Our Vision

Bangor, the economic and cultural hub of Northern and Central Maine and gateway to the Maritimes, is a community providing abundant opportunities, valued services, and quality of life for its citizens and visitors.


Our Mission

The mission of the City of Bangor is to provide and enhance our:

Quality of Life
Service Center
Infrastructure
Environmental Stewardship
Neighborhoods
Cultural Commitment

Valued Services
Public Education
Regional/Global Connectivity
Public Safety
Workforce
Care Giving

Abundant Opportunities
Downtown/Waterfront
Employment
Managed & Balanced Growth
Parks, Trails & Open Space
Leisure & Entertainment Activities

City History

Incorporated in 1791, Bangor is named for an Irish hymn entitled “Bangor,” said to be a favorite of pastor Seth Noble who traveled to Boston with the initial intention of naming the town Sunbury.

Until recently, it was generally believed that the earliest record of European exploration was found in the journals of French explorer Samuel de Champlain. In 1604, Champlain established a short-lived colony on an island off the Maine coast and explored the Penobscot River to the head of tide at Bangor. However, according to Harvard historian Samuel Eliot Morrison’s 1971 book, The European Discovery of America, Estavan Gomez, a Portuguese mariner who had sailed as a captain in Magellan’s round-the-world fleet, sailed the Spanish caravel La Anunciada up the Penobscot to the future site of Bangor in 1525 under a commission from King Charles V of Spain to find the legendary northwest passage to the Orient