Desert of Maine
Encyclopedia
The Desert of Maine is a 40 acres (161,874.4 m²) tract of exposed glacial silt
(a sand-like substance, but not actually sand
) in a pine forest in the town of Freeport, Maine
, in the United States
. The Desert of Maine is not a true desert
, as it is carefully maintained against vegetation encroachment and receives an abundance of precipitation.
It originated when the Tuttle family farmed the site from 1797. Failure to rotate crops, combined with land clearance and overgrazing, led to soil erosion, exposing a dune
of sand-like glacial silt. The initial exposed small patch of sand gradually spread and overtook the entire farm. The Tuttles abandoned the land in 1919 when it was purchased for $300 by Henry Goldrup, who converted it to a tourist attraction in 1925.
The site is preserved as a natural curiosity, hosting a gift shop, a sand museum, and a farm museum.
Silt
Silt is granular material of a size somewhere between sand and clay whose mineral origin is quartz and feldspar. Silt may occur as a soil or as suspended sediment in a surface water body...
(a sand-like substance, but not actually sand
Sand
Sand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles.The composition of sand is highly variable, depending on the local rock sources and conditions, but the most common constituent of sand in inland continental settings and non-tropical coastal...
) in a pine forest in the town of Freeport, Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
, in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The Desert of Maine is not a true desert
Desert
A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Most deserts have an average annual precipitation of less than...
, as it is carefully maintained against vegetation encroachment and receives an abundance of precipitation.
It originated when the Tuttle family farmed the site from 1797. Failure to rotate crops, combined with land clearance and overgrazing, led to soil erosion, exposing a dune
Dune
In physical geography, a dune is a hill of sand built by wind. Dunes occur in different forms and sizes, formed by interaction with the wind. Most kinds of dunes are longer on the windward side where the sand is pushed up the dune and have a shorter "slip face" in the lee of the wind...
of sand-like glacial silt. The initial exposed small patch of sand gradually spread and overtook the entire farm. The Tuttles abandoned the land in 1919 when it was purchased for $300 by Henry Goldrup, who converted it to a tourist attraction in 1925.
The site is preserved as a natural curiosity, hosting a gift shop, a sand museum, and a farm museum.