St. George, Maine

The peninsula and its islands were noted for immense flocks of duck, geese and other waterfowl. Although the region was part of the Waldo Patent, General Samuel Waldo complied with requests from Abenaki Indians not to settle immigrants at what was their prized hunting ground. Consequently, the peninsula remained unpopulated until after the close of the French and Indian Wars in 1763. The Revolutionary War further slowed development, but during the 1780s, there was rapid settlement of the peninsula. It was incorporated in 1789 as part of Cushing. On February 7, 1803, the peninsula and its islands were set off and incorporated as St. George, taking its name from the river.

Farmers grew potatoes. After 1830, granite was quarried and shipped nationally for construction. Shipbuilders annually produced three to four vessels, many for the coasting trade, exporting cordwood, lumber and fish. Factories canned lobsters, clams and sardines. In the 1880s, the town's rugged oceanfront beauty was discovered by "rusticators"—visitors, including artists, who bought or built summer cottages.

At the town office, there is a statue of Saint George, the town's namesake, fighting the legendary dragon.[3]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 117.25 square miles (303.68 km²), of which 25.02 square miles (64.80 km²) is land and 92.23 square miles (238.87 km²) is water.[1] Bounded on the west by the Saint George River, the town is located on a peninsula extending into the Gulf of Maine.

St. George is crossed by state route 131. It borders the town of South Thomaston to the north.

Both Allen Island and Mosquito Island House are listed on the National Register of Historic Places for St. George.

According to Roy Meservey, the first school in St. George served the children of Samuel Watts in the 1780s.[7] In 1792, four school districts were laid out, and more were created as the town's population grew.[7] At their peak in the late 1800s, there were 18 or 20 schools in St. George.[7] As the population decreased, most of the districts were consolidated, and by the 1950s, only four remained: St. George, Clark's Island, Port Clyde, and Tenants Harbor.[7] In 1957, despite strong public opposition, the St. George, Clark's Island, and Port Clyde schools were all closed.[7] Only Tenants Harbor remained, which all students since have attended under the unified name 'St. George School.'[7] St. George School is a public K–8 school operated by the St. George Municipal School Unit, and has 180 students.[8][9]

St. George High School was established in 1894 in the sail loft over Long's Store.[7] Its building was erected in 1900, graduating its first class in 1901.[7] It, too, closed as a result of population decline, graduating its last class in 1962.[7] For the 1962–1963 academic year, high school students attended Georges Valley High School in Thomaston.[7] The old building was used as the new elementary school, before being demolished a few years later and replaced by the current town office and fire station.[7]

Starting in the 2015–2016 academic year, St. George students in grades 9–12 began attending one of five schools of their choice:[8]

• Camden Hills Regional High School
• Lincoln Academy
• Medomak Valley High School
• Oceanside High School
• Watershed School

• First Baptist Church of St. George Maine

• Linda Bean, businessperson, granddaughter of Leon Leonwood Bean and an heiress to the L.L.Bean company
• Albert S. Bickmore, naturalist and the principal founder of the American Museum of Natural History
• Richard Falley Jr. (1740–1808), an ensign at the Battle of Bunker Hill and armorer during the American Revolutionary War[10]
• John G. Roberts, Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court; owned a vacation home on Hupper Island off the village of Port Clyde in St. George[11][12]
• Charles Wilbert Snow, 60th governor of Connecticut; born on White Head Island on Penobscot Bay[13]
• Andrew Wyeth, one of the best-known U.S. artists of the middle 20th century, owned Southern Island and Tenants Harbor Light[14]
• Jamie Wyeth, contemporary American realist painter, son of Andrew Wyeth; owns Southern Island and Tenants Harbor Light, sold to him by his father

• Marshall Point Light
• Marshall Point Lighthouse Museum – St. George Historical Society
• Tenants Harbor Light[15]
• Whitehead Light

• History of St. George, Maine (1886)
• A. J. Coolidge & J. B. Mansfield, A History and Description of New England; Boston, Massachusetts 1859

• Town of St. George, Maine
• Jackson Memorial Library
• Maine.gov – St. George, Maine
• Maine Genealogy: St. George, Knox County, Maine