Mars Hill

Mars Hill is a town in Aroostook County, incorporated on February 21, 1867 from Mars Hill Plantation. The area was named by a British Army chaplain in 1790 who held a service on the Hill and likened it to the hill in Athens dedicated to Mars, where the Apostle Paul declared the unknown God to the Athenians. The first settlers came from nearby New Brunswick in 1844 to participate in the potato growing and shipping economy. Both growing and shipping still dominate the local landscape, as may be seen by the signs within a few years of each other on the main street. Mars Hill is located on the Prestile Strea where U.S. Route 1 forks to Presque Isle and Route 1A leads to Fort Fairfield.