The first white people arrived in the 1770’s, making settlements along the Kennebec River. Embden Pond, in the shadow of Dunbar Hill, dominates the northwest portion of the town. The shoreline is dotted with many cottages and is active in the summer with swimming, boating, and water skiing. See photos. The town has shown consistent population growth in each of the four decades 1970-2010.
Settled in 1763, it has relied on lumbering, shipbuilding, and industry to support its economy. The classic Grand Theater has been saved as an active movie and performance space. See photos. At the confluence of seven highway routes, the city is a shopping center for the area and summer tourism. The Col. John Black Mansion, a modified Georgian design, was home to the land agent for William Bingham.
in York County, settled in the 1630s, on the east side of the Piscataqua River dividing Maine from New Hampshire, is a growing residential community serving Kittery and Portsmouth. See photos. Its population expanded by almost 12% in the 1990-2000 decade. Eliot was home to Maine’s first Quaker Meetinghouse built in 1776.
in Penobscot County, settled in 1827, incorporated 1835 is bound on the east by the Penobscot River and lies opposite the entrance of the Passadumkeag River. The river, attractions of rural life, and the proximity of the University of Maine and the City of Bangor, may be forces contributing to recent development in the community. See photos.
Overlooking the Sheepscot River and the Narrows at the entrance to Wiscasset Harbor, Fort Edgecomb’s tower has a 360 degree view of the water and countryside. See photos. Settlers arrived in 1744; the town incorporated in 1774. Population has more than doubling, during the decades 1970-2010.
in Penobscot County, settled 1780 and incorporated 1811, has frontage on two major ponds, Chemo and Davis and hosts Katahdin Scout Reservation, known as Camp Roosevelt. Eddington village has been known as Eddington Bend for the sharp curve in the Penobscot River.
In the 1970s Easton was the site of a failed attempt to establish a sugar beet refinery to diversify dependence on the potato economy. The McCain Foods, U.S.A. facility and the J. M. Huber Corporation’s Engineered Woods plant provide local employment. Easton, in Aroostook County, incorporated in 1865.
The Great Northern Paper Mill and the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad have been keys to the economic life of Millinocket for many years. See photos. The declining employment in the paper industry contributed to the steady loss of population over the past forty years – 42%. Millinocket is the gateway to Baxter State Park and its famed Mount Katahdin.
Truly a company town, as is Millinocket, its incorporation followed Great Northern’s development of the paper mill and ground wood mill in 1906. Once a source of well-paid employment, the mill has been under economic pressure, a partial cause of population loss of over 3 % during the 1970-2010 period. It is just west of Medway off I-95 in Aroostook County.
The town, and its Burnham Tavern, was the site of anti-British plotting resulting in capturing the schooner Margaretta. The Tavern was built in 1770, the only building in eastern Maine directly connected with the American Revolution. The Washington County seat, it is located on the Machias River, the engine of its earlier lumbering and shipbuilding industries. Once a haven for pirates, and now a commercial center, it is home to the University of Maine at Machias.
The town lies primarily on the west side of Machias Bay as the Machias River enters the Bay. It offers many sheltered harbors including the well known Bucks Harbor. Machiasport was at the center of controversy in the late 1960’s when an oil terminal was proposed, unsuccessfully, for the quiet coastal community.
in Hancock County, incorporated 1837, Settled in 1800, an early settler built the first house and established its first mill. In 1886 Eastbrook had four mills – two sawmills, one producing staves, and one manufacturing shingles. It still has several historically significant buildings. See photos. Lyle Frost Wildlife Management Area offers canoeing; wildlife to be seen: eagles, deer and water birds.
settled 1840’s by Acadian-French and Irish immigrants, it was named for the many eagles at the Lake by a Major Strickland during the Aroostook War. Eagle Lake spawns the Fish River, which empties into the St. John River at Fort Kent. See photos. It is the birthplace and residence of former Maine House Speaker John L. Martin.
once a plantation in Aroostook County organized in 1898, nearly 100 years later, on July 1, 1990, it surrendered its organization to again become an unorganized territory. It is located just southwest of Mars Hill and directly west of Blaine. Access is on the E Plantation Road, which is the only improved road in E Township.
Dyer Brook, incorporated in 1891, so named for the stream that flows through it and into the Mattawamkeag River, is in the heart of potato country. See photos. This sparsely populated rural town has no paved roads, other than U.S. Route 2. An extensive bog occupies the middle of the township.
Its eastern portion is dominated by the Mattawamkeag River System Wildlife Management Area. Recreational opportunities include boating, canoeing, and wildlife viewing for eagles, osprey, deer, moose and water birds. The 6,800 plus acre parcel includes Mud Pond. In 1921 Drew was incorporated as a town, but in the depths of the Great Depression it reverted to a plantation.
the county seat of Piscataquis County, born of the union of Dover and Foxcroft in 1922, and home to Foxcroft Academy and three members of Congress, is the commercial center of the area. See photos.
in Penobscot County, incorporated 1807, was named for Dr. Elijah Dix, who bought the town (and Dixfield). His granddaughter was the social reformer, Dorothea Lynde Dix. Maine Routes 9 and U.S. Route 202 pass through Dixmont and Dixmont Center villages, with long views of the surrounding area, and locally known “Dixmont Hill,” actually Peaked Mountain, with its communications antennas. See photos.
Dr. Elijah Dix bought the town (and Dixmont); his granddaughter was social reformer Dorothy Dix. See video and photos. Inventor Leonard Norcross was a resident in the early 19th century. The town town in Oxford County incorporated in 1803.
A woolen mill, erected in 1835, started an industry that lasted for over 150 years. See photos. Recent manufacturing firm closings contributed to the decline in population in the 1990-2000 decade. Settled 1800, incorporated 1816 in Penobscot County, it is the birthplace in 1888 of legislator, congressman, governor, and U.S. Senator Ralph Owen Brewster.