March 22, 1848: Dr. Valorus Perry Coolidge of Waterville is convicted of murder and sentenced to hang for killing Edward Mathews on the night of Sept. 30, 1847, in Waterville and robbing him of about $1,500 that Mathews had just withdrawn from a local bank to lend to the debt-ridden Coolidge. The case became a […]

March 21, 2015: A lift at Sugarloaf ski resort in Carrabassett Valley stops and rolls backward, injuring seven adults, four of whom require hospital treatment. The incident strands about 200 skiers and snowboarders on the lift for about 90 minutes. On June 25, Sugarloaf announces $1.3 million in upgrades to lift safety, including a new […]

March 20, 1838: Franklin County is formed from parts of Cumberland, Kennebec and Somerset counties. Maine’s 11th county is its second-least-populous and one of its most mountainous. It is the location of the Sugarloaf skiing area and the site of the now-defunct Saddleback ski resort. March 20, 1852: J.P. Jewett, a Boston publisher, begins its initial […]

March 19, 1897: The Maine Legislature passes a law that requires hunting guides to register with the state. The first person to sign up is Cornelia “Fly Rod” Crosby (1854-1946), a woman whose promotional activities and nationally circulated hunting and fishing stories of the Rangeley Lake area attracted thousands of visitors to the Maine woods. Crosby, […]