Mainebiz Special Editions

V O L . X X V I N O. X V I 200 200 IDEAS FOR MAINE'S BICENTENNIAL 38 Fact Book / Doing Business in Maine One of North America's first sawmills was built in Berwick in 1634. 1 Maine's oldest home still standing is thought to be the John McIntire House on the York River, in York, built in 1707. The Maine State Prison Industries Program began in 1824, with prisoners making harnesses, upholstery and more for sale, and is now a $1.5 million self- funded operation, with its showroom on Main Street in Thomaston, which sells furniture, crafts and more, and goods also sold through 60 private vendors. Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote "Uncle Tom's Cabin," considered to be a major factor in abolishing slavery, while she and her husband Calvin, a professor at Bowdoin, lived at 63 Federal St. in Brunswick. It was published in 1851. Maine had the first official criminal execution in the newly formed United States of America, hanging Thomas Bird, convicted of piracy, in Bramhall Square in Portland in 1790. Maine was also the third state to abolish the death penalty, in 1876. It was reinstated in 1883, then abolished again in 1887. 2 Louis Sockalexis, of the Penobscot Nation, was the first Indian to play Major League Baseball, joining the Cleveland Spiders in 1897. They were later renamed the Cleveland Indians in his "honor." 3 The ubiquitous Maine Italian sandwich was invented by Giovanni Amato, of Amato's, on India Street, Portland, in 1899, and traditionally, has ham and/or salami, cheese, tomatoes, onions, pickles, green pepper and olive oil, and is served in a large sub roll. The original Abbe Museum opened in 1928 at Sieur de Monts Spring in Acadia National Park. Its mission was a better understanding of Maine's Wabanaki cul- tures, history and archaeology. The idea for the Appalachian Trail began in Maine in the 1930s. In the past decade, the Appalachian Mountain Club has invested $75 million in the state. Once its Maine Woods Initiative is completed in 2022, it will have protected 100,000 acres of Maine Woods. Penobscot Marine Museum is founded in 1936 in Searsport and is Maine's oldest maritime museum. 4 The Clean Water Act of 1972 had a key advocate in U.S. Sen. Edmund Muskie, D-Maine, who served in the Senate from 1959–80. 5 Lobster trap design has remained essentially the same for a century, including netted funnels to separate compartments that make it possible for lobsters to enter but not exit. Once made from wood laths, PVC-coated wire mesh began coming into broad use in the 1980s. Tides Institute & Museum of Art was founded in Eastport in 2002 to foster innovative work, preservation efforts, partnerships and the region's eco- nomic prosperity. Maine has over 15 James Beard Foundation award winners recognizing culinary professionals in the U.S. P H O T O / L I B R A R Y O F C O N G R E S S P H O T O / G O O G L E M A P S P H O T O / P U B L I C D O M A I N P H O T O / P U B L I C D O M A I N P H O T O / D E R E K R A M S E Y, W I K I P E D I A 1 2 3 5 4

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