America's First Mile Monument

US Route 1 was created in 1926 as part of the first national system of numbered highways. It runs the length of the East Coast, passing through Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, and Miami before leaping across the Florida Keys to Key West.

Its northern end is here in Fort Kent, at the corner where West Main Street meets the highway near the international bridge. The First Mile monument marks the spot and gives the road a proper starting line at the top of the country.

Because the southern end in Key West draws a constant crowd, the Fort Kent end has become a quiet pilgrimage for road-trippers who want to say they have stood at both.

Fort Kent grew up at the meeting of the Fish and St. John Rivers, a strategic spot that gave it a military fort during the boundary dispute of the 1830s. That original blockhouse still stands a short walk away.

The town anchors the upper St. John Valley, one of the most strongly French-speaking regions in the United States, where Acadian families settled after their expulsion from the Maritimes and where Valley French is still spoken today.

Across the international bridge lies Clair, New Brunswick, and the flow of family and commerce between the two sides has long made the border feel more like a line on a map than a real division.

There is a particular pleasure in reaching a place that is the end, or the beginning, of something. Fort Kent offers that: the top of Route 1, close to the northeasternmost point of the United States, in a valley most Americans never see.

The town is also the northern terminus of the Interstate 95 corridor's spirit if not the road itself, and a hub for the surrounding potato country, forests, and the Allagash and North Maine Woods beyond.

Winter turns Fort Kent into a serious snow-sports town, home to a biathlon center that has hosted World Cup competition, a reminder that this is a place shaped by long, deep northern winters.

Summer is short and green, the easiest time to make the long drive north and to pair the monument with the valley's Acadian sites and river scenery.

Fall comes early this far north, with the river hills turning color while much of the rest of the country is still warm.

Winter is the valley's defining season, snowy and cold, when Fort Kent's ski and biathlon trails come alive and the town shows the toughness that comes with living at the top of Maine.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is a place we chose through independent editorial review, never a paid placement.

America's First Mile Monument, in the town of Fort Kent at the far northern tip of Maine, marks the northern starting point of historic U.S. Route 1, one of the most famous highways in the country, which runs all the way down the East Coast to Key West, Florida. The monument commemorates the beginning, the first mile, of this legendary road, celebrating Fort Kent's place at the top of the great highway. For road-trip enthusiasts, it is a meaningful landmark, the counterpart to the southern end far away in Florida. With its connection to the famous Route 1, America's First Mile Monument offers a fun landmark in Fort Kent, Maine.

Fort Kent, at the far northern tip of Maine on the Canadian border, is the northern terminus of U.S. Route 1, the historic highway that stretches roughly two thousand five hundred miles down the entire East Coast to its southern end in Key West, Florida. America's First Mile Monument in Fort Kent marks this beginning point, celebrating the town's place at the very top of the famous transcontinental-length road. This makes Fort Kent a bookend to the storied highway. This connection to the legendary Route 1 gives Fort Kent and its First Mile Monument special appeal in far northern Maine.

You can visit and photograph the monument marking the northern start of famous U.S. Route 1, celebrate reaching the top of the legendary highway, especially meaningful for road-trippers, and pair it with the nearby historic Fort Kent Blockhouse and the town's Acadian heritage. The monument is a quick, fun landmark, a bookend to the road's far southern end in Key West. It is a rewarding stop for highway and road-trip enthusiasts. With its connection to Route 1, America's First Mile Monument offers a fun stop in Fort Kent, far northern Maine.

As an outdoor roadside monument, America's First Mile Monument can be visited and photographed year-round in any season, though the warmer months from late spring through fall offer the most comfortable weather for a stop in far northern Maine, and pair well with the nearby Fort Kent Blockhouse and the St. John Valley's summer and fall beauty. Winter is very cold and snowy this far north. For the most pleasant weather, aim for the warmer months at America's First Mile Monument in Fort Kent, Maine.

America's First Mile Monument is in the town of Fort Kent at the far northern tip of Maine, right near the Fort Kent Blockhouse, within reach of the Acadian Village in Van Buren, the St. John Valley, and Aroostook State Park near Presque Isle. That makes America's First Mile Monument a fun stop to combine with the Fort Kent Blockhouse, the Acadian Village, and the other attractions of far northern Maine on a visit to the state.