Fort Kent

Bienvenue to Fort Kent!

This is the “little town that could.” It is home to an Olympic biathlete training center. It also houses the annual CAN-AM Dog Sled Race, and is the town where the race begins and ends.

This little town has many other cool sights to see if you’re not into sled racing. It is where US Route 1 starts. Therefore, you can start here and drive to Key West, Florida! Or, if you are traveling by canoe or kayak, this is the ending point of the Northern Forest Canoe Trail. This canoe trail is 740 miles long and passes through New York, Vermont, Quebec, and New Hampshire and ends here!

Fort Kent was settled by a group of descendants for French Acadian refugees in 1825. In 1839, a blockhouse fort was built in preparation for the Aroostook War of 1838. The area became a powerhouse for potato farming and lumbering. The University of Maine at Fort Kent was founded in 1878. The town was officially incorporated in 1869 as Fort Kent, Maine in honor of governor Edward Kent.

Return to St. John Valley Page