Maine

Maine. What's In a Name?. , The Township was Named After the State of Maine by the First Settlers, "Maine" The Name , Organized on September 5, 1871, Maine Township received its name at the request of Roswell Adley, one of the first settlers who came from Maine Prairie in Stearns County. During the first local election, Adley and his neighbors petitioned the county to form a township and named it "Maine" in honor of their home state., In November 1885, Roswell Adley had a tragic accident when a wagon load of hay tipped over and suffocated him. Prior to that he had several other narrow escapes. While hunting, he fell on his gun that accidentally went off sending a bullet through his hat. Another time he was shot by a hunter who mistook him for a deer. He was also kicked by a horse and broke his arm and nearly drowned one summer., Monitor Falls , Though Maine Township was one of the county's earliest townships, it never had a village platted within its limits. By 1873, a store, post office and grist mill were located in Monitor Falls, along the Otter Tail River. In 1887, William Thomas constructed a dam and flour mill north of Monitor Falls. Known as Maine Roller Mills, it became one of the most active flour milling operations in the county., Old Maine Store , J.A. McConkey built the store and established a post office in the spring of 1884. In 1889, his son-in-law W.L Wilson built the present store and stage coach stop across from the original building which he operated for 50 years., The Old Maine Store stocked almost everything that a department store would carry. Since this was the "cracker barrel" era, many of the staple goods were bought from barrels. The store continued to serve as a post office until free rural delivery routes were established in 1895. The Old Maine Store was also used as a telephone office for many years., Located halfway between Fergus Falls and Perham, the store was the perfect stopping place for dinner and a change of clothes. W.L. Wilson's parents took care of the teams of horses and served the meals., In 1935 the store and business were sold to Mr. and Mrs. T.A. Davis, who operated it until 1946. The building sat empty for almost 20 years, until Lee Field purchased it and named it Snowy Hollow Creations. In 1996 he changed the name back to Old Maine Store., The Stagecoach Line , Between 1870 and 1875, as more and more settlers came to Otter Tail County, they found themselves without mail facilities. The solution: a stagecoach line, which brought mail to Fergus Falls three times a week from the city of Campbell to the south. The stage line also allowed settlers and township officials in outlying areas to travel to Fergus Falls, the county seat, for meetings with county officers., Barney L. Bull, a county commissioner, masterminded the construction of a county road from Fergus Falls to Perham by way of Maine Township. Due to the lack of funds in the county treasury, most of the work on the road was done by volunteers and was completed in 1878., The 45-mile trip from Fergus Falls to Perham initially took two days. As the road became more traveled, the trip could be made in a single day., With the coming of automobiles and better roads, the stage line was gradually forced out of business., Birthplace of U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice William O. Douglas , Located South of Maine, in the clergy house of Maine Presbyterian Church, William O. Douglas was born to Rev. William and Julie Douglas on October 16, 1898. A few years later the family moved to California. Douglas was appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1939 and served for over 36 years. He resigned in 1975 and died in 1980. (To learn more about William O. Douglas, visit Site D to see a monument dedicated to him.), Captions: , Monitor Falls Hotel and Stage coach, Maine Township, c. 1904. [#11108 Photo by J. O. Sneva, Phelps, MN. From the collections of the Otter Tail County Historical Society] , W. L. Wilson General Store, Maine Township, circa 1938 [#3859 from the collections of the Otter Tail County Historical Society] , Mr. and Mrs. Wilson, parents of W.L. [#6347 from the collections of the Otter Tail County Historical Society] , The Field and Fossen Grocery Store, a "cracker barrel" store in Fergus [#10849 from the collections of the Otter Tail County Historical Society] , First stage from Fergus Falls to Perham. [#13528 from the collections of the Otter Tail County Historical Society] , William O. Douglas as a child [#13640 13640 Photo by Denison and Hardy, Fergus Falls. From the collections of the Otter Tail County Historical Society]