Location Map for Allagash
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1970 | 456 |
| 1980 | 448 |
| 1990 | 359 |
| 2000 | 277 |
| 2010 | 239 |
Population Trend 1890-2010
| Geographic Data | |
|---|---|
| N. Latitude | 47:05:00 |
| W. Longitude | 69:02:30 |
| Maine House | District 151 |
| Maine Senate | District 1 |
| Congress | District 2 |
| Area sqmi (total) | 131.4 |
| Area sqmi (land) | 128.5 |
| Population/sq.mi. | (land) 1.95 |
County: Aroostook
Total=land+water; Land=land only |
|
Veterans Memorial at the Municipal Center (2003)
Sign: Welcome to Allagash (2003)
[AL-ah-gash] a town in Aroostook County at the mouth of the Allagash River, was organized on September 28, 1885 as a plantation from the townships of T16 R10, T16 R11, T17 R10 and T17 R11, all WELS. On January 31, 1966 it incorporated as a town and has the most land area of any minor civil division in Maine at 135.6 square miles. Unfortunately, in every decade since incorporation, it has lost population to barely 50 percent of its 1970 count.
Allagash River joining the St. John (2003)
The Allagash River flows through the town and is the tenth longest in the State. At 69 miles, it drains 1,240 square miles in northern Maine. Across the St. John lies the small Canadian town of Connors, in Madawaska County, New Brunswick.
Guide services, and stores provisioning hunting and camping expeditions, appear to be the mainstay of the town’s economy in this community that is literally “at the end of the line,” since Maine Route 161 ends here with no where to go but back.
Author Cathie Pelletier was born and raised here. Two novels were written under the name K. C. McKinnon: Dancing at the Harvest Moon (also a CBS TV film) and Candles on Bay Street (also a Hallmark Hall of Fame film).
The municipal center is an efficiently used building that includes the town office, fire station, and elementary school.
Buffalo Along Route 161 in Allagash (2003)
A surprising enterprise in Allagash, which does include conventional farms, is the small buffalo herd fenced in along Route 161.
Form of Government: Town Meeting-Select Board.
Additional resources
Bits and Pieces of Allagash History. Madawaska, Me. Allagash Historical Society. 1976.
Carlson, Shirlee Connors. The Proudwood People, 1886-1986: 100 Years as a Way of Life. Town Crier, 1986.
“Cathie Pelletier.” http://cathiepelletier.com/bio.html (accessed September 10, 2014)
Pelletier, Cathie, ed. Christmas in Allagash: the Early Years. Allagash, Me. Allagash Historical Society. c2009.
Hafford, Faye O’Leary. Allagash Centennial: 1886-1986. Illustrated by Mary Beth Jackson. Madawaska, Me. Valley Publishing Company. 1986.
Hafford, Faye O’Leary. Beans and Biscuits: Tales of the Lumber Camps. Madawaska, Me. Valley Publishing Co., 1995.
Histories Songs and Stories…of the Allagash Region. [sound recording] Allagash, Me. Allagash Centennial Records. 1986. (Maine Folklife Center)
Hughey, Margaret McBreairty McBreairty, 1906-1997. Margaret McBreairty McBreairty Hughey diary, 1932-1995. URSUS NOTE: “The entries primarily pertain to daily life, family, and friends. At the end of the diary is a list of ice jams from 1926 to 1996. Also included are lists of family members (by family) and their birth and death dates.” University of Maine at Fort Kent, Acadian Archives.
Kelley, Edith. Aftermath of an Ice Jam. Allagash, Me. E. Kelley, 1995?
Kelley, Edith. Early Settlement of Allagash. Allagash, Me.? E. Kelley. c2004.
McBreairty, Darrell. Allagash Summers: the Philip Calvin Hughey Sr. Photographs. Allagash, Me. Darrell McBreairty. c2010.
McBrearity, Darrell. Series of interviews with Aunt Eva McBrearity about the families in the Allagash region. [sound recording] Portland, Me. The Author, 1970. (Northeast Archives of Folklore and Oral History, Maine Folklife Center, University of Maine, Orono.)
McBreairty, Perry. My Story. c2000.