the contiguous United States to see the morning's sunlight. [5]Maine's first light depends on the time of year, as the sunrise moves from South to North. From October 7 to March 6, Cadillac Mountain is first. From March 7 to March 24, East Quoddy Head is first in the country. Warmer months, March 25 to September 18, Mars Hill Mountain sees first light. Then, when the sun starts getting lower in the sky, The country's day begins between September 19 to October 6 back at East Quoddy Head.

Maine has 62 lighthouses.

• State berry: Wild Blueberry
• State bird: Black-capped Chickadee
• State cat: Maine Coon
• State fish: Land-locked salmon
• State flower: White Pinecone and Tassel
• State fossil: Pertica Quadrifaria
• State gemstone: Tourmaline
• State herb: Wintergreen
• State insect: European honey bee
• State mammal: Moose
• State animal: Moose
• State Beverage: Moxie
• State soil: Chesuncook soil series
• State song: State of Maine Song
• State tree: Eastern White Pine
• State vessel: Arctic exploration schooner Bowdoin
• State motto: Dirigo ("I lead" or "I direct")

(See also: www.maine.gov portal.)

• The Cider House Rules, a novel by John Irving (and later a motion picture) is based in Maine and is set in fictional Maine towns such as St. Cloud's, Heart's Haven, Heart's Rock, and Three Mile Falls. Portland, a Maine city, is also mentioned.

• Empire Falls, a motion picture based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name, was filmed almost entirely in the Maine towns of Waterville and Skowhegan.

• Wet Hot American Summer, a 2001 motion picture comedy about counselors at a summer camp, was set at a fictitious Firewood Camp near Waterville, Maine. The movie is reportedly based off of the directors' experiences at camps in Canaan, Maine and the Berkshires in Massachusetts.

• Stephen King bases much of his fiction in Maine.

• Murder, She Wrote, a television series starring Angela Lansbury, set in the fictional Maine village of Cabot Cove.

• In the Bedroom, a motion picture based on the short story Killings, is based in Maine.

• M*A*S*H character Hawkeye Pierce is from the fictional Maine town of Crabapple Cove.

A citizen of Maine is known as a "Mainer," though the term "Downeaster" may be applied to residents of the northeast coast of the state. Citizens of Maine sometimes jokingly refer to themselves as "Maineiacs."