The Maine Atlas and Gazeteer

The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer
DeLorme, David. 2005.
The Maine Atlas and Gazetteer. (28th edition)
Yarmouth: DeLorme.
78 pages, paperback.
$19.95
ISBN 9780899332826.

Format: maps
Rating: 5.0/5.0 stars

Summary
This map and gazetteer is 78 pages, 70 of which each represent USGS quadrangles of our state starting in the south and heading north. It offers the full state on the back cover with grid numbers to easily refer to individual segments inside. Being the most comprehensive and most recognized as used by Mainers, its legend includes highways, primary and secondary roads, as well as trails, railroads, state, county and country boundaries, localities, water, airports, mountains, gates, picnic and rest areas, hospitals, boat launches, lean-tos, and campsites (maintained and primitive).

For tourists, it offers bike trails, state and national parks, historic forts, museums, beaches and lighthouses. It offers places to other outdoor recreational activities such as wildlife areas, parks and beaches, cross-country and downhill skiing, campgrounds, and canoe/rafting trips.

Critical Evaluation

All of this data has been compiled over years, with field studies and corrections taken seriously and confirmed so that each new edition can be as accurate as possible. Our road was discontinued in 1957, and while GPS indicates it's maintained, this guide and our common sense understand that it has non-passable breaks except when on foot or snowmobile. We keep a copy of the Maine Atlas and Gazetteer in each of our vehicles, and began to teach our children how to use this map years before each was licensed.

When they were little, when asked where they lived - they proudly announced, "We live in grid 29!" For anyone who is a life-long Mainer, or has learned and now uses this guide faithfully, they'd know exactly where our kids meant.

Reader’s Annotation

If you are going to drive anywhere in Maine, besides the turnpike, this guide could save your life when your GPS tells you to keep driving and there is a large body of water dead ahead. It can be the single guide you use to enjoy all of the great outdoors that Maine has to offer.

Information About the Author
David DeLorme founded the company in 1976 after becoming frustrated with the limited backcountry maps offered of our Moosehead Lake region, so he went about creating his own. His first edition of the Maine Atlas and Gazetteer printed 10,000 copies and he sold them out of his car. When I was a kid, I visited his small company which was housed in a quonset hut in Freeport. His corporate offices now, with Eartha: the largest rotating globe in the world, is on Route #1 in Yarmouth.

As a company, DeLorme is one of Maine's most recognizable names and "has been directly responsible for many of the major technological advances made in the mapping industry over the past 30 years" (DeLorme, 2011).

Genre

Non-fiction: Maine Maps, Atlas & Gazetteer

Read-Alikes
N/A

Curriculum Ties:
Maine Atlas and Gazetteer is used by students studying Maine geography, and it is invaluable to all of our Maine Guides and Outdoor Management students working on their maps and compass training.

Reading Level/Interest Age
Ages 8 and up / Ages 8 and up

Challenge Issues
N/A

Why Title Included & Selection Tools
Living in such a rural area of our state, it is critical to our very survival that every person out and about not only enjoy Maine's beauty - but also, know how to get around safely. Our remote corner of Maine has many discontinued and abandoned roads, which are wonderful for a day of snowshoeing or 4-wheeling but could be life-threatening if you get truly lost. Being so heavily wooded, and one of the darkest states in the country (no streetlights) - even LifeFlights have trouble and lose their bearing sometimes. If our students are going to live and play in the great outdoors of rural Maine, they must learn how to find their way and keep themselves safe.

Before someone suggests the magic of GPS, let me share that having 7 of Maine's 10 highest peaks in our region is beautiful, but causes us to rarely and reliably maintain a cell phone or GPS satellite signal. That is the best part of living here!

Our high school library keeps 6 copies on hand, and they see a lot of circulation for several of our classes and especially just before hunting season each year.