Maine's proud Franco-American heritage dates back to the early French explorers, who claimed the coastal lands of Acadia; Acadian settlers, who arrived after the expulsion; and to the French missionaries, who pushed inland up the Kennebec River.
In addition to surnames found throughout the state, French names designate forts and battlefields, towns (although often, pronunciation has been Anglicized) and parks, including Acadia, which honors the name first bestowed on the region, Acadie.
In the 1800s, a new wave of French immigration flowed south on the Kennebec, as French-Canadians came seeking work in Maine's river-powered textile mills. They settled in cities and towns including Biddeford and Saco, Brunswick and Topsham, and Lewiston and Auburn, Augusta and Waterville, where their descendents still add a French lilt to the community. Today, Franco-Americans are Maine's largest ethnic group, and in 2010 Maine elected its full term first Franco-American governor.
Approximately 60 percent of Lewiston-Auburn's population is Franco-American, and their cultural identity and Catholic connection remain intact. The Franco American Heritage Center or Le Centre d’Héritage Franco Américain highlights contemporary Franco culture; Museum LA relates the story of local Franco millworkers; and separate services are still conducted in French and English at Saints Peter and Paul Basilica—New England's only basilica is renowned for its rose window, a replica of one at Chartres.
Lewiston's Franco community also played an important role in promoting the nascent sport of snowshoeing with the 1924 creation of the first U.S. snowshoeing club and the 1925 hosting of the first international snowshoeing convention.
To really experience of Maine's Franco-American joie de vivre, seek out these festivals celebrating the culture: Biddeford's La Kermesse; Waterville's Franco American Festival; Lewiston's Festival Franco Fun; and Augusta's Le Festival de la Bastille. At these events, you might be able to savor traditional foods such as boudin, creton, tourtierre, and tarte au saumon. Bon appetit!