BANGOR DAILY NEWS • September 9, 2021
With last week’s news of the B&M Baked Bean factory sale, the state’s long industrial canning tradition will soon come to an end. Beginning in the 1850s, and reaching an apex during the Gilded Age, Maine was once dotted with dozens of fish, fruit and vegetable canning factories. Partners James P. Baxter and William G. Davis opened the Portland Packing Company in 1861. Its founders, including James Baxter, became fabulously wealthy. When James died, he left most of his enormous wealth to Percival. After leaving office, he negotiated with landowners, buying up parcels around Katahdin with his own, mostly inherited, money. He then gave the land to the state. Over the next 31 years, Percival gave Maine 27 more public parkland parcels and a $7 million trust for upkeep. Today, Baxter State Park encompases 209,644 acres, making it one of the largest state parks in the nation.