[GREEN-wood] is a town in Oxford County, settled in 1802.

It was incorporated on February 2, 1816 from the former Phillips Academy Grant.

The town has shown consistent, moderate population growth over the past forty years.

One early resident was L. L. Bean, who was born here.

Located just east of Bethel on Maine Route 26, the Village of Locke Mills in the town of Greenwood lies on the shore of Round Pond which is linked to nearby North Pond and South Pond.

Locke Mills is the settlement nearest the Mt. Abram ski area. A very small village, it contains several community resources: a church, post office, historical society, and a large community building, which once was the 1931 town hall.

 

The smaller village of Greenwood is accessible from West Paris on Maine Route 219, which ends at the village and the shore of Hicks Pond.

 

 

 

North Pond is near the town line with Woodstock, where the photos below were taken.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Form of Government:

Town Meeting-Select Board-Manager.

 

 

Additional resources

Barnes, Diane. The Oxford Hills: Greenwood, Norway, Oxford, Paris, West Paris and Woodstock. Dover, N.H. Arcadia Publishing. c1995. (contains old photos of Greenwood)

Maine. Historic Preservation Commission. Augusta, Me.   Text and photos from National Register of Historic Places.

Town of Greenwood 1816-1960. Greenwood, Me. Greenwood Historical Society. c1994. (Bryant Pond, Me. Inman Printing)

National Register of Historic Places – Listings

Photos, and edited text are from nominations to the National Register of Historic Places researched by Maine. Historic Preservation Commission.
Full text and photos are at https://npgallery.nps.gov/nrhp 

 

Greenwood Cattle Pound

[Greenwood Road. 0.33 mi N of ME 219] Greenwood Village, in the southern part of the town between Overset Mountain and Noyes Mountain and at the head of Hicks Pond, was the town’s primary settlement. By 1820 it was the town’s established business and social center, supporting several hotels, a church, saw mill and store. The town’s northern village at Locke Mills developed around several fine mill sites. After the railroad came through town in 1851, its population grew.

As Maine communities began to lose their frontier aspects in the 19th century and assume a more settled countenance, rudimentary civic improvements were initiated. Among these improvements in the largely agricultural world of rural Maine were those concerned with the regulation of livestock. To control the problem of loose cattle, hogs, or sheep towns constructed open air shelters, known as pounds or cattle pounds, to temporarily corral wayward animals. The existence of 21 of these structures in Maine has been verified, and their condition varies from almost unrecognizable to good. Erected in 1836 in central Oxford County, the Greenwood Cattle Pound was listed in the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion A at the local level of significance as an example of a facility used to regulate one aspect of the town’s agricultural economy, and as a representation of an early investment in its civic infrastructure. As Maine communities began to lose their frontier aspects in the 19th century and assume a more settled countenance, rudimentary civic improvements were initiated. Among these improvements in the largely agricultural world of rural Maine were those concerned with the regulation of livestock. To control the problem of loose cattle, hogs, or sheep towns constructed open air shelters, known as pounds or cattle pounds, to temporarily corral wayward animals. The existence of 21 of these structures in Maine has been verified, and their condition varies from almost unrecognizable to good. Erected in 1836 in central Oxford County, the Greenwood Cattle Pound was listed in the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion A at the local level of significance as an example of a facility used to regulate one aspect of the town’s agricultural economy, and as a representation of an early investment in its civic infrastructure. Initially the village’s town house, built about 1832, was located almost midway between Greenwood Village and Locke Mills on what was known as the Middle Road. In 1835 the residents of the town of assembled to “see if the town will agree to build a Pound for the use of Said town” and to discuss “what Method the town will take to build Said Pound”. At the meeting the residents agreed to build the needed pound, and they also recorded the structure’s construction specifications. The site selected was just north of the settlement at Greenwood Village, along the road that led to the Town House. Simon Furlong, a local farmer who lived close to the pound, was elected as the first pound keeper in 1838. (See cattle pounds.)

With the invention of barbed wire in 1873, it was much easier for farmers to securely enclose their livestock. This change in technology, along with a persistent westward emigration, rendered the local pounds obsolete. In 1862 a disastrous fire destroyed every building in Greenwood City except the church and a small shop.

Soon the population of the town shifted north to Locke Mills, which offered forest product manufacturing as well as easy access to the region by way of the Atlantic and Saint Lawrence Railroad. Eventually the Town House was abandoned (the road on which it stood is now discontinued), and most of the town’s economic and civic activities shifted to the northern village.

After the turn of the 20th century, the town’s hills, lakes and ponds were discovered by summer visitors, and to a certain extent both lumbering and agriculture have given way to recreation and tourism as defining the character of the town. By 1871 concern for wayward livestock had taken a backseat to other priorities, and the town records no longer designated a pound keeper. Now a relic on the side of the road, the Greenwood Cattle Pound is an important touchstone to Maine’s 19th century agricultural heritage, as well as an early example of a public-works type community project.* [Christi A. Mitchell photos, 2006]

Greenwood Town Hall, Former

[270 Main Street Locke Mills Village] The former Greenwood Town Hall is a large two-story frame building that despite its turn-of-the-20^th century exterior was built in 1931. It served as the town hall and town offices until 1988. Prior to the Hall’s construction, town meetings were conducted in Hotel Hall. By February of 1929, however, the town had voted to build a town hall. The building of the Hall was surely a community effort since nearly two dozen individuals contributed labor and/or materials to the effort.

February 1, 1931, the town held its first meeting in the Hall. The Greenwood Town Hall has been at the center of community affairs. For many years the graduation ceremonies of the Greenwood Schools were held at the Hall. During the Second World War, it served as the meeting place of the local unit of the Maine State Guard, whose members practiced marching on the second story dance floor. Countless performances, including musical events, school plays, and local variety shows have occurred on the Hall’s large stage.* [Kirk F. Mohney photos, 1999]

Additional resources

Allport, Susan. Sermons in Stone. (New York: W.W. Norton and Co.), 1990.
Bennett, Randall. Oxford County. Maine: A Guide to Its Historic Architecture. (Bethel: Oxford County Historic Resource Survey), 1984.
Greenwood Town Records. Volume 2 (1829-1854), and Volume 3 (1854-1878). Copies of
manuscript records on microfilm at the Maine State Archives, Augusta, Maine.
Locke, William. “The Rise and Demise of the Cattle Pound Harpswell and Maine” in Maine Historical Society Quarterly, Vol. 33, No. 3-4, Winter-Spring 1993-1994. (Portland, Maine), pages 210-221.
“Plan of the Cattle Pound Located in Greenwood, Oxford [County].” Surveyed by B. Lambert and C. Martin for the Town of Greenwood, 1977. Plan is reproduced in Town of Greenwood. 1916-1960. p.27.
Shaw, Dick. “Town Pounds In Maine Have All But Disappeared.” Lewiston Evening Journal Magazine Section. Lewiston, Maine. (September 28, 1974), page 4A.
Swift, Harry. “Harry Swift’s Notes.” Original manuscript and transcriptions located at the Greenwood Historical Society, Greenwood, Maine. Compiled during the 1940s – 1950s.
The Old Maps of Oxford County. Maine in 1858. (Fryeburg, Maine: Saco Valley Printing), 1972.
Town of Greenwood. 1916 -1960. (Bryant Pond, Maine: Greenwood Historical Society), 1994.
Varney, Geo. J. A Gazetteer of the State of Maine. (Boston: B.B. Russell), 1882.

From “Bibliography.” created by Maine Historic Preservation Commission. https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/5bee9ade-8ca0-46e1-b5f5-1ba4693d5d23 (accessed 12/3/2019)