by Sarah Craighead Dedmon

The first naval battle of the American Revolution, known as the Battle of the Margaretta or the Battle of Machias, was fought two months after the Battles of Concord and Lexington in June 1775, right off the coast of present-day Machiasport. 

Organizers of this year’s Margaretta Days Festival, commemorating that and other local 18th-century battles, plan to expand the popular annual event by one day, delivering a full weekend packed with old favorites and new ways to celebrate the Machias region’s role in the Revolutionary War.