Maine Acadian Culture

During our travels to visit all of the national park units in the United States, we have been lucky enough to come across lots of other places that were well worth visiting. Maine Acadian Culture is one of these places. We were in Maine to visit our last two national park units: Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument and St. Croix Island International Historic Site; plus Roosevelt Campobello International Park and Acadia National Park. We really just happened upon Maine Acadian Culture, but we are happy we stopped.

Although not officially a national park unit (so not one of the ones we included in our 432), it is affiliated with the National Park Service and administered by Acadia National Park. But more importantly, it is a project supported by the Acadian community in northern Maine and across the river in New Brunswick.

There are several sites – houses, churches, forts and museums – all telling the story of the Acadians and the history of this remote area of Maine.

Acadian Village

We visited Acadian Village in Van Buren, Maine. It is a collection of buildings – homes, barns, a church, a blacksmith shop, a dentist – all donated and relocated piece by piece from other places. Built on donated land, funding came from private and public sources, as well as some small grants. .

The first building moved to the site on February 1975, and the village opened on July 1, 1976. People from the local communities of Van Buren, Hamlin, Cyr Plantation and Grand Isle helped build the village, and continue their involvement with its ongoing maintenance as well as working with the community to bring in new buildings.

This village tells the story of the Acadians in Maine.

Volunteers will guide you on your visit to the buildings and tell you about what you are seeing. They also share the rich history of the Acadians.

We didn’t know much about the Acadians, so it was very educational. Their roots are in France; descendants of the hardy souls who emigrated to Nova Scotia in the 1600s. Unfortunately, the British went to war with the French, and because many of the Acadians would not swear an oath of allegiance to England, they were kicked out of Nova Scotia in 1755. Over 10,000 Acadians were put on ships and dropped off along the American east cost.

Some Acadians escaped and settled near what is now Fredericton, New Brunswick, but Loyalists returning from the Revolutionary war pushed them out. The Acadians asked for land grants farther away, in the St. John Valley in what is now Maine. The people who relocated here were the Cyr, Duperre, Thibodeau, Daigle, Soucy, Cormier, Martin, Mercure, Ayotte and Fournier families.

It was  not an easy life, as you can see from the buildings made of hewn logs.

These families had a unique culture and heritage. Although you can find Acadians all over the United States, our guide explained that to be truly “Acadian” you need to be a direct descendent of the original French settlers. Many of them remain in the St. John Valley. Another offshoot of the Acadians are in Louisiana, where they are called Cajuns.

Fort Kent Blockhouse

We also visited Fort Kent Blockhouse in nearby Fort Kent, Maine. It is one of the sites in Maine Acadian Culture and part of Fort Kent State Historic Site, on the National Register of Historic Places and a National Historic Landmark. 

It was built during the Aroostook War.

That’s one we had never heard about. Basically the United States and Britain could not agree where the International Boundary should be located between Maine and New Brunswick. 

Fort Kent, anchored by the Fort Kent Blockhouse, was built by the Americans to defend their interests, but there never was any actual fighting. The matter was resolved via negotiations that ended in 1842.

Our history is so interesting and each place we have visited over the years has simply added to our understanding. If you are visiting national park units, we highly recommend that you look to see what else there is to visit nearby. You never know what you might come across.

Want to Talk?

If you have questions about this or any national park unit, we’d love to chat. You can contact us from this page or call (480) 609-3978. We are happy to help and love to talk with other folks who love our national parks.

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