tourmaline, spodumene (or kunzite) and beryl occur, the tourmaline
crystals being notably large and beautiful. Mineral water occurs
in many localities, particularly in Androscoggin, York, Cumberland
and Oxford counties; the most famous springs are the Poland
Springs in Androscoggin county. Most of the mineral waters
bottled in the state are chalybeate and slightly alkaline—saline;
their average temperature is about 43°. In 1908 27 springs were
reported, their aggregate sales amounting to 1,182,322 gallons.
Copper, gold alloyed with platinum, iron ore, barytes, graphite and
lead occur in small quantities in the state. In 1908 the total mineral
product of the state was valued at $7,044,678.
Manufactures.—Although Maine has no coal and only a very small amount of iron ore within her borders for the encouragement of manufacturing, yet the abundance of fine timber and the numerous coves, bays and navigable streams along or near the coast promoted ship-building from the first, and this was the leading industry of the state until about the middle of the 19th century, when wooden ships began to be supplanted by those of iron and steel. Until about the same time, when the Maine liquor law was passed, the manufacture of rum from molasses, received in exchange for lumber and fish in the West Indies, was also an important industry. It was not until early in the 19th century that the large and constant supply of water power afforded by the rivers began to be used to any considerable extent. The first cotton mill was built at Brunswick on the Androscoggin about 1809, and from 1830 the development of cotton manufacturing was rapid; woollen mills followed, and late in the 19th century were erected some of the largest paper and pulp mills in the country, which are run by water power from the rivers, and use the spruce and poplar timber in the river basins. The total value of the manufactures of the state increased from $95,689,500 in 1890 to $127,361,485 in 1900; and in 1905 the value of factory-made products alone was $144,020,197, or 27.5% greater than their value in 1900.[1] Measured by the value of the output, paper and wood pulp rose from fifth among the state’s manufactures in 1890 to third in 1900 and to first in 1905; from $3,281,051 in 1890 to $13,223,275 in 1900, an increase of 303% within the decade, and to $22,951,124 in 1905, a further increase of 73.6% in this period. Lumber and timber products ranked second (1905)—$11,849,654 in 1890, $13,489,401 in 1900, and $17,937,683 in 1905. Cotton goods ranked third (1905) in value—$15,316,909 in 1890, $14,631,086 in 1900, and $15,404,823 in 1905. Woollen goods ranked fourth (1905)—$8,737,653 in 1890, $13,744,126 in 1900, an increase of 57.3% within the decade; and the value of the factory-made product alone in 1905 was $13,969,600, or 20.1% greater than in 1900. Boots and shoes ranked fifth (1905)—$12,295,847 in 1900, and $12,351,293 in 1905. Fish, canned and preserved, followed next, $1,660,881 in 1890 and $4,779,773 in 1900, an increase within the decade of 187.8%, most of which was in one branch—the canning of small herring under the name “sardines”; from 1900 to 1905 the increase was slight, only $275,358, or 5.8%. In the value of its manufactures as compared with those of the other states of the Union, in wooden ships and boats, Maine in 1900 and in 1905 was outranked by New York only; in canned and preserved fish by Washington only (the value of fish canned and preserved in Maine in 1900 was 21.7% of the total for the United States, and in 1905 19.2%); in the output of woollen mills by Massachusetts and Pennsylvania only; in the output of paper mills by New York and Massachusetts only. It ranked ninth in 1900 and tenth in 1905 in the value of its cotton goods. Portland, Lewiston, Biddeford, and Auburn are the leading manufacturing cities, and in 1905 the total value of their manufactures was 21.5% of those of the entire state. But from 1900 to 1905 the value of manufactures grew most rapidly in Rockland (especially noted for lime), the increase being from $1,243,881 to $1,822,591 (46.5%), and in Waterville, where the increase was from $2,283,536 to $3,069,309 (34.4%). Among the largest paper mills are those at Millinocket, in Penobscot county, at Madison on the Kennebec river, and at Rumford Falls on the Androscoggin river. Lewiston leads in the manufacture of cotton goods; Auburn, Bangor and Augusta, in the manufacture of boots and shoes; Bath, in ship and boat building; Eastport and Lubec, in canning “sardines.”
Transportation and Commerce.—The south-western part of the state, including the manufacturing, the quarrying, and much of the older agricultural district, early had fairly satisfactory means of transportation either by water or by rail; for the coast has many excellent harbours, the Kennebec river is navigable for coast vessels to Augusta, the Penobscot to Bangor, and railway service was soon supplied for the villages of the south-west, but it was not until the last decade of the 19th century that the forests, the farming lands, and the summer resorts of Aroostook county were reached by a railway, the Bangor & Aroostook. The first railway in the state, from Bangor to Old Town, was completed in 1836, and the state’s railway mileage increased from 12 m. in that year to 245 m. in 1850, to 1377.47 m. in 1890, and to 2210.79 in January 1909. The principal railway systems are the Maine Central, which enters every county but one, the Boston & Maine, the Bangor & Aroostook, the Grand Trunk and the Canadian Pacific. Lines of steamboats ply regularly between the largest cities of the state and Boston, between Portland and New York, and between Portland and several Canadian ports.
The foreign trade, especially that with the West Indies and with Great Britain, decreased after 1875, and yet much trade from the West that goes to Montreal during the warmer months passes through Portland during the winter season. The chief exports to foreign countries are textile fabrics, Indian corn, meat, dairy products, apples, paraffin, boards and shooks; the chief imports from foreign countries are sugar, molasses and wool. Fish, canned goods, potatoes, granite, lime, paper, and boots and shoes are also exported to foreign countries to some extent, but they are shipped in larger quantities to other states of the Union, from which Maine receives in return cotton, coal, iron, oil, &c. The ports of entry in Maine are Bangor, Bath, Belfast, Castine, Eastport, Ellsworth, Houlton, Kennebunk, Machias, Portland, Wiscasset and York.
Population.—The population in 1880 was 648,936; in 1890, 661,086; in 1900, 694,466; and in 1910, 742,371.[2] From 1880 to 1900 there was an increase of only 7%, a percentage which was exceeded in every other state in the Union except Nevada and Vermont. Of the total population of 1900, 599,291, or 86.3%, were native whites, 93,330 were foreign-born, 1,319 were negroes, 798 were Indians, 119 were Chinese, and 4 were Japanese. Of the inhabitants born in the United States, 588,211, or 97.8%, were natives of New England and 560,506 were natives of Maine, and of the foreign-born 67,077, or 71.8%, were natives of Canada (36,169 English and 30,908 French), and 10,159, or 10.8%, were natives of Ireland. Of the total population, 199,734 were of foreign parentage—i.e. either one or both parents were foreign-born—and 89,857 were of Canadian parentage, both on the father’s and on the mother’s side (41,355 English and 48,502 French). The French-speaking inhabitants probably number considerably more than 50,000. They are of two quite distinct classes. One, numbering about 15,000, includes those who became citizens by the establishment of the northern boundary in 1842 and their descendants. They are largely of Acadian stock. The state has established among them a well-appointed training school for teachers, conducted in the English language, the graduates of which render excellent service in the common schools. The other class is of French-Canadian immigrants, who find profitable employment in the manufacturing centres. The colony of Swedes established by the state near its north-eastern border in 1870 has proved in every way successful. The Indians are remnants of the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy tribes, the Passamaquoddies being a little the more numerous. The Penobscots’ chief gathering places are on the islands of the Penobscot river north of Old Town; the Passamaquoddies’, on the shores of Passamaquoddy Bay and the banks of the Saint Croix river.
Roman Catholics are more numerous than all the Protestant sects taken together, having in 1906 a membership of 113,419 out of a total of 212,988 in all denominations. In the last decade of the 19th century the urban population (i.e. population of places having 4,000 inhabitants or more) increased from 226,268 to 251,685, or 11.2%; the semi-urban population (i.e. population of incorporated places, or the approximate equivalent, having less than 4,000 inhabitants) increased from 14,221 to 26,674, or 87.5%; while the rural population (i.e. population outside of incorporated places) decreased from 420,597 to 416,134, or 1%. The principal cities of the state are: Portland, pop. (1910), 58,571; Lewiston, 26,247; Bangor, 24,803; Biddeford, 17,079; Auburn, 15,064; Augusta (the capital), 13,211; Waterville, 11,458; Bath, 9,396; Westbrook, 8,281; and Rockland, 8,174.
Administration.—Maine has had but one state constitution; this was ratified in December 1819, about three months before the admission of the state into the Union. It admits of amendment by a two-thirds vote of both houses of the legislature followed by a majority vote of the electorate at the next
- ↑ The census of 1905 was taken under the direction of the United States census bureau, but the statistics for hand trades were omitted.
- ↑ According to previous censuses the population was as follows: (1790) 96,540; (1800) 151,719; (1810) 228,705; (1820) 298,335; (1830) 399,455; (1840) 501,793; (1850) 583,169; (1860) 628,279; (1870) 626,915.
