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 and can activate pop-ups with historical anecdotes simply by directing their gaze. These experiences can be viewed on a desktop, but are most effective when using a cellphone in a VR headset, for the full 360-degree immersive view. Click on a site below to begin your visit. Email us with questions or further assistance.

Maine Virtual Reality Experience Instructions (pdf)

Maine State House
Maine State House, Augusta
Old Orchard Beach Pier
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 Bridge
Penobscot Narrows Bridge & Observatory
Special thanks to the Maine Department of Transportation, PNBO/Fort Knox Executive
Director Dean Martin, and Capt. Thomas N. Curtis of Verona Island Charters.
Fort Knox
Fort Knox State Historic Site
Special thanks to Fort Knox Executive Director Dean Martin.
Downtown Portland
Downtown Portland


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
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 announcement 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

Video links are embedded within the photos. Please click on any photo to view the accompanying announcement.

Autumn 2019: PSAs #1-15 Autumn 2019 (close list)
  1. John Quincy Adams
    Maine’s Act of Admission to the Union

  2. Gov. William King
    Gov. William King

  3. Fish swimming
    Tribal Fishing Rights

  4. Hodgdon Yacht
    Hodgdon Yachts

  5. Samuel Adams
    Bowdoin College

  6. Maine Tournaline
    Maine Tourmaline

  7. Treat Journal map
    The Treat Journal

  8. Gov. Enoch Lincoln
    Augusta Chosen as Capitol

  9. Abyssinian Church
    The Abyssinian Church

  10. Charles Bullfinch
    The Bulfinch-designed Capitol Building

  11. William Henry Harrison
    The Kennebec Arsenal

  12. Martin Van Buren/John Fairfield
    The Aroostook War

  13. Alexander Baring
    Maine's Border Treaty

  14. Hiram Ricker
    Poland Spring

  15. Abraham Lincoln/Hannibal Hamlin
    Vice President Hannibal Hamlin
Winter 2020: PSAs #16-30 Winter 2020 (close list)
  1. Adjutant General John Hodsdon
    Adjutant General John Hodsdon

  2. Samuel Cony
    University of Maine System: Samuel Cony

  3. Atlantic Coastline
    The Atlantic Coast pilot logs

  4. Colby College
    Colby College

  5. L.L. Bean shop
    L.L. Bean

  6. Gen. Joshua Chamberlain
    Gen. Joshua Chamberlain (Civil War)

  7. Charles Tilden
    Charles Tilden and the 16th Maine (Civil War)

  8. Percival Baxter
    Baxter State Park

  9. Road in Acadia
    Acadia National Park

  10. Rocks in Acadia
    Acadia/Farrand

  11. Sen. Margaret Chase Smith
    Sen. Margaret Chase Smith

  12. Fire tower
    Fire tower maps

  13. Skier on Sugarloaf
    Amos Winter and Sugarloaf Mountain

  14. Myron Avery
    Myron Avery and the Appalachian Trail

  15. Gov. James Longley
    Gov. James Longley
Spring 2020: PSAs #31-45 Spring 2020 (close list)
  1. Soliders passing in review at Togus on Memorial Day
    Togus Veterans' Hospital

  2. Thomas Brackett Reed, US Speaker of the House
    Thomas Brackett Reed

  3. Daniel Chaplin
    First Maine Heavy Artillery

  4. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
    Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

  5. Lakewood Theater (street view)
    Lakewood Theater

  6. Dorothea Dix
    Dorothea Dix

  7. Winslow Homer
    Winslow Homer

  8. Thomas Hyde
    Thomas Hyde (Bath Iron Works)

  9. Benjamin Bates
    Benjamin Bates (Mill, College)

  10. James G. Blaine
    James G. Blaine

  11. Sarah Orne Jewett
    Sarah Orne Jewett

  12. Pete Newell
    Pete Newell (Liberty Ships)

  13. Walter Wyman
    Walter Wyman (Central Maine Power)

  14. Harris Plaisted
    Harris Plaisted (11th Maine, Civil War)

  15. Edmund Muskie
    Edmund Muskie
Summer 2020: PSAs #46-60 Summer 2020 (close list)
  1. Rudy Vallee
    Rudy Vallee (1920s pop star)

  2. Edwin Arlington Robinson
    Edwin Arlington Robinson (poet)

  3. Clyde Sukeforth
    Clyde Sukeforth (baseball player/manager)

  4. John Poor
    John Poor (advocate, Portland Harbor shipping)

  5. William Pitt Fessenden
    William Pitt Fessenden (influential Civil War-era Senator)

  6. Cobwork Bridge
    Llewelyn Edwards (Cobwork Bridge)

  7. Joseph Sayward
    Joseph Sayward (Maine Turnpike advocate, legislator)

  8. Rachel Carson
    Rachel Carson (environmental advocate)

  9. Atticus
    Atticus (fugitive slave)

  10. Sarah Sampson
    Sarah Sampson (orphanage founder)

  11. Herbert Hildreth
    Old Orchard Beach Pier/ Herbert Hildreth

  12. Jasper Wyman
    Jasper Wyman (Wyman Blueberries)

  13. Leslie Dyer
    Leslie Dyer (Maine Lobstermen's Association)

  14. Florence Whitehouse
    Florence Whitehouse (suffragette)

  15. Hugh Chisholm
    Hugh Chisholm (International Paper Co.)
Autumn 2020: PSAs #61-73 Autumn 2020 (close list)
  1. Fly Rod Crosby
    Fly Rod Crosby (First Registered Maine Guide)

  2. Bass shoes
    G.H. Bass (Shoemaking)

  3. Biddeford City Hall
    John Calvin Stevens (architect)

  4. artists on Monhegan Island
    Monhegan Artists

  5. Bernard Langlais
    Bernard “Blackie” Langlais (artist)

  6. Eleanor and Lawrence M.C. Smith
    Smiths State Park donations

  7. General Oliver Otis Howard
    Oliver Otis Howard (Founder, Howard University)

  8. Helen Nearing
    Scott and Helen Nearing (Back to the Land movement)

  9. Lombard log hauler
    Lombard log hauler

  10. woman in earmuffs
    Chester Greenwood: Earmuffs

  11. Moxie poster
    Augustin Thompson: Moxie

  12. JB Couture
    J.B. Couture: Le Messager;
    En Francais

  13. Statute of Wisdom
    William Clark Noble: Lady of Wisdom sculpture