Catherine Mountain

Catherine Mountain
Catherine Mountain Hancock County, Maine, U.S.
Elevation	961 ft (293 m)
Location
Coordinates	44°36′59″N 68°05′09″W / 44.61643°N 68.0859°W / 44.61643; -68.0859Coordinates: 44°36′59″N 68°05′09″W / 44.61643°N 68.0859°W / 44.61643; -68.0859
Climbing
Easiest route	Hiking, class 1

Catherine Mountain (locally called Catherine's Hill) is a 962-foot (293 m) high mountain in Township 10 SD, Hancock County, Maine.^[1] Located on the Black's Woods Road (Route 182), between Franklin and Cherryfield, it is named after a legendary woman named Catherine, whose ghost is said to haunt the hill.

Legend of Catherine's Ghost

Travelers who claim to have seen Catherine's ghost on the hill most commonly describe a woman approaching the traveler asking for a ride, sometimes to Bar Harbor.^[2] Catherine is said to be dressed in a light blue evening or ball gown. Travelers who decline the ghost's request suffer various consequences. Purportedly Catherine was traveling on the road with her husband or boyfriend, after their wedding or prom night in Bar Harbor, when they were in some kind of accident (that it was a car accident is belied by the fact that the "Catherine's Hill" moniker predates the widespread use of cars in the area, at least back to the 1930s). It is said that Catherine lost her head in the accident, that her significant other was never found, and that Catherine wanders Catherine's Hill and the Blackwoods area searching for her head and her missing love.

The book Dark Woods, Chill Waters: Ghost Tales from Down East Maine contains several variations on the legend. It also includes testimony suggesting that the Catherine legend may have been based on an entirely uneventful evening in the life of one Catherine Downing, d. December 29, 1862.

References