Madawaska Lake Township

This township is just west of Stockholm and North of Westmanland in the Swedish Colony area of Aroostook County. The historic “Sunset Lodge” was a ceder log camp built in 1932 by Bruce Ward on the shore of the Lake. The Lodge apparently has been demolished based on a survey of the area in 2016.…

Woodland

Long view in Woodland on the Colby Siding Road (2003)

With little in the way of a central village, the town lies west of Caribou served by Maine Routes 161 and 228. See photos. Unable to find enough land in New Sweden, members of the Swedish Colony were granted 100 acre lots in Woodland. This northern community, in the heart of potato and forest product country, is not to be confused with the village of Woodland in the town of Baileyville.

Westmanland

Location Map for Westmanland

Located northwest of Caribou, this small community is accessible off State Route 161 that passes through nearby New Sweden. It was part of the “Swedish Colony” established in the 1870’s. The township is bisected with the Little Madawaska River flowing from southwest to northeast. A section of Maine Public Reserved Lands is a 965-acre original public lot, mostly covered by forest, near the southwest shoreline of lower Madawaska Lake.

Stockholm

Named for the Swedish capital, the village lies on the Little Madawaska River, just off Maine Route 161 and just north of New Sweden, also part of the Colony. The village, essentially off the main highways, is not “on-the-way” to anywhere. This small community, with a continued significant reliance on agriculture and a declining population, still supports three churches: Catholic, Baptist, and Lutheran.

New Sweden

Little Madawaska River, a tributary of the Aroostook River, crossing Jemtland Road in New Sweden (2016)

After the Civil War, Maine, like other states, was losing population to the great westward migration. A conscious public policy of encouraging Swedish immigration resulted in the very successful settlement of Swedes in New Sweden. Just northwest of Caribou on Maine Route 161, the town is just south of Stockholm.