Sept. 10, 1917: Maine’s men, contradicting earlier action by the Legislature, vote by a nearly 2-to-1 ratio to reject a proposed state constitutional amendment granting women the right to vote. The House, with future Gov. Percival Baxter leading the charge, had voted 113-35 to approve the measure, and women’s suffrage had fared even better in […]

Sept. 9, 1957: Maine voters approve a change to the Maine Constitution that ends the 137-year-old practice of holding statewide elections on the second Monday in September. Instead, that voting will occur on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, just as it does in every other state. The September date was designated […]

Sept. 8, 1803: The Portland-based newspaper Eastern Argus publishes its first issue. The paper is the first one in Maine supporting President Thomas Jefferson’s Democratic-Republican Party, the nemesis of the Federalist Party, which dominated the press. The Federalists, who tend to oppose the District of Maine’s separation from Massachusetts, gradually are losing influence in Maine. […]

Sept. 3, 1853: The Harnden & Brother spool factory on the Kennebec River in Augusta catches fire about 2 a.m. The fire eventually consumes a grist mill, machine shops, six sawmills, a boardinghouse and other commercial enterprises. Before the fire spreads beyond the three-story, 160-by-60-foot spool mill, a night watchman and other people try to […]

Sept. 2, 1816: In a second referendum on Maine’s proposed separation from Massachusetts to become a new state, the pro-separation side wins again, with 54 percent of the vote. While the margin of victory is smaller than the 62 percent win on May 20, the rate of voter participation is much greater, giving the result […]