Maine State Nickname: The Pine Tree State
The Pine Tree State
Official state nickname of Maine
State Nickname of Maine
Meaning of 'The Pine Tree State'
The Pine Tree State nickname points to Maine's vast forests filled with white pine and other evergreen trees. White pines can grow over 200 feet tall and live for more than 400 years. British colonists needed these trees for building ship masts in the 1600s and 1700s. The tallest, straightest pines were marked with the King's Broad Arrow and reserved for the Royal Navy.
Pine trees shaped Maine's economy for centuries. Logging became one of the state's biggest industries by the early 1800s. Workers cut down millions of pine trees and floated logs down rivers to sawmills near the coast. Maine produced more lumber than any other state during some years in the 1800s. The lumber industry brought jobs and money to small towns across northern Maine.
Today forests still cover about 17 million acres in Maine — a distinction it holds even over neighboring Vermont, whose meaning of the Green Mountain State also draws its identity from an ancient forested landscape. The white pine appears on Maine's state flag along with a farmer and a sailor. People started calling Maine the Pine Tree State in the mid-1800s when the lumber business was at its peak. The nickname stuck because pine trees remain such a big part of what makes Maine different from other states — easily one of the most ecologically grounded entries when you discover every state's nickname, and closely tied to wording on the Maine state motto page.
Other Nicknames
Down East
This nickname comes from sailing directions used by ship captains in the 1800s. Sailors traveling from Boston to Maine and heading northeast went downwind and east, so they said they were going down east. The phrase caught on and people began calling the coastal region of Maine Down East. Today Down East usually refers to the area from Penobscot Bay to the Canadian border. Fishermen and lobstermen still use this name for their home region, including habitats shared with species on the Maine state bird page. The nickname appears in business names and local newspapers throughout coastal Maine.
The Border State
Maine earned this name because it shares an international border with Canada. The boundary runs for 611 miles along Quebec and New Brunswick. Maine is the only state in New England that touches Canada. Border disputes between the United States and Britain caused problems until the Webster-Ashburton Treaty settled the line in 1842. Some people called Maine the Border State during the 1800s when this boundary was still news, and modern comparisons appear in states neighboring states. The nickname is rarely used today but appears in some historical writings about Maine.
Lumber State
People used this name during the 1800s when Maine led the nation in lumber production. Sawmills operated along almost every river in the state. Men worked in logging camps during winter, cutting trees and hauling logs to riverbanks. When spring came, log drives moved millions of board feet down rivers to mills and shipping ports. The Lumber State nickname was popular from about 1850 to 1900. Maine's lumber industry declined in the early 1900s as forests in other states opened up and demand changed.
Interesting Facts
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Maine State Symbols
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