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Guilford

Guilford is a town in Piscataquis County, Maine, United States. The town is located on the Piscataquis River and was first settled in 1806. The population was 1,521 at the 2010 census.

Guilford, Maine in Supervolcano[]

After the eruption of the Yellowstone Supervolcano, shifting weather patterns left Guilford frozen and inaccessible for most of the year. Its residents of necessity became far more self-contained as a consequence of their isolation.

Squirt Frog and the Evolving Tadpoles were touring Maine when the Supervolcano erupted.[1] The group continued their tour but were stuck in Guilford that winter due to both the unusually heavy snowfalls and gasoline shortages.[2] One member of the band started a serious relationship with a local and the other members decided to keep the band together by remaining there when the roads became passable.[3] Eventually, the other members also put down roots in the town with Rob Ferguson marrying Lindsey Kincaid.[4]

The first winter after the eruption was much harsher than usual with locals saying they didn't recall so much snow. The I-95 became impassable with the town running out of fuel oil and gasoline and no new food deliveries possible. As well, electric power was disrupted, segment by segment as lines went down and crews unable to fix them, until the town didn't have any electricity. The locals survived by chopping down and burning second-growth pine and hunting game from moose and deer to ducks and geese.[5]

The following spring and summer became warm enough to melt snow and make the roads passable again but by no means summer-like.[6] Jim Farrell managed to convince the townspeople of the need to work together to prepare for the next winter. One problem he identified was that game had gotten scarce near the town and that available trees were further away. This meant that they needed to organize hunting and woodcutting parties and share what they had. He also talked about the need to grow what they could during the next abbreviated summer, root crops like potatoes, parsnips and mangel-wurzel.[7]

References[]

  1. Eruption, pg. 191.
  2. Ibid, pgs. 333-337.
  3. All Fall Down, pgs. 22-25, HC.
  4. Ibid., pgs. 364-368.
  5. Ibid., pg. 21.
  6. Ibid., pg. 22.
  7. Ibid., pgs. 101-105.
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