Cumberland & North Yarmouth

Population swings
Between 1790 and 1860, the population of Maine increased from 96,450 to 628,279. The following decade, the state registered a decline in population of two-tenths percent, to 626,915. From 1870 through 1910 Maine's population increased just 18%, compared to the nation's more than doubling. The growth in population in the state's manufacturing centers drove the state's increase, and counterbalanced an actual decline in six of Maine's eight coastal counties.

Industries responsible for coastal settlement
Lumbering, fisheries, agriculture, shipbuilding, shipping and quarrying provided the livelihoods for most coastal Maine residents. The initial seasonal stations established in the 17th century by fishermen and fur traders were supplanted by more stable farming settlements. The abundance of timber, good harbors and a demand for sailing vessels resulted in the development of the shipbuilding industry, which reached its zenith in Maine between 1845 and 1880. Many of the ships built on the Maine coast were owned and crewed by locals. Fishing villages up and down the coast sent men and boats offshore. Granite and limestone quarries employed locals in quarrying and Maine ships in the carrying trade.

The fishing industry
Before the advent of refrigeration on vessels, Maine's fishing villages hosted the fishermen who caught the fish, the processors who dried, salted or otherwise preserved the fish, and the suppliers who shipped the product to market. The use of ice in the fishing industry allowed for an increase in the market for fresh fish, and the expansion of rail lines resulted in a greater distribution of product. Vessels that iced their catch could deliver to the distribution centers of Portland and Boston, bypassing the locals. The loss of the local fishing industry devastated many small coastal communities.

The shipbuilding industry
A shift in shipbuilding from wood to steel put Maine at a major disadvantage in an industry where the state previously had considerable success. Maine did not have the coal and iron needed to produce the steel for the ships and engines, and Bath emerged as the only Maine shipbuilding center to successfully make the transition from wooden to steel vessels. A decline in the number of Americans in the shipping trade decreased demand for vessels built locally, further affecting the industry. Taken together, the number of ships built in Maine and crewed by locals declined dramatically, disrupting life in shipbuilding centers the length of the coast.

Agriculture
Maine’s climate from 1765 through 1880 was normally cool, interspersed with short periods of more moderate conditions. The decade of the 1820s was one of the climatically benign periods, raising expectations among farmers and prompting the introduction of new cash crops. A return to cooler temperatures in the early 1830s and an increase in precipitation that lasted for nearly fifty years brought the state’s farmers back to reality. New cash crops were proposed and new agricultural methods were implemented, and while the changes helped the state’s farmers somewhat, the unforgiving environment and competition from the West limited recovery. With the exception of Aroostook County, Maine’s remaining farmers survived by practicing a subsistence strategy that included diverse crop and livestock production, nonfarm work, and nontraditional products and crafts.

The quarrying industry
Maine's coastal granite quarries were in a good position to supply stone for buildings and streets to the growing cities of the Eastern seaboard. The westward expansion resulted in the growth of inland cities, while rail lines allowed quarries in the interior to supply the materials needed for building. The use of concrete and steel in constructing buildings and bridges diminished the importance of granite, affecting employment in the state's granite centers. The state's limestone industry was impacted to a lesser degree, since a market for lime remained.

Sources:
Condon, Richard H. “Living in two worlds: Rural Maine in 1930,” Maine Historical Society Quarterly 25 (Fall 1985): 58-87.
Packard, Leonard O. "The decrease of population along the coast of Maine," Geographical Review 2 (1916): 334-41.
Smith, David C., et al. “Climate fluctuation and agricultural change in Southern and Central Maine, 1776-1880,” Maine Historical Society Quarterly 21 (1982): 179-200.

Text by Thomas C. Bennett