Bangor ME (Maine)

Bangor is a Penobscot River cruise port and town in Maine USA (Penobscot County). By population (over 30,000) making Bangor is ranked Maine's third-largest city - following Portland (~70K) and Lewiston (~40K).

As cruise port, Bangor ME is included in the regular schedule of the USA's largest river cruise shipping company - ACL-American Cruise Lines.

Next table shows ACL's 7-night/8-day "Maine Coast and Harbors Cruise" itinerary (roundtrip from Portland OR) operated by the ship MS Independence.

Bangor Port's cruising season runs from May through September.

The town was established in the 18th century (in 1769 as "Norumbega", by Jacob Buswell) and initially developed lumbering (lumber production and processing), shipbuilding and shipping (lumber, bricks, leather, ice). These industries largely benefitted from Bangor's location on Penobscot River, as logs were floated downstream from the North Woods and processed at waterfall-powered sawmills (150/ranking Bangor the world's largest lumber port). The sawed lumber was then shipped from the port downstream to the Atlantic Ocean (approx 30 mi / 48 km) and exported to mainly East Coast port cities and also to the Caribbean.

The town's current-day economy is based on manufacturing (pulp and paper production, General Electric), services and retail shopping (Walmart, Hannaford, Shaw's & Star Market), finance (Bangor Savings Bank), healthcare (Northern Light Healthcare, St Joseph's Healthcare, Acadia Hospital), education (Maine University, Beal College, Husson University, Bangor Theological Seminary), tourism (hiking, skiing, snowmobiling, hunting, fishing, boating, canoeing).

Bangor Airport is a civil-military airport (houses both Bangor International and Bangor Air National Guard Base) located approx 3 mi / 5 km to the west of the city. The airport serves regularly scheduled domestic flights by Allegiant Air (linking with Florida's Sanford-Orlando and St Petersburg/Tampa Bay), American Airlines (linking with Charlotte North Carolina, Philadelphia Pennsylvania, Washington DC), Delta Connection (to NYC New York) and United Airlines (to Chicago Illinois and Newark New Jersey).