By Richard Shaw
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From 18th-century houses to storied forts and graveyards, Revolutionary War history is waiting to be explored in Maine as the nation celebrates 250 years of independence. Why not design your own tour of sites sampled below? Additional landmarks await visitors armed with cameras and questions. Check ahead for museum hours and fees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dating to 1770, Job Burnham\u2019s former tavern at 14 Colonial Way in downtown Machias is one of Eastern Maine\u2019s oldest public buildings. Now a museum containing artifacts from the 1775 Battle of Machias, it is operated by the Hannah Weston Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Docents leading tours note increased interest every June, when the Margaretta Days festival recalls the capture of an armed British cutter, the first naval encounter of the war. The tavern was pressed into service at that time as a hospital for wounded soldiers on both sides. In 1973, the property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Castine, formerly named Pentagoet, is brimming with Revolutionary War history. Its prized location at the mouth of the Penobscot and Bagaduce rivers kept the British returning as late as the War of 1812. Visitors can explore its tree-lined streets and historic sign reproductions. A popular site is what remains of Fort George, completed in 1779 after occupation by British forces during the disastrous Penobscot Expedition. The Wilson Museum and Castine Historical Society offer historical exhibits. Various village walking and motor tours are available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since 1930, this stately replica of Gen. Henry Knox\u2019s mansion has honored the life and Revolutionary War service of the nation\u2019s first secretary of war. The original Montpelier, located downtown about a mile away, was razed during railroad construction in 1871, 65 years after Knox\u2019s death. Paintings, furniture, and documents, including an authentic George Washington signature, highlight museum tours. Lectures and other activities are popular. Visitors also tour Thomaston Village Cemetery, where the general is buried with his wife, Lucy, the mother of their 13 children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two restored landmarks crucial to Benedict Arnold\u2019s failed 1775 expedition to Quebec are located about 20 minutes apart on the Kennebec River. Many visitors begin their Arnold Trail tour at the Augusta landmark, the oldest surviving wooden fort in America, where they can explore the original 1754 garrison building, the 1921 reconstructed blockhouses, and other features. Arnold\u2019s troops stopped here to repair their wooden bateaux and gather supplies before heading north. The boats were built at the Colburn House Museum in Pittston, owned by the Arnold Expedition Historical Society, a starting point on today\u2019s historic Arnold Trail. Although the interior is currently closed for structural repairs, visitors can still view the grounds and bateaux. Maj. Colburn, an early settler and patriot, helped Arnold with supplies and planning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It takes imagination to envision the 1778 skirmish between local townsmen and British soldiers as a battle, but a monument at this remote end of Brooklin notes its historical importance. One account has local farmer Moses Reed firing his musket at an approaching British barge, killing one soldier. When the enemy returned on July 20 with two sloops of war carrying more than 60 men, farmer William Reed alerted fellow residents, who opened fire. The Redcoats burned buildings and captured livestock, which they later returned while waving a flag of truce and escaping with two captured soldiers. Historians reenacted the incident in 1976.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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