7 Fun Facts About Maine

Maine is the northeasternmost state in the country, and sometimes it feels like it’s easy to forget about, all tucked away up there. We’re here to change that! There are some delightful fun facts about Maine, so let’s spread the word.

Here are the seven most entertaining fun facts about Maine in my book.

1. Maine is the only state with one syllable

There’s not much of a backstory to this fact, but it’s one of my favorite pieces of Maine trivia. Go ahead and look at a list of all 50 states. Maine is the only one that will take you one syllable to say.

2. Maine is the closest U.S. state to Africa

When you picture a map of the world, it seems like one of the southern states would be closer to Africa, right? The continent is right on the equator, after all. As it turns out, it’s a shorter trip from Maine than anywhere else in the U.S.

Here’s a wild deep dive into the distance. The quick version: It’s 3,161 miles from Maine to the Western Sahara, making Maine the closest state to Africa.

3. Maine’s coastline is longer than California’s coastline

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Maine has 3,478 shoreline miles throughout the state, while California has 3,421. If you’d like to get technical about this, you’re more than welcome to join a coastal paradox discussion, which basically admits it’s hard to accurately measure the coastline. However, a U.S. government institution put in the effort to do so, and we’ll give ’em the benefit of the doubt here.

Of course, Alaska blows every other state out of the coast, accounting for more than a third of the entire country’s shoreline mileage. But this is a list of Maine fun facts, not Alaskan ones, so let’s move on.

4. There are 65 lighthouses across the state

Maine has more coastal lighthouses than any other state, primarily thanks to a bevy of islands along its coast (which also helps with the coastline stat above). While Michigan and New York have more, Maine still earns the nickname of the “Lighthouse State.”

Though many of the lighthouses are inaccessible by land, there’s a bustling lighthouse tour economy that lets visitors get up close and personal. Depending on where you visit, you might even be able to stay overnight in an old lighthouse keeper’s room.

5. Eastport, Maine, is the first city in the U.S. to see the sun every morning

As you may know, the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. And tiny lil’ Eastport, the smallest city in Maine with a population of 1,288 (as of the 2020 census), is the easternmost city in the United States, so it sees the sun before any other city in the country.

Eastport used to specialize in sardine production and canning. In recent years, it has expanded to several other aquatic exports.

6. Maine is the only state to border just one other state

Whether you live in a house, apartment, condo, townhome, or box of wine, you likely have several neighbors. Perhaps you’re in the middle of a row of homes — one on each side, one behind you, and one directly across the street, which is also flanked by multiple houses.

Maine, however, has just one neighbor: New Hampshire. It might sound a bit lonely, but it could be worse. Alaska and Hawaii both border no states at all.

7. Maine used to be the toothpick capital of the world

There’s a small town in western Maine called Strong. In the years after World War II, there was a…ahem, strong need for toothpicks. Even though the town’s population was barely 1,000 people, they got to work producing the small wooden food removers.

Over 75 billion toothpicks were manufactured per year, accounting for about 95% of America’s entire toothpick production. Sadly, the good times didn’t last, and today, Strong produces zero toothpicks. Alas.

Do you know any fun facts about Maine or other states? Drop me a note in the comments, or reach out over email. I’d love to hear from you!