A magnificent obsession, written into deeds.
Percival P. Baxter spent more than 30 years assembling the park. He left behind land, an endowment, and a sentence that still governs everything that happens here.
Percival Proctor Baxter was the 53rd Governor of Maine. Between 1921 and 1924, he repeatedly proposed that the state create a park around Katahdin; the Legislature repeatedly declined. When he could not get the park made as a public official, he made it as a private citizen.
In 1930, Baxter bought nearly 6,000 acres, including the summit of Katahdin. In 1931, he deeded them to the state, with a stipulation, written in plain language, that the property “be kept forever wild.”
He kept buying. Over the next three decades, he added land along ridges, valleys, and shores. He insisted on what the deeds should say. And he built an endowment to carry the park across the generations without state taxpayer support. His final purchase was in 1962. He died in 1969, at 92. The park he described is still the one we have.
Man is born to die, his works are short-lived. Buildings crumble, monuments decay, wealth vanishes. But Katahdin, in all its glory, forever shall remain the mountain of the people of Maine.
The park, in order.
- •1921–1924
Percival P. Baxter serves as Maine’s 53rd governor and advances, without success, a legislative proposal to create a park around Katahdin.
- •1930
Baxter purchases nearly 6,000 acres, including the summit of Katahdin, as a private citizen.
- •1931
Baxter deeds the first acres to the State of Maine, with the stipulation that they "be kept forever wild."
- •1939
The Baxter State Park Authority is established by statute as a three-person body with full control and management of the park.
- •1955
The Scientific Forest Management Area is established in the park’s northwest corner, as described in the deeds.
- •1962
Baxter completes his final land purchase, bringing the park to a contiguous wilderness of over 200,000 acres.
- •1969
Governor Baxter dies at age 92. The trust he established continues to fund the park’s keeping.