The District of Maine was the governmental designation for what is now the U.S. state of Maine from October 25, 1780 to March 15, 1820, when it was admitted to the Union as the 23rd state. The district was a part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and before American independence had been part of the British province of Massachusetts Bay .

2 days ago · A 3.8 magnitude earthquake shook parts of New England on Monday morning, according to the United States Geological Survey. The earthquake occurred around 10:30 a.m. about 8 miles of the coast of ...

2 days ago · Last year, a 4.8 earthquake centered in New Jersey was felt in parts of Massachusetts. A measurement of the Maine earthquake at Weston Observatory in Massachusetts on Jan. 27, 2025.

Determined to pay off its war debt to the new U.S. government, Massachusetts raised money by selling off public land in Maine. Thousands of farm families left the increasingly crowded Bay State and flooded into Maine's vast interior. The population of the province grew from 91,000 in 1791 to nearly 300,000 in 1820.

2 days ago · An earthquake off the coast of Maine rattled parts of Massachusetts around 10:22 a.m. Monday morning. According to data from the United States Geological Survey, the earthquake originated about 11 ...

Maine is the northernmost and largest state in New England, accounting for almost half of the region's entire land area. Maine is the only state to border exactly one other American state. Approximately half the area of Maine lies on each side of the 45th parallel north in latitude.

It took longer than Brexit — 28 years. It also took six referendums and a war before the District of Maine escaped the rapacious grasp (to some) of Massachusetts. But they did it, and Maine statehood began on March 15, 1820.

Maine was at one time part of Massachusetts. It became its own state in 1820, becoming the 23rd state admitted to the United States of America, although its northern borders were not finalized until 1842.

The first movement to separate emerged soon after the American Revolution when Maine’s political and business leaders, largely located in the bustling coastal towns, hoped to preserve the existing power structure, except with themselves at the top rather than the Massachusetts elites.

Coastal merchants, who held the balance of political power at the time, resisted the separation movement until the War of 1812 showed that Massachusetts was unable or unwilling to provide adequate protection for the people of the district against British raids.