Maine and the Nanticoke Valley (Images of America)

Maine and the Nanticoke Valley began as part of a vast,
230,000-acre tract of land known as the Boston Purchase or
Massachusetts Ten Townships. Nanticoke was formed from a section
of Lisle in 1831, while Maine was taken from the town of Union and
incorporated in 1848. Though no major highways or railroads came
through the valley, products from the area were sold worldwide: locally
made rakes were shipped to Australia, Pitcher’s Mill flour went west
to the goldfields, and butter from community farms was sold in New
York City. The most important valley export was its innovative and
unique people, including Lamont Bowers, who served for 30 years on
the personal advisory staff of John D. Rockefeller; Dr. Dwight Dudley,
the youngest commanding officer in the Civil War when he was put
in charge of Elmira Prison Hospital; and Dwight’s son Dr. D. Guilford
Dudley, developer of an anti-anthrax serum. Today, the Nanticoke
Valley is a bedroom community for those working at various
universities and companies in a three-county area.