Calais, Maine

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Calais
—  City  —
Calais is located in Maine
Calais
Location within the state of Maine
Coordinates: 45°9′58″N 67°14′33″W / 45.16611°N 67.2425°W / 45.16611; -67.2425Coordinates: 45°9′58″N 67°14′33″W / 45.16611°N 67.2425°W / 45.16611; -67.2425
Country United States
State Maine
County Washington
Settled 1779
Incorporated June 16, 1809
Government
 • Mayor Joseph Cassidy
Area
 • Total 40.0 sq mi (103.7 km2)
 • Land 34.0 sq mi (88.2 km2)
 • Water 6.0 sq mi (15.5 km2)
Elevation 43 ft (13 m)
Population (2010)[1]
 • Total 3,123
 • Density 91.8/sq mi (35.4/km2)
Time zone Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
 • Summer (DST) EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code 04619
Area code(s) 207
FIPS code 23-09585
GNIS feature ID 0563341
Website www.calaismaine.govoffice.com

Calais (pronounced /ˈkælɨs/ ( listen), rhyming with palace) is a city in Washington County, Maine, United States. The city has three United States border crossings or also known as a Port of entry (POE) with the busiest being on the St. Croix River bordering St. Stephen, New Brunswick, Canada. Calais has historically been a city of commerce and is recognized as the primary shopping center of eastern Washington County and Charlotte County, New Brunswick, Canada. Currently retail, service, and construction businesses are the primary components of the Calais economy.

Contents

[edit] History

The river and its area were first explored by Samuel de Champlain when he and his men spent a winter on St. Croix Island in 1604. The first permanent settler was Daniel Hill of Jonesboro, who arrived in 1779, and with others 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 $2.30 an acre in 2006 dollars). Early occupations included farming, hunting and ship building.[2]

On June 16, 1809, Plantation Number 5 PS was incorporated as Calais after Calais, France, in honor of French assistance during the American Revolution. The river provided the mill town with water power for industry, which included sawmills, clapboard and shingle mills, 2 planing mills, a saw factory, 2 axe factories and 4 grain mills. There were foundries, machine shops, granite works, shoe factories and a tannery. Other businesses produced bricks, bedsteads, brooms, carriages and plaster.[3]

Calais is the home of the first railroad built in the state of Maine, the Calais Railroad incorporated by the state legislature on February 17, 1832.[4] It was built to transport lumber from a mill on the Saint Croix River opposite Milltown, New Brunswick two miles (3 km) to the tidewater at Calais in 1835. In 1849, the name was changed to the Calais & Baring Railroad and the line was extended four more miles to Baring.[5] In 1870, it became part of the St. Croix & Penobscot Railroad.[6]

Calais was incorporated as a city on August 24, 1850. On July 18, 1864, Confederate agents crossed the border from New Brunswick, and robbed a bank in Calais.[7]

The Calais Free Library was designed by noted Boston architect Arthur H. Vinal and opened on July 4, 1893. The Romanesque Revival building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.

Other places in Calais listed on the National Register of Historic Places are the Calais Historic District, Calais Residential Historic District, Devils Head Site, Gilmore House, Thomas Hamilton House, Hinckley Hill Historic District, Holmes Cottage, Dr. Job Holmes House, Theodore Jellison House, Pike's Mile Markers, St. Anne's Episcopal Church, George Washburn House and Whitlocks Mill Light.

  • Main Street in 1913

  • Calais Avenue c. 1905

  • International Bridge in 1913

  • Looking east from bridge in 1908

[edit] Geography

Calais viewed from St. Stephen across the St. Croix River

Calais is located at 45°9′58″N 67°14′33″W / 45.16611°N 67.2425°W / 45.16611; -67.2425 (45.166045, -67.242434)[8].

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 40.0 square miles (104 km2), of which, 34.0 square miles (88 km2) of it is land and 6.0 square miles (16 km2) of it (14.94%) is water. Calais is located at the head of tide on the St. Croix River. Recently, the City of Calais acquired Devil's Head. This remarkable site comprises 318 acres (1.29 km2) of land; one mile (1.6 km) of frontage on the St Croix estuary; 6/10 of a mile of frontage on Coastal U.S. Route One; and having a variety of significant features, including: a 340-foot (100 m) high granite headland towering over the estuary; low tide sand and boulder beach; upland forest and abundant wildlife. Trail construction was completed in 2003. In addition, Calais is the northern terminus of the East Coast Greenway which has its southern terminus in Key West, Florida.

[edit] Demographics

Historical populations
Census Pop. %±
1810 372
—
1820 418 12.4%
1830 1,686 303.3%
1840 2,934 74.0%
1850 4,749 61.9%
1860 5,621 18.4%
1870 5,944 5.7%
1880 6,173 3.9%
1890 7,290 18.1%
1900 7,655 5.0%
1910 6,116 −20.1%
1920 6,084 −0.5%
1930 5,470 −10.1%
1940 5,161 −5.6%
1950 4,589 −11.1%
1960 4,223 −8.0%
1970 4,044 −4.2%
1980 4,262 5.4%
1990 3,963 −7.0%
2000 3,447 −13.0%
2010 3,123 −9.4%
sources:[1][9]

According to the 2010 census, the population of Calais was 3,123.

[edit] Transportation

Calais is located along U.S. 1 and Maine State Route 9.

[edit] Government

The City of Calais operates under the council-manager form of government. The current city manager is Diane Barnes. Some past city managers include: William Bridgeo, Nancy Orr, and Mark Ryckman. The current city mayor is Joseph Cassidy.

[edit] Public safety

Calais has a full time Police, Fire, and EMS department.

[edit] Education

[edit] Public schools

Calais has an elementary school, a middle school, a high school, and a technical school.

[edit] Higher education

Calais is home to a two-year community college. A four-year university is located in nearby Machias, ME.

[edit] Healthcare

Calais Regional Hospital (CRH) currently has 15 acute care beds and 10 swing beds, in addition to a 24-hour physician staffed emergency department. It continues to serve Northeastern Washington County with an approximate population of 14,000 from Topsfield to the North, Wesley to the West and Eastport to the south. CRH is the largest employer in Calais, employing more than 200 people. The hospital is licensed by the State of Maine.

[edit] International Border Crossings

U.S. Port of Entry

The Ferry Point International Bridge and the Milltown International Bridge connect Calais to St. Stephen, New Brunswick, Canada. Construction began in 2008 on a third bridge and Port of entry (POE) to connect the two communities as well. Referred to as the International Avenue Bridge, this bridge and POE opened on November 16, 2009 and serves commercial, cargo, trucking, passenger vehicles, campers, RVs, and buses. However, both the Ferry Point and Milltown crossings remain in use for passenger vehicles and pedestrians.[10]

The new inspection facility alleviates traffic congestion from downtown Calais and the neighboring towns in Canada. It is equipped with state-of-the-art security equipment that allows for efficient processing of both commercial and passenger vehicles. The new facility is occupied by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and U.S. General Services Administration (GSA). This facility was built as part of GSA's high performance green building program and has received the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification for comprehensive use of sustainable design and technology. Recycled, reused, and local materials were used during the construction. The facility conserves energy by bringing natural light into every occupied space, and conserves water by using low-flow fixtures that consumes 40 percent less water than traditional plumbing. The Calais Port of entry, designed by Robert Siegel Architects, provides six lanes of non-commercial inspection and three lanes of commercial inspection.

[edit] Sites of interest

[edit] Notable people

[edit] Media

10.1 WMED-TV HD PBS

10.2 WMED-TV SD PBS

10.3 WMED-TV PBS World

Stations available on Cable:

[edit] References

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Calais (Maine).
  1. ^ a b http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/GCTTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=04000US23&-_box_head_nbr=GCT-T1&-ds_name=PEP_2009_EST&-_lang=en&-format=ST-9&-_sse=on
  2. ^ Coolidge, Austin J.; John B. Mansfield (1859). A History and Description of New England. Boston, Massachusetts. pp. 81–82. http://books.google.com/books?id=OcoMAAAAYAAJ&lpg=PA9&dq=coolidge%20mansfield%20history%20description%20new%20england%201859&pg=PA81#v=onepage&q&f=false. 
  3. ^ Varney, George J. (1886), Gazetteer of the state of Maine. Calais, Boston: Russell, http://history.rays-place.com/me/calais-me.htm 
  4. ^ Henry V. Poor (1860). Railroads and Canals of the United States of America. New York: John H. Schultz & Co. p. 35. http://books.google.com/books?id=M0YKAAAAIAAJ. 
  5. ^ Henry V. Poor (1860). Railroads and Canals of the United States of America. New York: John H. Schultz & Co. pp. 21–2. http://books.google.com/books?id=M0YKAAAAIAAJ. 
  6. ^ "Report on the Agencies of Transportation in the United States 1880". Washington DC: United States Census Bureau. 1883. http://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/1880a_v4.zip. 
  7. ^ Mason Philip Smith. "Confederates Downeast". The Provincial Press. http://www.musarts.net/provincial/confed.htm. Retrieved September 1, 2010. 
  8. ^ "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. 2011-02-12. http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/gazette.html. Retrieved 2011-04-23. 
  9. ^ "Minor Civil Division Population Search Results". http://www.library.umaine.edu/census/townsearch.asp. Retrieved September 1, 2010. 
  10. ^ "U.S. gives go ahead to third bridge", St. Croix Courier, September 26, 2006.

[edit] External links

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