Meddybemps

[MED-ee-bemps] is a town in Washington County, settled in 1740 and incorporated on February 20, 1841 from portions of Baring, Charlotte and Cooper.

Here is the Gazetteer of Maine‘s perspective from the 1880’s:

The Fall on the outlet [of Meddybemps Lake, the Dennys River] here is 20 feet in one eighth of a mile. The mills upon it consist of one shingle-machine, one lath and stave mill, and one grist-mill. About thirty years since a good beginning was made in ornamenting the village by setting out a few elms. . . . The soil is gravelly loam. Hay and potatoes are the crops chiefly cultivated.

One-hundred seventy-two people supported two schoolhouses in 1880.

The Lake was once the site of a Native American village.

The Pamaquoddy Tribe named the site N’tolonapemk, which means “Our Ancestor’s Place.”

A boat launch accommodating trailers is located in Meddybemps village at the south end of the lake.

Meddybemps Heath is located on near the lake in the northwest corner of the township. The heat spreads over the adjoining towns of Alexander and Cooper.

At just over 2,500 acres, it is the second largest domed bog ecosystem in the Eastern Coastal and Eastern Interior regions; Great Heath in the town of Columbia, is the largest. Meddybemps Heath lies at the southwest side of Meddybemps Lake, where Sixteenth Stream and Fifteenth Stream converge at the lake shore.

It has been designated a “Focus Areas of Statewide Ecological Significance,” by the Maine Natural Areas Program, which encourages private owners to be good stewards of such areas. It is not owned by the State.

According to the U.S. Department of Environmental Protection:

The Eastern Surplus Company operated a salvage yard at this site from the 1940’s to the 1970’s, which resulted in the soil and groundwater becoming heavily contaminated with hazardous materials. In 1985, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection began cleaning up the site. In 1986, EPA took over cleanup activities and in 1996, the site was designated a federal Superfund site. The contaminated soil has since been removed and the levels of contaminants in the groundwater have decreased considerably as a result of treatment. . . .

Form of Government: Town Meeting-Select Board.

Additional resources

Hansen, Bruce P., et al. Characteristics of Fractures in Crystalline Bedrock Determined by Surface and Borehole Geophysical Surveys, Eastern Surplus Superfund Site, Meddybemps, Maine. Northborough, Mass. U.S. Dept. of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey. Denver, CO. U.S. Geological Survey. Information Services [distributor]. 1999.

“Informative Outdoor Exhibit Installed at Eastern Surplus Superfund Site in Meddybemps, Maine.” [press release] Boston, Ma. U.S. Department of Environmental Protection. August 23, 2006. http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/6d651d23f5a91b768525735900400c28/664b3e1553ad927e852571d4006b9932!OpenDocument&Highlight=2,eastern,surplus

N’tolonapemk: An Ancient Native American Village on Meddybemps Lake, Maine. Farmington, Me. University of Maine at Farmington Archaeology Research Center. 2002?

Varney, George J. A Gazetteer of the State of Maine. 1886. p. 359.

National Register of Historic Places – Listings

Ntolonapemk, Eastern Surplus Superfund Site, Address Restricted