A COASTAL DAY WITH BITS OF MAINE HISTORY

We recently received an invitation to visit one of Ann's former co-workers, Faye Farrington, and we jumped at the chance to visit with her and explore more of Maine's mid-coast.  Faye has a summer cottage near Popham Beach State Park. This is her third summer living in this quaint New England village of less than 100 summer residents, with only about a dozen of these residents calling this Maine coastal village home year-round. 

The biggest attraction in this area is Popham Beach State Park, with a wide sandy beach where tourists and locals alike can enjoy the gorgeous Maine summer weather. The large parking lot was about 2/3 full when we arrived at 11 am. When we got back from our hike about 90 minutes later, the lot was completely full.  Because so many people wanted to be on the beach on this warm day, those still in line waiting to get in the park gate parked their cars along the road and took the long walk to the beach, carrying their beach paraphernalia with them.

Popham Beach has played a part in Maine history, dating back to the early exploration of the New World to the defense of our national coastline.  As part of our visit, we wanted to see the local historical sights.

Fort Baldwin was built between 1905 and 1912. This location, overlooking the mouth of the Kennebec River was key to protecting the interior regions of Maine prior to World War 1.   

To see the remnants of Fort Baldwin, we hiked about a mile through a forest to discover the ruins of Fort Baldwin. The fort consisted of three batteries; the Hardman Battery is pictured below. We interpreted the lower "rooms" to be storage for explosives and cannon balls, as well as living quarters for the men stationed here. Many of the rooms had brick fireplaces. 

The Hawley Battery was constructed differently. The roof was covered with dirt and grass/weeds and there were less rooms in the lower level.

Here is the view of the top of this battery from the bay side. Observers would look out through the narrow opening to spot where the cannon balls landed and holler down corrections in aiming the cannons.

There was a separate observation tower. After I climbed four flights of stairs to the top, the view of the entrance to the harbor was magnificent. The only way the enemy was going to sneak past would have been during the dark of night.  

After visiting Fort Baldwin, we hiked to the shore of Atkins Bay and the site of Fort Saint George, the 1607 English settlement site in Maine. This monument shows the Virginia, a sailing vessel that was built here and later sailed to England when the one year old colony was dissolved after the harsh Maine winter. The mouth of the Kennebec River is visible beyond Atkins Bay.

We could see Fort Popham across the water from the site of Fort St. George.

We later took the short drive to Fort Popham, a semi-circular granite fort that was abandoned before it was completed. The fort was begun in 1862 for use during the Civil War. After some modifications, the fort was used again during the Spanish American War and World War I.

Fort Popham was built two levels high, with this view from the parade ground in the center of the fort. A cannon would have been located in each alcove. 

If you look to the upper left of this photo, you will see the last two alcoves on the left are unfinished. The granite was never put over top of the layer of brick.

From Fort Popham, we could look to the south to a stretch of beach. The building with the red roof was once a Coast Guard rescue station to try to save shipwrecked sailors. It is now a bed and breakfast inn.

Looking across the water to the north, we could see Georgetown, an area we visited about a month ago. Another postcard photo.

 

A second postcard view of Georgetown.

Here is a view of Popham Village taken from the dock in front of Fort Popham. Does this look like a typical New England village?

We had lunch at Anna's Waters Edge Restaurant, right on the water. 

We enjoyed our lunch while sitting at an outdoor picnic table like this one. We had the majestic view of this coastal cove.

While enjoying the cool breeze coming off the water, we viewed other coastal islands. The American flag indicates the amount of breeze. 

Another view in a different direction showing the working lobster dock.

After lunch we went back to Faye's cottage. In the late 1800's and the early 1900's, her cottage was the local elementary school. A bit of interesting trivia about her cottage - L.L. Bean dressed the door on the right with green garland and lights for Christmas and pictured this door along with the three evergreen bushes, complete with artificial snow, on the cover of their 1999 Christmas Catalog.

We had perfect weather for our journey to yet another part of the central Maine coastline. Our thanks to Faye for guiding us through a wonderful day off.  We renewed past friendships, learned some history, and enjoyed a nice "Maine lunch" overlooking a small Maine coastal cove. Can it get any better than this?