Maine, geographically the largest New England state, for nearly half of its history was part of Massachusetts. Wealthy business interests began the first settlements although religious dissenters followed their lead in settling what is now referred to as "Downeast." In the seventeenth century British Europeans often retreated back to the lower colony settlements because of the inability to bridge the cultural differences and expectations between settlers and Native Americans, the influence of the French, the threat of war, and climate concerns. By the mid-19th century, a good portion of Maine was settled. Its homogeneous population varied only slightly with the addition of Acadians, French-Canadians, and Scotch-Irish in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

It is very important to keep in mind that between 1667-1780 Maine was part of the province of Massachusetts, and York County was the only county until 1760. From then until statehood was achieved in 1820, the newly formed counties became the District of Maine in Massachusetts. Settlement was encouraged in hopes of generating revenues to counter the tremendous cost of the Revolutionary War to the new state of Massachusetts. Many Massachusetts and New Hampshire Revolutionary War soldiers settled in Maine, assuming the land was theirs for the taking and found themselves in disputes with original proprietors. They came to make use of Maine's natural resources and found an interior wilderness and, as with the rest of northern New England, a harsh environment. Today Maine attracts new residents for its "quality of life."

Geographically Maine is vast and mountainous. The population is concentrated along the coast, with its islands and bays; along the border with New Hampshire; and in the lower third of the state along the Kennebec and Penobscot rivers. More than half of its land mass reaches above New Hampshire's northern latitude and remains chiefly wilderness. Political divisions in Maine are perhaps the most diverse in New England. There are 433 towns, 22 cities, 36 plantations, 3 Indian voting districts, 12 unorganized but populated townships, and approximately 200 land divisions unpopulated and identified only by township and range. There were border disputes with Maine's Canadian neighbors to the east and north. Genealogical research in Maine is challenging principally because of the numerous governmental changes affecting the way records have been kept. However, both the Maine State Archives and the Maine Historical Society have been aggressive in making their collections valuable research repositories. The addition of data processing and microfilming in organizing and preserving original source material at the Maine State Archives and the Maine Historical Society will continue to make research more centralized.