Maine State DAR Historic Markers
Through the endeavors of the Maine State DAR Chapters, hundreds of graves of Revolutionary War soldiers and Patriots have been marked, in addition to the hundreds of markers that have been placed honoring historical events and sites. Travel the route Benedict Arnold’s ill-fated expedition to Quebec. Take a visual tour of the markers Daughters have placed in Maine.
More Maine State DAR Historic Markers
- September 1, 1915-The home of William King, Maine’s first Governor, was marked at Bath.
- Markers were also placed on the home of Major General George Ulmer, Sr., in Lincolnville, and on the “Old Powder House” at Hallowell.
- April 25, 1937-in Washington Memorial Chapel at Valley Forge, PA, the Maine Bell (C sharp in key) was dedicated. The bell is inscribed “Given by the Maine DAR in grateful tribute to Washington, whose strength and wisdom shaped our Nation’s destiny.” Around the rim is a quotation from William Wordsworth’s sonnet, “Near Dawn” (1802): “By the Soul only, shall the Nation be Great and Free.”
- June 27,1946-State Regent Mrs. Roy Heywood marked the historic spot where once stood the home of Commodore Samuel Tucker in Bremer. The bronze tablet on a boulder of Maine granite was unveiled by Mrs. Gail Griffin, a direct descendant of Commodore Tucker.
- 1947-Rebecca Emery Chapter placed a bronze plaque at the grave of its founder, Cora B. Bickford.
- 1948-Mary Kelton Dummer Chapter, Hallowell, marked with a bronze marker a building known as the “Old Powder House,” built in 1813.
- October 1951-Lydia Putnam Chapter dedicated a flagpole and placed a historical marker on Garrison Hill, upon the site where the Hancock Barracks once stood. It had been erected in 1828, when the U.S. government established a military post in Houlton to settle a dispute between the U.S. and Canada.
- 1952-Rebecca Weston Chapter erected and dedicated a boulder with a bronze marker on the site of Dexter’s first burial ground, where Revolutionary War soldier John Tucker is resting.
- September 1953-Margaret Goff Moore Chapter dedicated a marker commemorating the site of the first Meeting House, School House, and Town House in Madison, with appropriate ceremonies.
- 1957-Lydia Putnam Chapter, Houlton, participated in the Sesquicentennial of the City of Houlton and placed 16 markers at various historical points.
- July 1962-Lady Knox Chapter placed and dedicated a historical marker at Owl’s Head Light, located in West Penobscot Bay, approached through the Mussel Ridge Channel. The first lighthouse keeper was Isaac Sterns who was appointed August 1855. The first beacon was lighted September 10, 1825; a fog bell attached to the shed was first rung by hand. In August 1862, a large bell was erected on a cliff nearby. Captain Jeremiah Berry was the lighthouse keeper at this time. In very early days, bonfires were used as beacons, and sometimes tarpots were used. In the 17th century, as many as 24 candles would be burned to keep the light going. Whale oil and kerosene were used in turn, as was a revolving clock. Winslow Lewis, who installed the beacon at Owl’s Head and is considered the “Father of Lighthouses,” has his name in a place of honor on the bronze marker placed there by the Mussel Ridge Historical Society because of his connections with the beacons used in all of New England and later, the United States.
- July 1969-Lady Knox Chapter placed a bronze marker on the home of Major General George Ulmer, Sr., in Lincolnville, ME. In the Revolutionary War, Major General Ulmer, Sr., was a Colonel in the Militia. He was made Major General of the 6th Division. He had over 200 men on Clam Cove (now called Glen Cove). This site, which served as an outlook for ships that came into the harbor, is where a marker was placed.
- 2009-The Blue Spruce tree planted in 1938 at the Franklin County Court House by Colonial Daughters Chapter, in observance of the 150th anniversary of the Ratification of The Constitution and the 100th anniversary of the establishment of Franklin County, died. The Chapter was permitted to replace it with a Balsam Fir in October 2009.
- 2011-A marker for John Austin, Revolutionary War patriot, was placed by Colonial Daughters Chapter in the Austin Old Burial Ground Cemetery in West Farmington.
