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The Maine Loop Four New England villages in 65 miles, a summer driving tour that takes you across 270 years. By Robert Moorehead
But, sandwiched between Maine's mountains and big woods, 200-year-old towns and hamlets still bear the imprints of colonial origins—village greens and meeting houses, slate headstones and the occasional covered bridge—to lure historic travelers. And lately more coast-huggers are venturing northward. From day-trippers to L.L. Bean poster children (canoeing, climbing, hiking, biking, fishing) to antique collectors tapping a mother lode, the newcomers are exploring what was once the edge of the nation's first frontier. The foothills are less than an hour's drive north of I-95 or U.S. 1. In a few hours of easy driving from Fryeburg north to Bethel (35 miles), then south to tiny Paris Hill (20 miles) and west (10 miles) to Waterford, you can traverse some 270 years of the state's history. The route includes the sites of two bloody battles between Indians and colonials, traces some movers and shakers of nationhood and tracks the progress of colonial home-building styles. The easy starting point is Fryeburg on U.S. 302. This town of some 2,500 people is hardly a mile from the New Hampshire border and dates from 1763 when French and Indian War veteran General Joseph Frye sold off 50 lots of the land awarded to him for his war service. But it took an early Indian battle to open the country for Frye.
From the beginning, things went wrong for Lovewell and his raiders. They split their force in New Hampshire, were discovered prematurely by the Indians, got ambushed and were forced to defend a perimeter for two days on the northwest edge of the pond. Lovewell and all but one of his officers were fatally wounded. Only half the attacking troops survived the raid and the disorganized retreat back to Dunstable. Had the Indians pursued, it would have been worse. On the other hand, the colonials killed the Abnaki chief and inflicted nearly as many casualties on the Indians as they suffered. It was a while before the Massachusetts group realized it, but the mission achieved its objective. The Indians abandoned the site and moved 100 miles north to Norridgewock on the Kennebec River. When Frye and the new landowners staked out Fryeburg some 38 years later, the entire countryside was uninhabited. By the start of the Revolution, the settlers had built a village and cleared acres of farmland. Today, much of the town still evokes the slower 19th century. The population increased by only 500 between 1890 and 1990. U.S. 302 and Maine Route 5 converge to form a wide Main Street dominated by Federal and Victorian houses. The broad, tame Saco River parallels Main Street, then curls northeast around the town before turning southwest. Outfitters make the town a departure point for scenic canoe trips along the unpolluted river from Memorial Day until mid-October. Fryeburg Academy (1792), housed in Ivy League look-alike brick buildings on the edge of playing fields, dominates the eastern end of the town. The private school's former headmasters include orator and Constitutional lawyer Daniel Webster, who served a year while reading the law at the local registry, and Enoch Lincoln, later a Maine governor and congressman. For more than a century, the old-boy headmasters at the academy hailed from Dartmouth or Bowdoin College and guided academy graduates toward their alma maters. North Pole discoverer Robert E. Peary spent summers in his hip-roofed house at 9 Elm Street, now a B&B. From 1926 until his death in 1956, Hopalong Cassidy creator Clarence Mulford lived at 103 Main Street, next door to the Oxford House, the area's premier tavern. Twice burned and twice rebuilt in its two-century history, the Oxford House still offers food and lodging. Agriculture remains the bedrock of the local economy, and some farms are still worked by descendants of those who bought their lots from General Frye, growing everything from turf and trees for nurseries to corn, potatoes and beans. Agriculture's slow developmental pace has helped preserve many historic houses in town. On Main Street, the David Evans House at 175 and the Cook MacFarlane House at 159 both date from the 1760's. A total of 38 houses and landmarks from the 18th and early 19th centuries are preserved in the town. For more classic old houses, drive Maine Route 113 north of Fryeburg and also Fish Street, intersecting Route 113. The source for information on Fryeburg's architectural treasures and history is the Fryeburg Historical Society at 96 Main Street. They're open only Wednesday mornings and Thursday afternoons, but if you call ahead, (207) 935-4192, you can set up an appointment with them. The major event in Fryeburg is the annual Oxford Agricultural Society Fair, held the first week in October. Started in 1851, the fair is one of the largest in northern New England with miles of midway, hours of draft horse pulling events daily and several days of standard bred horse racing. The Fair Society has its own agricultural museum on the grounds. It takes at least a full day to make a small dent in the fair's activities and sights, and visitors who want to stay the night should make reservations at least six months in advance.
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