Showing 1 - 5 of 5 Records
Revolutionary War Land Grant Application Records
- In the 1830s the Land Agent was tasked with overseeing the distribution of land to Revolutionary War veterans or their widows. These records contain registers of the applications, the applications that detail the veteran's military service, and the certificates granted.
Maps
- The Maine State Archives has an impressive collection of more than 2,000 maps and plans. Dating from the 17th century to the present, the maps cover areas all over the State of Maine and beyond. From plan books of the Land Office showing the division of public lands to International Boundary Maps showing the border between the United States and Canada in the mid-20th century, this varied collection of maps is available for research. The Baxter Rare Map Collection contains some of the Archives’ finest cartographic holdings, including approximately 90 maps commissioned by James Phinney Baxter, an antiquarian from Portland, Maine. These maps are copies of original 17th and 18th-century maps from the United Kingdom and Europe. Another highlight is the extensive collection of railroad maps from the Public Utilities Commission, showing both current and now-obsolete railroads.
WPA Cemetery Plans
- During the Great Depression, the Work Projects Administration (WPA) put millions of Americans to work on public works projects that ranged from building trails in National Parks to creating over 500 surveys of Maine cemeteries. These cemetery plans, transferred from the Office of the Adjutant General and now part of the holdings of the Maine State Archives, help us to identify war veterans’ final resting places.
Bingham Purchase
- In the 1780s and 1790s, Massachusetts wanted to sell off large tracts of land in Maine. William Bingham, a wealthy man from Philadelphia, managed to buy these two large tracts totaling nearly 2 million acres. The documents in this collection show the initial agreements and then deeds granting the land to Bingham in 1793.