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Maine State Archives Bicentennial Projects
The Maine State Archives celebrated the State of Maine’s bicentennial with two special projects to help the public engage with Maine history. Our archivists curated this information from our holdings and beyond to provide a glimpse into the people and places that have played an important role in the history of our State.
Maine Virtual Reality Experience
The Maine Virtual Reality Experience uses VR technology to put you within some of Maine’s most notable places. Viewers will feel as though they are standing at the site of interest and can activate pop-ups of historical anecdotes about the site simply by directing their gaze. These experiences can be viewed on a desktop computer, but are most effective when using a cell phone in a VR headset, for the full 360-degree immersive view. Click on a site below to begin your visit. Email Digital Archivist Kate Herbert with questions or further assistance.
Maine Virtual Reality Experience Instructions (pdf)

Maine State House, Augusta, Maine

Old Orchard Beach Pier
Special thanks to: Old Orchard Beach Historical Society, OOB Historian
Dan Blaney and “The Great Steel Pier” by Peter Dow Bachelder

Penobscot Narrows Bridge & Observatory
Special thanks to the Maine Dept. of Transportation, PNBO/Fort Knox Executive
Director Dean Martin, and Capt. Thomas N. Curtis of Verona Island Charters

Fort Knox State Historic Site
Special thanks to Fort Knox Executive Director Dean Martin

Downtown Portland, Maine

West Quoddy Head Lighthouse and State Park
Special thanks to Shawn Goggin, manager of Quoddy Head State Park;
and the West Quoddy Head Light Keepers Association, especially President Nickey Dubey, Executive Director Kimberly Ashby, Timothy Harrison (editor, Lighthouse Digest), Marty Saccone Photography, and Diana Hoppin.

Old Fort Western (Augusta, Maine)
Special thanks to Linda Novak, director and curator of the Old Fort Western Living History Museum
Maine Bicentennial Moments
The Maine Bicentennial Moments are 30-second public service announcements featuring Maine history. Each PSA includes images and documents from the Maine State Archives and other sources to highlight a particular person, place or event in Maine history.
Introductory Video: Welcome to Maine’s Bicentennial Commemoration
PSA links are embedded within the photos. Please click on any photo to view the accompanying PSA.
Maine’s Act of Admission to the Union
Gov. William King
Tribal Fishing Rights
Hodgdon Yachts
Bowdoin College
Maine Tourmaline
The Treat Journal
Gov. Enoch Lincoln
The Abyssinian Church
Charles Bulfinch and the State Capitol Building
The Kennebec Arsenal
The Aroostook War
Daniel Webster and the Border Treaty
Hiram Ricker of Poland Spring
Vice President Hannibal Hamlin
Adjutant General John Hodsdon
Samuel Cony and the University of Maine System
The Atlantic Coast pilot logs
Colby College
L.L. Bean
Gen. Joshua Chamberlain (Civil War)
Charles Tilden and the 16th Maine (Civil War)
Baxter State Park
Acadia – Creation of the national park/ Pres. Woodrow Wilson
Acadia – Beatrix Jones Farrand’s landscaping and carriage trails
Sen. Margaret Chase Smith
Fire tower maps
Amos Winter and Sugarloaf Mountain
Myron Avery and the Appalachian Trail
Gov. James Longley
Horace Beals: Togus Veterans Administration Hospital
Thomas Brackett Reed: U.S. Speaker of the House
Daniel Chaplin: 1st Maine Heavy Artillery (Civil War)
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Lakewood Theater
Dorothea Dix
Winslow Homer
Thomas Hyde (BIW)
Benjamin Bates (Bates Mill, Bates College)
James G. Blaine
Sarah Orne Jewett
Pete Newell (Liberty Ships)
Walter Wyman (CMP)
Harris Plaisted (11th Maine, Civil War)
Edmund Muskie
Rudy Vallee (1920s pop star)
Edwin Arlington Robinson (poet)
Clyde Sukeforth (baseball player/manager)
John Poor (advocate, Portland Harbor shipping)
William Pitt Fessenden (influential Civil War-era Senator)
Llewelyn Edwards (cobwork bridge)
Joseph Sayward (Maine Turnpike advocate, legislator)
Rachel Carson (environmental advocate)
Atticus (fugitive slave)
Sarah Sampson (orphanage founder)
Herbert Hildreth (Old Orchard Beach Pier founder)
Jasper Wyman (blueberry business)
Leslie Dyer (Maine Lobstermen's Association)
Florence Whitehouse (suffragette)
Hugh Chisholm (International Paper Co.)
Fly Rod Crosby (First Registered Maine Guide)
G.H. Bass (Shoemaking)
John Calvin Stevens (architect)
Monhegan Island (haven for artists)
Bernard “Blackie” Langlais (artist)
Eleanor and Lawrence M.C. Smith (State Park land donations)
Oliver Otis Howard (Founder, Howard University)
Scott and Helen Nearing (Back to the Land movement)
Lombard log hauler
Chester Greenwood- Earmuffs
Augustin Thompson – Moxie
J.B. Couture – Le Messager;
En Francais
William Clark Noble- Lady of Wisdom sculpture