<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0Tio4L_0vjaQkiP00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0Tio4L_0vjaQkiP00" width="1200" height="800" ></figure>A name and a Delorme’s Maine Atlas are given to every Mainer at birth.People in Maine are so used to having a map in their car that it feels empty without one. In this day and age, GPS devices and apps make it easier to find your way, but there’s still something comforting about flipping through an old-fashioned map. Pages that are torn and coffee spots show that the owner has been somewhere.Every map page hides a secret. Small symbols encourage discovery of parks, family-friendly activities, and interesting natural features. And there are ghosts in these pages. They are ghosts of places that are no longer there, only their names.A lot of the ghosts have weird names. To get from Rockwood to Jackman, people must go through Taunton &amp; Raynham Academy Grant, which is just north of Misery Grow.As part of their deal to split from Massachusetts, Maine had to divide up any land that hadn’t already been given to someone when it became a state in 1820.After that, Massachusetts could sell its land and pay off its War of 1812 bills. In fact, a lot of land in Maine had already been sold when it was still a part of Massachusetts. The money from the sales helped pay off debts from the American Revolution.A lot of land in Maine was moved during the war against the British.A number of grants were given to schools near Moosehead Lake to help them get the money they needed. The Pilgrims were the ones who first came to Taunton and settled there.This town in the south of Massachusetts is nearer to Providence than to Boston. The original Taunton &amp; Raynham Academy isn’t very important to history, but the name lives on as a mark on the Maine map, just west of Rockwood.In the same way, the Sandwich Academy Grant went to a school in Sandwich, Massachusetts, that opened in 1804 on Cape Cod. Its ghost can be found on the Maine map, just west of the Taunton &amp; Raynham school ghost. The school is no longer there.Days Academy opened in 1806 in Wrentham, Massachusetts. After 64 years, it was gone, but its ghost lives on. At the base of Mt. Kineo, on the east side of Moosehead Lake, is the Days Academy Grant Township.Before Maine became a state, Bowdoin College was a part of Massachusetts for 26 years. The Massachusetts lawmakers thought it was important enough to give twice as much as usual. The town gave the college two townships in 1812.These are now known as Bowdoin College Grant West and Bowdoin College Grant East on the map. They’re not far from Greenville.Some of the land was sold to help pay for other important things in the Bay State. During the 18th century, canals moved a lot of things. The Middlesex Canal, which ran from Boston to the Merrimack River for fifty years, was the longest and most famous canal.Two pieces of land in Maine, one on each side of the north end of Moosehead Lake, were given to help pay for this early stage of the Big Dig. The Middlesex Canal is mostly gone, but its name is still on the map of Maine.New Hampshire Gore is a small piece of land in Franklin County, New Hampshire. It is right next to Coburn Gore and just across the line from New Hampshire. The first part of its name comes from the time when Massachusetts owned the wood rights. This part means that the package was a mistake. There are villages all over Maine.In southern Maine, towns are often not perfectly round because that’s how they were built in the past. Each village in northern Maine is six miles long and wide.Early measuring was good, but lines didn’t always match up because different companies were surveying in the same area. The Old English word for this kind of mistake is gore. Instead of resurveying, gores were just named and placed on the map.It is 17 miles long and only half a mile wide in Somerset County. The mistake of Hibbert’s Gore in Lincoln County is very small—it’s only 640 acres and shapes like a flagpole. It looks like there are eight gores on the Maine map.Most villages that aren’t organized are just named with letters and numbers. Township 2 and Range 3 are the same as T2 R3. But the map is full of strange things. Township E is used for trips going north to Rangeley.Township D is right next to it to the west, and Township C is also west of D. But there is no Township A or B. Also, what does E Township in Aroostook County, which is 175 miles away, have to do with it? “The Maine Atlas” is a book about ghosts and lost things.</div></body>

Mountain View, CA

NewsBreak

Ingrained in state culture, beloved atlases are a must for Mainers

A name and a Delorme’s Maine Atlas are given to every Mainer at birth. People in Maine are so used to having a map in their car that it feels empty without one. In this day and age, GPS devices and apps make it easier to find your way, but there’s still something comforting about flipping through an old-fashioned map. Pages that are torn and coffee spots show that the owner has been somewhere.