Following the last ice age, early native Americans called the Red Paint People traveled
widely throughout the region hunting game, building encampments, and roving the
sea in search of swordfish and walrus. These migrating tribes were not alone; the
Wabanaki Confederacy included the coast of DownEast Acadia as part of their ancestral
homelands, visiting places like today’s Mount Desert Island in warm weather.
Explorers from the mid-1500s on recognized the region’s riches. Settlements included
those established in Calais (1604), St. Saveur (1613), Pentagot (Castine, 1625), and at
Machias (1631). It was overlapping claims to the strategically important port town of
Castine that escalated into the first significant conflict between Maine’s French and British.
In 1775, conflict over long straight timbers needed to repair British warships led to the
taking of the British sloop Margaretta at Machias—the first naval battle of the American
Revolution. Later, after the War of 1812 ended, Eastport remained under British control for
another four years, making it the last American territory returned to the U.S.
The region’s industrious past also has many ties to America’s economic history. Herring
and anchovies for canning built the fortunes of Eastport and Lubec. Granite pulled from
deep quarries in Stonington helped shape a growing nation. Even the wooded town of
Princeton, near Grand Lake Stream, was once home to the world’s largest leather tannery.
The unsurpassed natural beauty of Mount Desert Island attracted industrialists like
John D. Rockefeller, Jr. to create a way for visitors to enjoy the area via the carriage roads
in Acadia National Park. It was also here on Campobello Island, where FDR spent his
childhood summers and later would gather with his family, his wife Eleanor, and friends
for their annual summer retreat to enjoy outdoor recreation on both land and water.
During 2020, discover the big and small ways DownEast Acadia communities will be
celebrating 200 years of Maine Statehood. MAINE200.ORG
Watch reenacted battles of the American Revolution in Machias.
Plan Your Visit Today!
For more about our history
visit DownEastAcadia.com
Traditional Wabanaki crafts
Cottage House, Acadia National Park
TRUE MAINE | 19
A Rich History to be Uncovered