Calais, ME

Calais sits at the head of tide on the St. Croix River, directly across the border from St. Stephen, New Brunswick. The 2020 census counted 3,079 residents. Three international crossings connect the two communities, making the river a daily border crossing as well as a physical boundary. Samuel de Champlain spent the winter of 1604 on nearby St. Croix Island, and later the river powered sawmills, clapboard and shingle mills, planing mills, saw and axe factories, and grain mills. Calais grew from that water-powered working landscape into a regional commercial center.

Today Calais is the primary shopping and service center for eastern Washington County and nearby Charlotte County, New Brunswick. Retail, construction, and service businesses make up much of the local economy. Washington County Community College, a regional hospital, schools, the Calais Free Library, parks, and recreation facilities give the city institutions beyond the border crossings. The Calais Downtown Revitalization Coalition works through the Maine Downtown Network to preserve historic buildings and support businesses, gatherings, and new events. The St. Croix still ties the pieces together: border, waterway, regional route, and the reason Calais has a commercial role larger than its population.