Calais Maine

We had planned to feature two notable people from Calais, Maine (and hope to very soon), but we were detracted by the town itself and it’s sister city and namesake, Calais France.

If you want to get a head start on Andrea Gibson‘s incredible poetry, check out their YouTube channel.

Roger Lyndon was a mathematician whose work led to the famous early computer algorithm “Game of Life”.

Calais, Maine, is a small town (population 3,079) on the eastern edge of Maine.

The river is noted for its tidal surges, which can vary by 28 feet (9 metres). – Britannica

This area was occupied for thousands of years by indigenous peoples. The historic Passamaquoddy, an Algonquian-speaking people of the Wabanaki Confederacy, was predominant in this area at the time of European encounter and settlement.

….The first permanent settler was Daniel Hill of Jonesboro, who arrived in 1779 during the American Revolutionary War, when this was still part of Massachusetts. With other settlers, he built the first sawmill in 1782. On June 27, 1789, the Massachusetts General Court sold the township to Waterman Thomas for 19¢ an acre (approx. $2.86 an acre in 2018 dollars). Early occupations in the settlement included farming, hunting and ship building. – Wikipedia

WLBOTT Wonders: Maine was part of Massachusetts?

Canada’s just down the street…..

Devil’s Head

Devil’s Head Archaeological Site is in eastern Calais.

Located on the banks of the St. Croix River, it is a shell midden^[1] site with evidence of multiple periods of human habitation, from the Middle Ceramic Period (c. 200-600 CE) to the Late Contact Period (mid-18th century) and beyond. – Wikipedia

^[1]Shell Midden deserves a BLOTT unto itself.

Calais, France

Calais is a busy port town in the Hauts-de-France, and France’s closest city to England (34 km to Dover). It has a metro population of about 150k.

Ferry Crossing between Dover and Calais

The Port of Dover is a cross-channel ferry, cruise terminal, maritime cargo and marina facility situated in Dover, Kent, south-east England. It is the nearest English port to France, at just 34 kilometres (21 mi) away, and is one of the world’s busiest maritime passenger ports, with 11.7 million passengers, 2.6 million lorries, 2.2 million cars and motorcycles and 80,000 coaches passing through it in 2017.

Recent archaeology indicates that Dover’s history as a port and trading gateway dates back at least as far as the Stone and Bronze ages. Known as Dubris during the Roman occupation of Britain, the port has always enjoyed a significant strategic position due to its proximity to continental Europe and as the location of the sheltered River Dour estuary between two imposing chalk cliffs. – Wikipedia