Maiden’s Cliff Cross

Maiden’s Cliff Cross over Lake Megunticook, 24x12ft

Situated on a cliff at the back end of Camden Hills State park is a 24 foot tall white cross, nearly four miles from the entrance of the park.  The cliff is labeled “Maiden’s Cliff”, and the name of the cross is, go figure, Maiden’s Cliff Cross.  According to News Center Maine, there is somewhat of a local legend claiming that a young woman had thrown herself over the cliff in an act of despair after losing her lover.  While fitting to the name of the site, this legend has no historical backing.  However, the small inscription sitting at the base of the cross provides the first hint at the true story of the name of this cliff and the giant cross which sits atop it: the death of a young girl named Elenora French.

The inscription at the base of the cross reads, “Elenora French.  On may 7, 1864, this 12 year old farmer’s daughter fell to her death from this cliff.  According to legend she was here as a member of a maying party, and fell trying to catch her wind blown hat.  This cross erected in her memory.”  While this inscription clears up any question about who the “Maiden” of the cliff is, it does not clear up the context of the erection of the cross. Even more interesting, different online sources of the story have slight discrepancies, some of which citing Elenora as 11 years old rather than 12. 

Thus, it is important differentiate what is legend and what is history.  Most accounts of the story offer the same general outline laid out in the inscription, with Elenora falling over the edge trying to catch her hat, and some include that she survived the fall but died of internal injuries that night.  However, the most detailed account was not found on a page for the cliff or for the cross; instead, it is was found on FindaGrave.com for Elenora’s tombstone.  As it turns out, Elenora was born in February 1852, making her 12 at the age of her death.  The details and stories surrounding her death all seem to stem from an interview with Elenora’s older sister from years later, in which her sister said, “I remember exactly how she looked. Her hat had blown off and with it the net, and when I last saw her she was sitting on a rock near the edge of the cliff putting on her net. I turned to speak to Miss Hartshorn. I heard a scream. I looked where Elenora had been sitting and she was gone…I do not know how my sister came to fall. I shall always think that a puff of wind took her hat, and she fell over going after it. The cross was erected some years later.”  The page also mentions that the cross was erected by Joseph P. Stearns, a wealthy tourist who was moved by Elenora’s story. The cross has since been replaced and updated multiple times after damage from weather and vandalism, and the current cross has been there since 1992.  The earliest mention of an inscription at the cross was from 1986, inscribed, “In Memory of Elenora French”.

Given that the cross was erected years after the incident by a tourist to the area with no apparent ties to Elenora herself,  it is plausible to proclaim that the cross was erected not just in memory of Elenora, but also for the memory of her story.  Stearns found the story of Elenora and the cliff important enough that a visible, permanent monument must be erected to preserve it.  Likewise, although its origin is unknown, the inscribed portion of the monument is post-1986 (likely 1992 with the current cross), and it serves to solidify the intention of the cross: to capture the story behind the cliff and the cross, and bring a sense of community to Camden through a historical legend.

View from Maiden’s Cliff with inscription in the foreground

Inscription at the base of Maiden’s Cliff Cross