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Cobscook Bay State Park

State park in Washington County, Maine

Architectural plans, a scale model, maps and brass measuring instruments
Places and architectureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 9, 2026
Entity authorityQ543521 ↗
Source-derived summary

Cobscook Bay State Park is a public recreation area occupying 888 acres (359 ha) on the western shore of Cobscook Bay in Washington County, Maine. The park offers a view of dramatically changing tides that on average can rise to 24 feet (7.3 m) high with some reaching as high as 28 feet (8.5 m). The name Cobscook is a Maliseet-Passamaquoddy word for boiling tides. The state park is located on Whiting Bay approximately 6 miles (9.7 km) south of Dennysville and 6 miles (9.7 km) north of Whiting. It is managed by the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry.

History

The park was created in 1964 when the Federal government offered to lease to the state of Maine lands that remain part of Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge. The long-term agreement was arranged at no cost to the state.

Activities and amenities

The park offers hiking trails, picnicking, camping, boat launch, and bird watching. Over 200 species of birds have been noted, including the American bald eagle.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Cobscook Bay State Park” as state park in Washington County, Maine. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Cobscook, State and Park.

Editorial reviewA valuable geographic starting point for tracing changing names, boundaries, uses and administrative responsibility. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1964—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1964-01-01. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Cobscook, State and Park providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Cobscook Bay State Park”, the useful work is to connect “state park in Washington County, Maine” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 9, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q543521. Authority coordinates are 44.841, -67.150. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1964.

Critical limits

A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.

Best used for
  • Historic place names
  • Jurisdictional context
  • Routes into maps and plans
Verify next

Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Cobscook Bay State Park”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Cobscook Bay State Park primary sources, Cobscook Bay State Park archive and Cobscook research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Cobscook Bay State Park”?
  2. What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
  3. Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Subject index

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Cobscook Bay State Park” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.