Mainers have lots of opinions on just about everything. How to make a proper lobster roll. What “from away” really means. Just where, exactly, Down East Maine actually starts. The Down East question was debated by Bangor Daily readers at length last year, and even then wasn’t truly settled.
Similarly, it’s not totally clear where the midcoast region actually starts and ends.
If you look at a map of Maine, the region we generally think of as the “midcoast” isn’t really in the middle of the coast at all — most of it is squarely in the southern half of the state. If it truly were the “middle” of the coast, towns like Castine, Bucksport, Ellsworth and Blue Hill would likely be included. Nobody really thinks that, however, so it’s clearly not just geography that defines it.
It’s indisputable that all of Knox and Lincoln counties are part of the midcoast. We’re not debating that. Rest easy, Rocklanders, Camdenites and Damariscottians.
One common definition states that the New Meadows River, the jagged waterway that separates the peninsulas of Phippsburg and Harpswell, is the dividing line between the midcoast and southern Maine. On the northern end, it’s less clear, though it at least extends northward to the Belfast area.
Is it as simple as saying that towns along the coast in Waldo, Knox, Lincoln and Sagadahoc counties are the midcoast? That would be the easiest answer, with clearly defined borders. That, however, would mean that Brunswick — often considered the southern end of the region — is not a part of the midcoast, since it’s in Cumberland County.
Some might be even more strict about it, and say that Wiscasset or Boothbay mark the southern tip, and that the midcoast region stops in Belfast, though that’s generally a less commonly held belief, and one that residents of Bath and Searsport would likely take issue with.
Does it start and end with particular towns? Some might say Searsport is the northeastern edge of the midcoast, and that Bath is the southern end. Others would extend that to Winterport and Brunswick — the Maine Office of Tourism seems to think so, as its travel guide to the midcoast includes both towns. Travel publisher Frommer’s even suggests it starts in Freeport, which seems a bit of a stretch.
And yet, towns like Brunswick and Topham in the south and Winterport and Frankfort in the north have just as much in common with other regions they border — the Portland area, and the Bangor area, so much so that in one sense, all can be considered suburbs of those larger cities.
We put it to you, readers: where do you think the midcoast starts and ends? Fill out the form below, comment or email us at [email protected]. We look forward to a healthy debate.
