I’m about to start a new D&D campaign. But it’s set in 1959 and some year before the Revolutionary War.
To that end I need to find a town in Maine - preferably not too big - where I can get maps from 1959 and before the war. Anyone have any guidance?
Wiki-surf “maine” and “revolutionary” and see what comes up as far as small towns. Then google the town and see if there’s a local library or historical society. Check their websites for maps online, and if there aren’t any, there should be a “contact us” email or phone number. Get in touch and ask for their earliest town map.
Shouldn’t be hard to find a pre-Revolutionary map – all of the creepy small towns in Maine are still owned by King.
<slow clap>
wasn’t maine part of one of the other colonies until 1819 or so ?
I’ve seen fairly detailed maps of York, ME, Falmouth, ME and Wells, ME in local libraries as wall decor.
Here’s one for Falmouth harbor, 1776. You can print from the image. I have before.
I recommend Castine. It’s way down east, not far from Blue Hill.
A beautiful small town, a great port (some sort of Marine Academy has been based there for a long time), and very rich in historical event. It’s full of fascinating historical markers that say things like “Here the Native American Bloodthirst tribe cut the ears and noses off two hundred and seventeen French prisoners.”
Okay, it’s the Maine Marine Academy. And I misremembered…the historical marker was about an Englishman and boy who were tortured by natives and forced to eat their own ears and noses before being burned at the stake. The actual sign is pictured on the wiki site.
“Hey kid, would you pass the ketchup?”
If God had to pick a Maine town to use in a game, you can bet it would be Castine…
The Pentagoet Inn was one of the first B&Bs I stayed in, back in the early '80s. Also, great seafood down at Dennet’s Wharf. Try the raw sea urchin!
^ Do you think it’s significant that Don “American Pie” McLean lives there?
Here is a web site I use often in my research. This link is to the Maine index. Pick a city directly, or pick any county and there will be maps of all the townships and cities for various years.
Dennis
Try your local public library or local history museum. The local library in the nearest city has an extensive collection of historical maps of the area from the 1700’s to the early 1900’s, and the museum has another collection. Even if you can’t score a map at one of these locations, they should be able to steer you in the right direction on who might have one. There might be a map in a local public school, police station, or maybe even the mayor’s office that you can go view and take notes from. Sometimes courts hold important local documents, so a call to your local courthouse might also be a good idea.
Also, +1 for the OP for wanting to do research rather than just making stuff up.
I count 33 towns that were organized (i.e., incorporated) before 1776. They were generally settled several years before being organized. The situation is complicated by mergers, secession, renaming, etc. For example, Portland isn’t listed because it was part of Falmouth until 1786.
Here’s a map of the Maine coast and some distance inland from Cape Elizabeth to Searsport published in April 1776. It includes the modern towns/cities of Portland, Augusta, Lewiston, Auburn, Waterville, Brunswick, Rockland, Belfast, and many smaller towns. Unfortunately, the settlements are not always labeled according to their modern names on that map. Each square on the map (best visible at maximum zoom) represents one building. Note how few roads there are, especially once you get more than a mile or so from the coast. Inland almost all the houses are directly on navigable rivers. This map is from the Osher Map Library which also has other colonial-era digital maps of Maine available online but none I noticed with this level of detail.
1652 Kittery
1652 York
1653 Kennebunkport
1653 Wells
1658 Scarborough
1716 Berwick
1716 Georgetown
1718 Biddeford
1718 Falmouth
1732 North Yarmouth
1739 Brunswick
1753 Newcastle
1758 Harpswell
1759 Woolwich
1760 Wiscasset
1762 Bowdoinham
1762 Buxton
1762 Saco
1762 Windham
1764 Boothbay
1764 Gorham
1764 Topsham
1765 Bristol
1765 Cape Elizabeth
1767 Lebanon
1768 Sanford
1771 Hallowell
1771 Vassalboro
1771 Winslow
1771 Winthrop
1773 Belfast
1773 Waldoboro
1774 New Gloucester
Maps from the 1950s are easier to find with the Historical USGS map explorer
That map depicts the area now occupied by Lewiston and Auburn, which were settled a few years before the map was published. The map, however, does not depict any buildings in that area.