Percival Proctor Baxter - Baxter State Park

Baxter State Park

Baxter's history is intertwined with Baxter State Park, which bears his name, and with Mount Katahdin, Maine's highest point (the highest knob on Katahdin is called Baxter Peak).

In 1903 Baxter went on a fishing trip to the area around Katahdin for the first time. In 1895 the Maine Proprietors Association had urged the state to turn that area of the Maine woods into a state park to attract tourists. In 1911 a bill was introduced to turn the region into a U.S. National Park but none of the plans came to fruition. In 1916 Baxter began his campaign to make the area a state park. In 1920 he led a group of politicians up Pamola Peak, traversing the Knife Edge to the summit (now known as Baxter Peak).

In a 1921 speech Baxter said: "Maine is famous for its twenty-five hundred miles of seacoast, with its countless islands; for its myriad lakes and ponds; and for its forests and rivers. But Mount Katahdin Park will be the state’s crowning glory, a worthy memorial to commemorate the end of the first and the beginning of the second century of Maine’s statehood. This park will prove a blessing to those who follow us, and they will see that we built for them more wisely than our forefathers did for us."

Most of the land around Katahdin was then owned by the Great Northern Paper Company. Following the Crash of 1929, the company agreed to sell 6,000 acres (24 km2) around the mountain for $25,000 in 1930 to Baxter personally. Baxter in turn deeded the land to the state with the proviso that it: ". . . shall forever be used for public park and recreational purposes, shall be forever left in the natural wild state, shall forever be kept as a sanctuary for wild beasts and birds, that no road or ways for motor vehicles shall hereafter ever be constructed thereon or therein."

The park was named in his honor in 1931.

Baxter was to continue to attempt to add property to the park – often running into opposition from those who did not want to sell or making temporary trade offs to allow continued timber operations before the land acquisition was completed. Baxter, saying he did not trust the federal government, resisted efforts to turn the park into a national park. He placed various restrictive covenants on the park so that today it is not actually part of the Maine government body that administers the state's other parks. Rather it is administered by the Baxter State Park Authority.

In 1962 Baxter, at the age of 87, donated his 28th deed. The park now comprises 314 square miles (810 km2). Baxter, who died a bachelor, left $7 million to maintain the park.