Brownfield

[BROWN-field] is a town in Oxford County, incorporated on February 20, 1802 from Brownfield Plantation.

It then annexed land from Porter three times (1807, 1832, 1855) and ceded land to Denmark twice (1821 and 1907). It also set off land to Hiram in 1852.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Named for Captain Henry Y. Brown, who received a land grant for his service during the French and Indian War, the town sits between the New Hampshire border on the west and the Saco River on the east.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Gazetteer of the State of Maine (1886) drew this image of Brownfield:

Farming is the principal occupation, yet there are many fine water powers in the town and many mills. The manufactures are long lumber, staves, shooks, tubs and kits, basket-bottom rocking-chairs, meal and flour, clothing, carriages, sleighs and harnesses, etc. The principal business centres, are Bownfield Centres, (Brownfield P.O.), and Brownfield Depot (East Brownfield P.O.) 

An eye has been had to beauty as well as comfort in planting many shade trees, chiefly elm and maple, both in the villages and about single residences.  Brownfield is connected with Portland, 41 miles distant, by the Portland and Odgensburg Railroad, and with Bridgton by stage line.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Stone Mountain Arts Center, with its excellent attractions and food, serves not only the western Maine area, but New Hampshire and elsewhere in Maine. In rapidly growing southwest Maine, Brownfield logged a 21 percent increase in population in the 1990-2000 decade, and almost 28 percent in the 2000-2010 decade.

Its attractive rural character offers hiking, boating, and scenic views for both residents and visitors.

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Form of Government:
Town Meeting-Select Board-Administrator.

Additional resources

Coleman, Mildred Halita Blake. The Blake Neighborhood, Brownfield, Maine, Oxford County. Saco, Me. M.H.B. Coleman. 1975.

Doane, Myrtle. Papers, 1951-1977, 1962-1972 (bulk) ( Cataloger Note: Personal papers of Myrtle Doane consisting primarily of copies of her poems and other writings. Also included are notebooks of her column, “Brownfield News,” written between 1973 and 1977 for “The Reporter,” a newspaper in North Conway, N.H. A few subject files of material gathered by Doane are also found in the collection.

Myrtle Caroline Doane, a poet, newspaper columnist and teacher, was born in 1914 in Lynn, Massachusetts. She married Alfred M. Doane in 1938 and they later moved to Brownfield, Maine, where she worked as a substitute teacher and newspaper columnist. She was the author of several volumes of poetry as well as having numerous poems published in poetry anthologies, newspapers and magazines. Doane died Sept. 2, 1997.) [University of Maine, Raymond H. Fogler Library, Special Collections]

Reminiscences of Brownfield: Short Sketch from the History of the Town. East Brownfield, Me. Mrs. E.A.G. Stickney, 1901.

Teg, William. History of Brownfield, Maine. Denmark, Me. Cardinal Printing Co. 1977 c1966.

Teg, William. Papers, 1959-1974. Cataloger Note: Includes an autobiography written in 1974, correspondence, and notes on the history of Brownfield, Maine.) [University of Maine, Raymond H. Fogler Library, Special Collections]

Teg, William. Photograph Collection, bulk 1955-1967. (Cataloger Note: Family photograph album with many photos of Brownfield, Maine, also postcard from Europe.)

Varney, George J. A Gazetteer of the State of Maine. 1886. p. 139.