Where We Were

The story of Franco-American immigration to Maine is complex and fascinating—but not a short story to tell. Where We Were is a series of story maps and visualizations that investigate the history of the Franco-American community in Maine.


This is a painting by Junius Brutus Stearns. It shows a young George Washington on horseback and a variety of troops in the midst of a battle.

Franco-American Migrations:

Where are Franco-American’s from? The history of French populations in America is not simple, but this Story Map provides a rough guide.

Franco-American Lumbering:

This Story Map provides insights into how the Franco-American community took part in the large scale timber harvests of the 19th and 20th centuries.


Below is a snapshot of some of the most recent data on ancestry in Maine. It includes those who identified as French-Canadian, French, or Acadian as their “primary” ancestry in the 2000 U.S. Census.

For more in depth narrative maps that look into the past, see below.

This is a map of the state of Maine that shows proportional circles of population for each town. Each circle is a pie chart where blue represents Franco-American community populations.

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