Why is Corinth, ME the Reason There’s an Ohio Street in Bangor?

Maine history is full of things that started one way, and went another.

In the early days of our country, things changed all the time. Many towns in Maine changed over the last couple centuries as they reflected either a change in borders, a change in power, or sometimes just because. But by and large, our towns were either named after locations in the UK, people, or Native American words and tribes.

In fact, I saw this map on Reddit, where someone had meticulously mapped out the origin of each of Maine's town names. But it was something in the comment section that caught my eye, because it related directly to my hometown of Bangor. In short, what I found was that the town of Corinth is the reason we have Ohio Street in Bangor.

Blame the Mediterranean for a bunch of our town names.

Back a couple hundred years ago when the town of Corinth was originally settled, it was known as Ohio. This was back in the late 1700's. Shortly after, it became New Ohio. About 20 years after all that, when the town was finally incorporated, the name Corinth was settled on, after the area in Greece of the same name.

Along the same lines... Milo, Etna, Carmel, Levant, and Troy were all given similar Mediterranean names, likely in an effort to attract new settlers. Honestly, I had no idea those names could be traced back that way. Funny how you don't think much about names until you hear crazy stories like this?

So how did Corinth name Ohio Street in Bangor?

Actually, it's pretty simple. Much like the Bar Harbor Road, and the Carmel Road, Ohio Street in Bangor was the direct link out to that area. There was no Route 15 back then, so Ohio Street was the road people took. When Corinth changed to the town name we all know and love currently, Bangor never changed the name of Ohio Street.

Even today, if you hop on Ohio Street in Bangor and keep going, you'll be surprised how far out it takes you, until it just kind of winds down to a stop. But as long as I've lived in Maine, and grew up in Bangor, I had no idea at all, that's where the name came from. Even in my old age, haha, you can still learn something new about where you're from.

Now, if you ever do go to Corinth, here's all the fun things you can do there, sort of...