[KOP-lin] is a plantation in Franklin County, organized for election purposes on July 3, 1866. On March 10, 1893 and again on March 5, 1895 it was reorganized as the successor to Jackson Plantation and Copelin (as it was then spelled) Plantation. Both plantations were organized from time to time since 1845. The original township from which all these were organized was T1 R3 WBKP.

In 1880 there was one sawmill in operation, one public schoolhouse, and a population of 91. The number of inhabitants in the plantation remained relatively constant in the next 30 years, but it doubled between 1910 and 1920 when the population reached 177. This dramatic change is apparently explained by the increased lumbering activity in the area. Within the next decade, however, the population had declined to its lowest recorded level in sixty years.

The community’s schooling needs were accommodated in the Coplin Plantation Schoolhouse, and this would remain the case until 1943 when it was permanently closed. (See below.)

Coplin is just south of Flagstaff Lake on Maine Route 16, its only improved road, heading south from Stratton. The only exception is about 1 mile of combined Routes 16 and 27 near Stratton. The South Branch of the Dead River flows through the northwest corner on its way to the lake.

Two sections of Maine’s Public Reserved Lands, in the Flagstaff Region, lie within the plantation.  Coplin West, on its northwestern edge and accessible by Kennebago Road from Route 16, consists of  367 acres, including 140 acres forested wetland, 29 open wetland, 70 wading bird habitat, and 302 deer wintering areas. Coplin Central, near East Branch Road and Nash Stream, consists of 562 acres not distinguished by type.

Nash Stream (below) enters Coplin from Redington Township to the south, then trends north about six miles, with its occasional rapids, to where it joins the Dead River in Eustis.

---

Nash Stream photos courtesy of Brady G. Williams.

Form of Government: Assessors-Annual Meeting.

Additional resources

Historical Records Survey (Maine). Inventory of the Town and City Archives of Maine: no. 4 Franklin County, vols. V & VI Coplin and Dallas. Portland, Me. The Historical Records Survey. 1939. [University of Maine, Raymond H. Fogler Library, Special Collections; Maine State Library; Bangor Public Library]

Maine. Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry. State Parks and Public Lands.  “Natural Resources Inventory – Flagstaff Region.” http://www.maine.gov/dacf/parks/get_involved/planning_and_acquisition/management_plans/flagstaff_region/natural_resources_inventory.html (accessed March 5, 2014)

National Register of Historic Places – Listings

Coplin Plantation Schoolhouse

[Maine Route 16, approximately 4.5 miles southwest of the junction of Maine Route 16 and Maine Route 27. The Schoolhouse is a modest one-room wooden frame building that appears to be the only school in the Plantation since its organization in 1866. This school, built around 1840, is a local landmark noting the Plantation’s history of education.

The schoolhouse served as the place where the plantation organization meeting was held in 1866 and was where the inhabitants voted for this early forms of government: a plantation.

The schoolhouse already in existence in Coplin in 1866, was in all probability repaired in 1869. Further modifications were made in the 20th century prior to 1943 when the window sash were changed and the row of windows on the west side were installed.

The community’s schooling needs were accommodated in the Schoolhouse until 1943 when it was permanently closed.

In 1985 the Coplin Plantation Schoolhouse Historical Society was formed for the express purpose of preserving the building, and it has since been granted title to the building by the Plantation.