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Augusta, Maine

1629 establishments in the Thirteen ColoniesAugusta, MaineCities in Kennebec County, MaineCities in MaineCounty seats in Maine
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Maine State House 5 (cropped)
Maine State House 5 (cropped)

Augusta is the capital of the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat of and most populous city in Kennebec County. Augusta is included in the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine metropolitan New England city and town area. The city's population was 18,899 at the 2020 census, making it the 12th most populous city in Maine, and 3rd least populous state capital in the United States after Montpelier, Vermont, and Pierre, South Dakota. The area was explored in 1607 by English settlers from the Popham Colony at the mouth of the Kennebec River. Before European settlement, Algonquian-speaking Indians lived in the area. In 1625, representatives of Plymouth Colony chose the east shore of the Kennebec for a trading post, which was likely built in 1628 and became known as "Cushnoc". The Kennebec Proprietors, successors to the Plymouth Company, built Fort Western near the site of the abandoned trading post in 1754 and began settlement efforts. The new village was incorporated as Hallowell in 1771, and the upriver part of town separated in 1797 to form the town of Harrington. On June 9, 1797, Harrington changed its name to Augusta and, in 1827, it was designated capital of Maine.Augusta is the easternmost state capital in the United States. Located on the Kennebec River at the head of tide, it is the principal city in the Augusta-Waterville micropolitan statistical area and home to the University of Maine at Augusta. Because of the city's position on the Kennebec, downtown Augusta is vulnerable to floods in spring. The Maine flood of 1987, known as the "Great Flood", affected the city. Bond Brook runs from northwest to southeast through the city center, and has been called the "Home of wild Atlantic Salmon".The city has five different residential areas, including the "west side", a historic neighborhood north of the state capitol complex, and the "east side", which is situated on the opposite side of the Kennebec. The city's northwest quadrant includes both a retail center and neighborhoods.Augusta State Airport serves the city, offering both commercial service and general aviation. Although the airport is owned by the State of Maine, it is managed and operated by the city. Interstate 95 passes by the western outskirts of Augusta, and both U.S. 202 and U.S. 201 run through the city.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Augusta, Maine (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Augusta, Maine
Memorial Circle, Augusta

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Wikipedia: Augusta, MaineContinue reading on Wikipedia

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Latitude Longitude
N 44.310555555556 ° E -69.779444444444 °
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Memorial Circle 45
04330 Augusta
Maine, United States
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Maine State House 5 (cropped)
Maine State House 5 (cropped)
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Blaine House
Blaine House

The Blaine House, also known as the James G. Blaine House, is the official residence of the governor of Maine and their family. The executive mansion was officially declared the residence of the governor in 1919 with the name "Blaine House". It is located at Capitol and State streets in Augusta, across the street from the Maine State House. The Blaine House was donated to the State of Maine for use as a governor's residence by Harriet Blaine Beale in 1919. The house dates back to 1833 and was built by James Hall, a retired ship's captain. James G. Blaine, then the Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives, purchased it in 1862 as a present for his wife, the former Harriet Stanwood, daughter of a prominent Augusta family. Blaine substantially enlarged the building, constructing an addition at the rear that was a near replica of the original structure, and removing interior walls to create a large entertainment space.During World War I the house was used by Maine's Committee for Public Safety. It was presented to the State by Blaine's youngest daughter, Mrs. Harriet Blaine Beale, and established by the 1919 Legislature as the official residence of the governor of Maine. It was remodeled, to designs by the noted Maine architect John Calvin Stevens, prior to the first governor taking residence in 1921. Carl E. Miliken was the first governor to occupy the residence.The Blaine House was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1964, for its association with Blaine, an influential political and diplomatic figure on the national stage in the decades following the Civil War.In June 2014, a system of high efficiency heat pumps was installed in the Blaine House in an effort to reduce the heating bill, after a test of one over the winter in the governor's sleeping quarters. With heating oil, the Blaine House used 5,074 gallons of oil at a cost of $16,775 in 2013. The oil boiler is also going to be converted to natural gas in a further effort to reduce costs, though that system will only be needed on the coldest days. The total cost of the upgrades is expected to be $115,000.The current resident is Governor Janet Mills.