Many people who know the state of Maine well say it makes the most sense from the water. Driving around on U.S. Route 1, you wonder sometimes why this village grew up there or why that community became a population center while the one over there didn’t. Hop into a boat, and it all becomes clear. The region’s European settlers first arrived on ships, of course, and they migrated north and east on the water, building their homes not far from the shore and its resources. Everything developed from there, spreading inland. History and the coast are inextricably linked.