Why French?

History of French in Maine

For more than 400 years Maine has had ties to France. In the early 1600's the area north the Penobscot River was considered to be Acadie (or Acadia) which was a colony of New France.

The first attempt at a permanent French settlement in North America was here in Maine on the Island of Saint-Croix. Sieur de Monts' expedition with Samuel de Champlain spent a disastrous winter here in 1604/05. Champlain went on to map much of the east coast of New England and the Canadian Maritime provinces.

1604

Samuel de Champlain mapped and named our island "Ile des Monts désert" because the tops of the mountains were bare.

artist: Samuel de Champlain

1785

Acadians faced expulsion by the British in Nova Scotia in 1755. They fled into the forests of New Brunswick and northern Maine around 1785.

artist: Lewis Parker

Lumberjacks and Textile workers

Starting in the 1860's many french families from Quebec came looking for work in the woods and the textile mills. Large communities appeared in places like Lewiston-Auburn and in Biddeford. photo: Dennis B. Jarvis

photo from Amjambo Africa

New Immigrants from Africa

In recent years there has been an influx of immigrants from francophone countries in Africa such as the RD Congo and Sénégal. They have settled in the Porland and Lewiston-Auburn areas. They have been warmly received by the existing french-speaking communities there.

Acadia National Park

As a thank you for French assistance during the Revolutionary War against Great Britain, the creators of our national park eventually chose to name it Acadia in 1929. (It was briefly Sieur de Monts National Monument in 1916 and Lafayette National Park in 1919.

1604-2004

Saint-Croix Island commemorated the 4ooth anniversary of the arrival of the first french colonists. The island part of both American and Canadian Nation Park systems.

French families in New England

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