2 Best Sights in The Mid-Coast Region, Maine

Boothbay Railway Village

Beside Route 27, about a mile outside Boothbay Harbor, this charming recreation of a New England village has more than two dozen small, historic, and reconstructed Maine structures, including a general store, train station, blacksmith shop, firehouse, hardware store, toy shop, and covered bridge. More than 60 automobiles are also on display. Take a ride on the passenger train—pulled by a century-old, coal-fired steam locomotive—that loops through the 30-acre site on a narrow-gauge track. Activities might also include Model T rides, demonstrations by blacksmiths and other artisans, and special events on the village green.

Colonial Pemaquid State Historic Site

As you walk the gently sloping, waterfront meadow where Colonial Pemaquid was established by English colonists around 1620 (the same time as the Pilgrims were stepping ashore on Plymouth Rock), be sure to read signs describing the buildings that once stood here. Evidence that's been unearthed suggests there were some 40 structures—including houses, a forge, a tavern, a jail, and a customs house—set along a grid of dirt lanes. A replica of a fisherman's small cottage gives an idea of how the settlers lived. Nearby is a 1908 reproduction of a large stone tower, part of Fort William Henry, built in 1692 to protect the little community. Unfortunately, unlike Plymouth, Pemaquid was abandoned in the early 1700s. A small museum containing a diorama of the village and some 75,000 artifacts is open seasonally.