Original subtitles

some families moved their homes to the mainland.

after the civil war,

suspicion of the mixed race community grew.

newspaper articles called it

"a blight on an otherwise picturesque isle."

in 1912, in a sad chapter of the state's history,

the government decided malaga was an embarrassment.

the state committed eight people

to the maine school for the feeble-minded

and evicted the rest.

they even destroyed the island's cemetery.

and eked out a living from the sea.

others moved to nearby islands.

a few may even have ended up back here on harbor island.

with treacherous tides, hidden reefs

and shoals stretching 3,500 miles, it's no surprise

has 60 lighthouses. that maine's coastline

look in your pocket and you may find this one on a coin.

it's the pemaquid point light, chosen by the state's residents

to be featured on the maine quarter.

in 1635, before the light was built, a man named john bailey

one tragic story of man's inhumanity

hiding it until colonial farmers and sheepherders

eroded the soil.

and then the desert of maine reappeared.

at the south end of casco bay, the maine coastline changes.

here, the sandy shoreline of the south

breaks into a series of islands carved by melting glaciers

thousands of years ago-- the calendar islands.

the islands we see today were once mountains

until they were drowned by a sea of melting ice.

while all the islands have felt nature's wrath,

sailed for the new world leaving his wife behind to follow him

began here on harbor island.

in 1794, benjamin darling,

a former slave from the west indies,

bought this island with the money he was given

in a shipwreck. for saving his master's life

he called it horse island.

over generations, his descendants settled

on the nearby island of malaga,

where they intermarried with whites

on the west side of penobscot bay,

it's easy to see why.

one of the great walks in maine has to be

along the granite breakwater of rockland harbor.

completed in 1899, the breakwater

leads to a lighthouse on penobscot bay.

fishing vessels and ferries

pass by the granite ledge all year long.

and in july the breakwater becomes the site

of the annual maine windjammer parade

featuring a display of turn-of-the-century cargo ships.

set off against a backdrop of colorful fall leaves,

the busy fishing port of rockland is known to visitors

as the place to catch ferries

to the splendid islands of the bay.

southwest of rockland, in the village of cushing,

is a site made famous by painter andrew wyeth.

here, a stark, weather-beaten farmhouse

overlooks a river and in the distance, the sea.

in the 1940s, the olson family, who owned the house,

offered a young andrew wyeth a room

in the hope that no more ships will founder on the rocks below.

once he had established a home.

the angel gabriel,

was smashed to pieces in a storm here.

and although bailey survived,

his wife was afraid to follow him.

they never saw each other again.

pemaquid point light was built on the mainland in 1827.

from its ledge-top tower the light shines

14 nautical miles out to sea,

over time, topsoil made a cap over the desert

one of the most idyllic railways in the country,

the maine eastern, crosses the sheepscot river

to reach a perfectly preserved maine village: wiscasset.

at the start of the 19th century,

this was the busiest port in the state.

some say that there were so many ships anchored off wiscasset,

you could cross the harbor, stepping deck to deck.

the town proudly calls itself "maine's prettiest village"

and from the air, with its historic houses

and the city of bangor, located on the penobscot river,

the lines, "ships that pass in the night,"

and "footprints on the sands of time,"

but are now so well-known were originally longfellow's,

of the american lexicon. they're simply part

just its writers and poets, maine's wealth is not

but also its wilderness.

in the 17th century, it was england's demand for lumber

that drove the settlement of maine.

through the 18th century, lumber barons grew rich

of oak, pine and spruce. on the state's fabled forests

most loved 19th century poet. went on to become america's

played a major role in the timber trade.

at the entrance of bangor stands evidence

of just how serious this town is about its lumber.

a 31-foot tall statue

of the mythical lumberjack paul bunyan.

until the 1870s, bangor was the lumber capital of the world

with a billion feet of timber

shipped from its docks down the penobscot river.

by the 20th century, the lumber trade had moved west

woman who wrote the book he said, "so you're the little

for three years stowe lived here in this brunswick house.

but it was earlier, in cincinnati,

that she met escaped slaves from the bordering state of kentucky

and learned of their appalling treatment.

was published in 1852 uncle tom's cabin

and went on to become the best selling novel

of the 19th century,

and the second best selling book following the bible.

president abraham lincoln it's claimed that when

met stowe during the civil war,

were over. and bangor's glory days

that made this great war."

at nearby bowdoin college stowe's husband taught

that she often wrote and it's campus lore

in his study in appleton hall.

the small but prestigious college dates from 1794,

and its literary tradition had started as early as the 1820s

when writers nathaniel hawthorne and henry wadsworth longfellow

were classmates here.

longfellow, a true son of maine,

while this fort knox doesn't hold america's gold,

and requires a ride in the fastest elevator

in maine to get there.

from 420 feet in the air, the views

of the penobscot narrows bridge

and the surrounding countryside are breathtaking.

so too is the symmetry of one of

preserved forts. the nation's best

named after henry knox,

of war, and finished in 1844, america's first secretary

it was the first fort in maine to be built of granite.

observatory in the world it's the tallest public bridge

it looks like it would be safe here.

to reveal blueberry farms, maine's great forests part

lakes and rivers that make this break in the trees

seem very out of place.

the desert of maine.

its very strange story begins more than 10,000 years ago

when the glaciers of the last ice age

ground soil and rocks into a layer of desert-like sand

some 80 feet deep.

penned by the grand master of the macabre, stephen king.

on wholesale and retail trade. today bangor's economy is based

it's once again a thriving city

and the commercial and cultural center of eastern maine.

the city is also home

to one of the most prolific authors in the world,

credited with almost as many movies as books.

"once upon a time, not so long ago,

a monster came to the small town of castle rock, maine."

cujo,

as a part-time studio.

maine born and raised,

king now makes his home in an old lumber baron's mansion.

his best selling horror stories the mist

often feature real maine towns

and fictional ones like castle rock as a backdrop.

dark sense of humor, in keeping with king's

his home is protected by a gate adorned with bats and spiders.

just south of bangor, it's the dizzying heights

of penobscot narrows bridge that can frighten visitors.

used by early steamship sailors to describe the crews

this is the highest point along the north atlantic coast,

and is said to be the first place in the united states

rays each day. to receive the sun's

but exploring acadia national park from the sea

can be even more exciting.

sails from bar harbor several times a day.

she was built in 1998 in the style

of a traditional cargo schooner.

but these boats are now known locally as windjammers.

some say the name windjammers was the derogatory term

climbing over 1,500 feet.

of old fashioned wind-powered cargo ships.

in 1935, artist frank swift

began buying up these old masted vessels.

he refit them for passengers,

and opened the first business of its kind.

thus began the first fleet of windjammers

for sailing in america.

since then, thousands have enjoyed the thrill

of sailing a tall ship out to sea.

the wilderness started to disappear.

centuries later, acadia became the summer home

of the robber barons of the gilded age:

the rockefellers, morgans and vanderbilts.

they were drawn by the paintings

of thomas cole and frederic church,

awe-inspiring wilderness. who captured the island's

j.p. morgan moored his yacht in the harbor

and other wealthy residents entertained guests

in lavish houses by the sea.

but as more and more people inhabited the area,

just come for its tall ships. but maine's visitors don't

realizing that america's wild lands wouldn't last forever,

a group of philanthropists stepped in.

in 1901 the rockefellers and others

began buying huge tracts of forests for public use.

and in 1919 they convinced washington to declare the area

the first national park east of the mississippi.

is far less exclusive, today desert island's bar harbor

but it remains a beautiful seaside town.

high above the harbor stands cadillac mountain,

at night its light draws weary mainers home from the sea

on the spread of diseases from farms like these.

but these fishermen argue that they are just following

in the path of generations of mainers,

harvesting the fruits of the sea.

despite its name, the west quoddy head lighthouse

stands at the easternmost tip of the united states.

it is one of only two lights in the nation

to have distinctive red and white stripes,

a feature that was common to canadian lighthouses,

helping them stand out against the snow.

and some of the blame is placed

to a state of stunning natural beauty.

is a journey across the state

of poets, painters and presidents.

state of windswept isles it's the "down east"

and great pine forests.

the place where dawn first breaks on the nation

and harbor lights guide sailors after the sun sets.

ships find welcome harbor finally, at journey's end,

on the "maine" land--maine.

on the far north coast,

the state is famous for its lobsters,

and at one time they were so plentiful

they were considered pauper's food.

servants in the 18th century it's said that indentured

lobbied to be fed lobster no more than twice a week.

have to catch the creatures maine's lobstermen still

just as they have for a hundred years,

one trap at a time.

but fishermen here don't just catch lobsters.

i name it island of desert mountains."

strange patterns can be seen floating on the water.

they are a recent phenomenon,

and the focus of a bitter dispute

between fishermen and environmentalists.

at cobscook bay, young atlantic salmon

leap in their circular pens.

millions are raised in this bay alone

appetite for fish. to feed america's growing

sadly, wild salmon are in drastic decline,

recited her award-winning poem, renascence.

at the edge of a sheltered harbor.

the town that began as a fishing village

is still a place where people make their living from the sea,

not from fishing but from tourists

eager to explore the oceanside.

today the harbor buzzes with pleasure craft

and the homes of 19th century sea captains

have become luxury hotels.

it was in one of those hotels, the whitehall inn,

that the young edna st. vincent millay

the town of camden lies nestled amid gently sloping mountains

eleven years later, millay became the first woman

to win a pulitzer prize for poetry.

today 6,5000 acres of the camden hills,

are preserved as a state park. which inspired millay's poetry,

describes both the landscape

and a state of mind.

"all i could see from where i stood,

was three long mountains and a wood,

i turned and looked another way, and saw three islands in a bay.

that is both beautiful and symbolic.

wyeth depicted the olson house

in his haunting painting christina's world.

in the painting a young girl, disabled with polio,

crawls up the hill towards her house.

works of american art, it's one of the best-known

now exhibited in new york's moma.

from the time he made his first drawings of maine's islands

at age ten until his death in 2009,

wyeth captured a vision of rural maine

so with my eyes i traced the line

of the olson house, wyeth said,

from there, it was maine." "i just couldn't stay away

further up the coast to the north lies rockport,

an artists' colony with one of

the loveliest harbors in the state.

unspoiled by overdevelopment, its narrow harbor

serves both the working lobster boats

and classic wooden sailing ships.

rounding the peninsula north from rockport,

east of penobscot bay, is simply a sailor's paradise.

against the colonial forces.

of a local ballfield. today it's the site

in an ill-fated mission called the penobscot expedition,

americans tried but failed to retake castine.

after the british navy set their ships ablaze,

revolutionary troops were forced to flee

overland back to boston.

it was the greatest american naval disaster

until pearl harbor.

the "down east coast," as mainers call everything

building fort george as a defense

sailing along the coast on a fair wind from castine,

vessels arrive at one of the greatest treasures

of the united states: acadia national park.

the park includes mount desert island,

the largest island in maine.

the name comes from french explorer samuel de champlain

who landed on the island in 1604.

he wrote in his journal,

"the mountain summits are all bare and rocky.

mount battie offers stunning views of camden

of the horizon, thin and fine,

straight around till i was come

back to where i'd started from;

and all i saw from where i stood

was three long mountains and a wood."

the poem, which became the title of millay's first book,

is still a favorite of those who choose to wander here

among the hills and woods of maine.

climb than wander, for those who'd rather

that attacked the cruelty of slavery.

and the islands of penobscot bay.

northeast of camden is a small peninsula that holds castine.

its tranquil image belies a colorful past.

in the 17th century it was fought over

by the english, french and dutch.

it takes its name from baron de st. castin,

a young frenchman who married a native penobscot princess

and became an abenaki chief.

the british took castine during the american revolution,

he later restyled the house himself using only hand tools,

just before we reach the maine town

the world: kennebunkport. that's best known around

here, strewn across the city center are

the 18th and 19th century homes of the country's early elite

who made their fortunes from the wealth of the oceans.

one of most unique homes in town

is known as the wedding cake house.

in 1825, a prominent shipbuilder named george washington bourne

bought a federal style brick house for his new bride.

but inspired by the design of a gothic cathedral in milan,

the gold chain of beaches end and normal ruggedness begins.

completing the work just before his death in 1856.

photographed buildings in maine. today, it's one of the most

kennebunk beach is still a modest community.

but it was here on cape arundel in 1903

that the wealthy walker family

chose to build their beachfront mansion.

of the two bush presidents. that's the "w" in the names

their seaside estate is known as walker's point.

world leaders have passed the guard post here,

today, part of it is called the rachel carson wildlife refuge,

rugged natural beauty but it's still maine's

that draws most visitors today.

and it's taken the work

of extraordinary people to protect it.

11,000 years ago,

native americans thrived in this region,

using the coastal rivers

for fresh water, transport and an abundant source of food.

while their original settlements have long gone,

their ancient land remains.

welcomed by two bush presidents.

after one of the 20th century's

greatest environmentalists and writers.

silent spring, carson's groundbreaking book,

brought environmental concerns to an unprecedented portion

of the american public,

and led to change in the country's use of pesticides.

today, the marshes and estuaries of the reserve

are not only a refuge for wildlife but humans, too.

further north along the coast,

the courageous fishermen and lobstermen who work these waters

here, on monhegan island, those views

inspired painters jamie wyeth and edward hopper,

who were attracted by its rugged beauty and remote location.

barely one square mile in area,

monhegan is accessible only by boat,

and there are no paved roads.

the year-round population is tiny--just 65.

is still ruled, today the island's economy

as it has been for centuries,

by those who make their living from the sea--

who looked back to the "maine" land.

through the harsh maine winter.

while the scenery is spectacular,

the waters around monhegan are treacherous.

countless ships have gone down here,

some of them still visible.

approaching portland, a great beacon calls out

to homebound sailors, just as it has for centuries.

even today the rocky shores of portland

are not easily navigated.

images of the timeless struggle of men and women

margaret thatcher, mikhail gorbachev,

and vladimir putin have all signed the guest book.

while the maine coastline is a good place

for politicians to unwind, it's even better for artists.

at prouts neck, among the modern vacation homes of the wealthy,

is the former studio of one of america's

greatest landscape painters, winslow homer.

here, just a few feet from the ocean,

he painted his monumental seascapes,

to protect its dunes and wildlife.

against the power of the sea.

the turbulent seas he famously depicted

are deceptively calm on this day.

but the boatmen he captured wrestling with the elements

were mainers.

ten miles out, an island rises

out of the sea. like a whale's hump

its name from the settlers it's thought the state took

on the more than 400 offshore islands along the coast

but many consider him to be the father of the state.

in the early 1600s, the area was known as agamenticus,

the native american wabanaki word for the york river.

york was founded by a wealthy englishman

with the unlikely name of sir ferdinando gorges.

he'd been awarded a land grant

and permission to start a new colony in maine.

for 40 years, gorges financed and masterminded

expedition after expedition from england,

spending his fortune to realize his dream of colonizing maine.

gorges never actually set foot here and died a destitute man.

locals refer to them simply as "the yorks."

york claims to be the oldest settlement in maine,

and despite many early attacks on the village

by native americans, the village survived.

amazingly today many buildings from colonial days still stand.

one of the most cherished is sayward-wheeler house,

a proud clapboard building from 1718.

jonathan sayward was a wealthy shipping merchant

and many of his descendants lived and died here,

right up to the 20th century.

and fields of fire...

the easternmost state.

where dawn first breaks on the united states,

over land rising from the sea.

america really began. it's here where

long before the pilgrims,

european explorers charted these waters.

a land shared by sailors, poets,

painters and presidents...

home to a grand master of the macabre,

but maine really begins here, offshore.

where "down east" means heading north,

and the north woods cover 3.5 million acres.

is a journey across distant isles,

down rugged shores, and into the great wilderness

seafarers once called the mainland, maine.

towns is also one of its oldest. one of maine's southernmost

york lies on the york river,

and includes the villages of york harbor and york beach.

in fact, there are so many villages called york here,

are drawn to its coast-- and with good reason.

and red light have guided seafarers since 1879.

locals know it as "the nubble light,"

named for the lump of rock it's perched on.

many might be surprised to learn that the cape neddick light,

the great wall of china, and india's taj mahal

have something in common:

the voyager spacecraft carried images of all three into space

as examples of some of the earth's

most impressive manmade structures.

on a brilliant fall day, mainers and vacationers alike

although modernized now, its original 3,000-pound fog bell

a short walk along the cliffs leads to an unusual sighting

in this rocky state:

miles and miles of sandy beach.

the beach is actually a long sandbar

split off from the mainland by the ogunquit river.

the halloween storm of 1991,

better known as "the perfect storm,"

damaged much of the beach,

but efforts are under way

but this tower is evidence of the island's revival

the isles of shoals lie on its southernmost border.

maine is the only state to have just one state as a neighbor.

and here, a simple causeway is all that divides

star island, new hampshire, from smuttynose island, maine.

appledore island, on the maine side,

used to be a haunt of artists and free spirits,

thanks to a welcoming poet and hotelkeeper named celia thaxter.

her hotel burned down in the early 1900s,

seemed to be over. and the island's heyday

but after a number of tragic shipwrecks,

as a scientific research station.

despite the many islands and rocky dangers

of the maine coast,

it was more than 250 years

after the colonists arrived that the first lighthouse was built.

clapboard houses were built easily from the abundant trees,

but the cape neddick light

was constructed of brick and clad in cast iron

to weather the worst winters of the north atlantic.

and the leaves turn a vivid shade of red,

of the appalachian trail, a national scenic path

that follows the spine of the appalachian mountains

all the way to georgia.

carpet of forests, alongside maine's

another dramatic landscape appears:

the blueberry fields.

maine is the largest producer of wild blueberries in the world.

its fields cover 60,000 acres of land.

by autumn the blueberries

have already been plucked from the bushes

mount katahdin is also the northern end

the color of flame.

in the distance, great clouds of smoke reveal a real fire.

in a technique first used by native americans,

the bushes are cut back every two years and then burned,

in order to stimulate new growth.

the fire and smoke increase berry yields

and kill insects and diseases

in a traditional, organic way.

inland maine is a land tied to the great rivers

over 4 billion dollars to the state's economy.

black bears and moose

cross the ancient lands of the wabanaki.

are privately owned. today, 95% of maine's forests

in the 1990s, a group of high profile conservationists

lobbied to preserve 3 million acres

of the north woods as a national park--

but the effort has stalled.

with more than 90% of the state covered with trees

and 39 commercial tree species,

industry contributes maine's forest products

that make their way to the sea,

and mountains are too low many of the state's hills

to break clear of the tree line--but not this one.

at over 5,000 feet, mount katahdin's peaks

are the highest in maine.

its name comes from the penobscot indians

and means "the greatest mountain."

thanks to being the centerpiece of baxter state park,

we can see the mountain much as it was

when thoreau scaled it in 1846.

is preparing for launch,

bath iron works has supplied the u.s. navy

with some of the toughest ships in its long history.

during world war ii,

one out of four american destroyers was "bath-built."

at the height of the war effort,

women went to work at the shipyard,

and the iron works produced

a new destroyer every three weeks.

these days, it's a slower process.

here, the destroyer u.s.s. wayne e. meyer

human industry returns in a big way.

while a sister ship is taking shape.

ships from here have seen action off the coasts of france,

the philippines and vietnam.

from the peaceful waters of maine to any theater of war,

crews came to respect and rely on bath-built ships.

have gone to war, while bath's ships

a few miles west a famous writer was said to have started one.

here in brunswick, harriet beecher stowe wrote

the landmark book uncle tom's cabin,

the capitol at augusta.

and the kennebec is no exception.

follow the kennebec river south

from its source at moosehead lake

a bustling waterway, and you'll find

bordered with towns and cities,

stretching all the way to merrymeeting bay.

one town on the kennebec holds statewide importance.

once home to the abenaki people, it now boasts what some call

the finest building in the state--

under a canopy of maples, firs and white pine,

designed by architect charles bulfinch

and built from granite quarried nearby,

augusta has been the state capital since 1827.

by the mid 19th century, augusta was a thriving port town

with river traffic running to and from boston.

but today, most travel to this capital city is by interstate.

and the kennebec river has been left

to wend its way to the sea on its own.

but where this river meets the sea,

of henry wadsworth longfellow

but fort scammel was the only one

to fire a shot in battle

against a british privateer in 1813.

in a state with only 1.3 million people,

make it a metropolis. portland's 64,000 citizens

in the 19th century, when trade in portland was booming,

opened their doors here. some of the state's oldest banks

and if you know who penned the lines, "listen my children

and you shall hear of the midnight ride of paul revere,"

take note that the childhood home

and their supplies of ammunition.

is tucked in between modern office buildings.

other former residents many of portland's

ended up with some of the prettiest plots in town.

65,000 people are buried in evergreen cemetery,

one of the largest publicly owned

spaces in the city.

and while many famous mainers have been buried here,

the story of one, the 19th century mayor neal dow,

is infamous.

in maine's biggest town.

the portland head light, maine's first lighthouse,

was built at the order of george washington.

today the old tower still stands.

but much has changed since 16 whale oil lamps

lit the lighthouse in 1791.

now an airport-style electric beacon

rises 100 feet above the water.

the light is visible from 16 miles away,

welcoming mariners to safe harbor

[jazz music playing]

situated in casco bay, portland was once considered

strategically important by the u.s. military

because of its proximity to europe

compared to other eastern ports.

the granite-walled fort scammel on house island

and fort gorges on hog island ledge

were originally built in the bay in the 1800s

to protect against enemy attack.

mounds of sand were used to insulate the forts

this was the earth of which we have heard,

still bustles with vessels, big and small.

but maine is far more than just a seacoast.

half of new england, the state's landmass takes up

most of it remote and unspoiled.

endless forests, among the pines of maine's

one is struck by its majesty.

one explorer of the region

was the great 19th century thinker, henry david thoreau.

of his visit here he wrote,

"i looked with awe at the ground i trod on,

today, the harbor that drew english settlers in 1632

made out of chaos and old night,"

words that lead to his the maine woods.

here at moosehead lake, maine's largest,

thoreau writes of hiring a penobscot indian guide

to help him cross the lake in a birch bark canoe,

or what thoreau described as "a little eggshell of a boat."

the lake stretches as far as the eye can see

until it disappears into a great dark, green forest.

these are the 3.5 million acres of maine's famous north woods.

"rum breaks" during the day.

known as the father of the prohibition,

he managed to ban alcohol from the state,

and in 1880 made a run at the white house

on a prohibition ticket.

he received just 10,000 votes.

but prohibition was unpopular

working class. with much of portland's

after all, portland was a rum producer,

were even allowed and the city's workers

maine.

there were riots in portland when the mayor got his way,

but chances are a few of the people

who are buried here beside him succumbed to his "demon rum."

at its heart, the city that thrived

on fishing and shipping in the 1800s

is still a harbor town.

set on a peninsula reaching into casco bay,

portland remains as longfellow described it,

"the city by the sea."