KML and Map Resources

Knox County, Maine
Downloadable Map Layers for Google Earth:

Boundaries for all municipal entities.
Last Updated: 2/21/09

General information and balloon links for all municipal entities.
Last Updated: 9/25/2009

Fire Stations and Equipment Locations.
Last Updated: 9/25/2009

3- and 5-mile radius circles from fire stations for mutual aid calculations. Use the triangles and checkboxes in the Places menu to turn town rings on/off to avoid a busy screen.
Last Updated: 2/15/10

Hydrant locations and water access for firefighting.
Last Updated: 9/7/2009

Ambulance Service Locations and Assets.
Last Updated: 9/7/2009

Helicopter Landing Zones / Airfields.
Last Updated: 3/12/10

Location of Schools.
Last Updated: 9/25/2009

Salt Sheds, Sewer Treatment, Post Offices, etc...
Last Updated: 9/27/2009

Arreas Susceptible to Flooding as identified in the Hazard Mitigation Plan Draft 8/17/09.
Last Updated: 9/16/2009

Boat launching locations and water access for rescue.
Last Updated: 9/7/2009

Locations and contact information for law enforcement entities.
Last Updated: 6/1/2009

Church Locations.
Last Updated: 9/27/2009

The National Weather Service offers doppler radar images of current weather in and around Knox County. Click on this link to their website, choose "Single image by radar" for Portland, Maine, and Submit your request. A KMZ overlay file showing the current radar image will be immediately downloaded to you. This downloaded file can be imported into Google Earth. Follow the downloading tips below.

The National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) acquires imagery during the agricultural growing seasons in the continental U.S. This ortho imagery is a dynamic overlay linked to the MEGIS map portal. Requires an active internet connection to view. Images taken during summer, 2007.

High resolution grayscale aerial photograph layer. Digital orthophoto quarter quads (DOQQs) were supplied by USGS Digital Orthophoto Program. This ortho imagery is a dynamic overlay linked to the MEGIS map portal. Requires an active internet connection to view. Images taken in the late 1990s.

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Downloading Tips

To use these files you need to visit http://earth.google.com/download-earth.html and download and install the Google Earth software.

When Google Earth is installed and running, you can download and import Knox County KMZ files found at this website. When you double-click on a KMZ file, Google Earth will automatically add its contents to the My Places menu. Layers for Hydrants, Landing Zones, Boat Ramps, and other collections of Knox County geographic data may be turned on or off using the checkmark in the My Places menu, so you can view only one layer or many layers at a time. Be sure to save My Places before quitting Google Earth.

Here are the steps to download and install the KMZ layers listed on this page into Google Earth:



Step 1. Select File
Click on the file name of the layer you wish to download and install into Google Earth. You will be asked to save the file.

Step 2. Download/Save
In the Firefox browser, the save dialog looks like:



The Firefox browser offers you the opportunity to open the .kmz file using Google Earth. Go ahead and do this. The layer you have chosen will be automatically imported into My Places, and you are finished. Remember to save My Places before quitting Google Earth.

The Internet Explorer browser may identify the file you selected as a .zip file, not a .kmz file (note how IE changed the file name):



Choose the "Save" option. When you are asked to Save As, change the extension from .zip to .kmz (highlight the letters "zip" and replace them with "kmz") and then save the file to your desktop or another convenient location on your computer:



When the file has been saved, say, to your desktop, simply find that file's icon and double-click it. Your computer will associate the extension .kmz with Google Earth and load it into My Places. You are done. Be sure to save My Places before quitting Google Earth.