Pike's Mile Markers
Pike's Mile Markers are a series of twelve stone mileposts along United States Route 1 in Robbinston and Calais in far eastern Washington County, Maine. The stones were placed by James Shepherd Pike, owner of The Mansion House which stands near the 12-mile mark. The measure the distance from his house to the center of Calais, and were supposedly used by Pike to assess the quality of his horses. The markers, unique in the state of Maine, were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.
History
James Shepherd Pike was born in Calais, and achieved a nationwide reputation as a journalist with a strong anti-slavery voice prior to the American Civil War. During the war he served as United States Ambassador to the Netherlands. Upon his return from that posting, he purchased the Mansion House, a large Federal-style mansion in Robbinston, where he lived in semi-retirement. He continued to write on subjects related to African-American civil rights, but became bitterly opposed to the corruption and mismanagement of the Reconstruction Era.Pike is said to have carefully measured the route from his house to Calais, and then placed these stones sometime between his purchase of the Mansion House and his death in 1882. He is also said to have used them as a means to gauge the performance of his horses.
List of markers
There are twelve markers in all, of which eleven are those originally placed by Pike. Marker #6 was destroyed during road works on US 1 shortly after World War II, and was replaced by a similar marker fashioned out of red granite; Pike's original markers are all gray granite, with inscriptions painted in red on a white background. All of the markers are located on the east side of US 1.| Miles to Calais | Image | Location | Town | Notes |
| 12 | In front of the Redclyffe Shore Motel | Robbinston | Near the northern drive entrance; rectangular with flat top | |
| 11 | US 1 | Robbinston | Irregular rectangle, with damaged top | |
| 10 | US 1 | Robbinston | Irregular rectangle, with damaged top | |
| 9 | US 1 | Calais | Irregular rectangle, with damaged top | |
| 8 | US 1 | Calais | Rectangle, with a flat top, damaged at one corner | |
| 7 | US 1 | Calais | Rectangular, with rounded top | |
| 6 | Southeast corner of US 1 and Old River Rd. | Calais | Rectangular, with flat top | |
| 5 | US 1, opposite house #759 | Calais | Rectangular, with flat top | |
| 4 | US 1 | Calais | Rectangular, with flat top | |
| 3 | US 1 at Taylor's Furniture | Calais | Taller, with flat top | |
| 2 | US 1 | Calais | Rectangular, with angled top | |
| 1 | Opposite Calais UMC on US 1 | Calais | Taller, with flat top |