Our History

Where The County Clicks began

My first website was about Aroostook County. Thirty years and hundreds of websites later, I have come back to where it all began to build this one.

The timeline

1995. I launched mainerec.com, “Northern Maine Recreation”, a guide to recreation in Aroostook County. Before the year was out I was building websites for other people and adding them to the business directory on mainerec.com.
Late 1990s. mainerec.com grew into a large guide to Northern Maine, and mainerealty.net brought Maine real estate listings online.
August 1997. I registered aroostook.com.
Early 2000s. I moved to Vermont and started Visual Heights Internet Technologies.
2010. I began building on aroostook.com.
Today. aroostook.com is being rebuilt as the hub for every community, business and event in The County.

The Maine Way, a mainerec.com page shown in an old web browser window — mainerec.com in an early web browser, early 2000s

Northern and Downeast Maine, The Premiere Internet Community, with buttons for Chambers of Commerce, Prime Maine Real Estate and Recreation Activities — Artwork by Bob and Sue Hook of Hook Designs

Mainerec.com banner: Northern Maine's Most Comprehensive Resource — A later mainerec.com banner

The Maine Way banner with canoes and a picnic table — A later banner: The Maine Way

Why now

In 1995 my online journey started with a search. I wanted to plan a skiing trip to Quebec so I used AOL and I looked for skiing in Quebec and found plenty. I looked for outdoor activities in Aroostook County and found almost nothing. So I built a website about the place I care about. My best friend, who has cheered me on ever since, told me to go for it.

Since then I have built hundreds and hundreds of websites. Now I am coming back to my roots, to the place where my online life began. I want aroostook.com to be my legacy: a home on the web that The County can be proud of.

— Jim Walker, Visual Heights Internet Technologies

Last updated October 17, 2026.