Enfield

Panoramic Mountain View from Enfield (2014)

Year Population 1970 1,148 1980 1,397 1990 1,476 2000 1,616 2010 1,607 Geographic Data N. Latitude 45:15:56 W. Longitude 68:35:39 Maine House District 142 Maine Senate District 5 Congress District 2 Area sq. mi. (total) 33.2 Area sq. mi. (land) 27.9 Population/sq.mi. (land) 57.6 County: Penobscot Total=land+water; Land=land only [EN-field] is a town in Penobscot…

Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument

Hiking, Biking, Horseback Trail in Katahdin Woods and Waters (2017)

In August 2016, President Barak Obama designated this area a National Monument.  It was offered to the United States government by the Roxanne Quimby Foundation, which has established a substantial endowment with the National Park Foundation to support the administration the monument. Katahdin Woods and Waters Recreation Area, east of Baxter State Park, contains about…

T2 R9 WELS

Omaha Beach with Campsites near the West Branch of the Penobscot River (2017)

          This township lies at the base of Baxter State Park, encompassing the Park’s south access road from Millinocket and the eastern end of The Golden Road. Togue Pond Gate is the south entrance to the Park. The West Branch of the Penobscot River flows through its western region and includes…

Roosevelts in Maine

President Roosevelt coming out of the home of former Secretary of State Blaine, Augusta (1902)

This famous family had close ties with Maine from “Teddy” to “FDR.” Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt, Jr. As early as 1878, Teddy Roosevelt began his long relationship with Maine and his personal guide, William Wingate “Bill” Sewall of Island Falls in Aroostook County.  They spent a substantial amount of time exploring what is now Katahdin Woods…

T1 R6 WELS

Sunset Over Mount Katahdin at Salmon Stream Lake (2014)

Most travelers see the township from the scenic view on I-95. The attraction is a view of Mount Katahdin over 659-acre Salmon Stream Lake.  The outlet of Little Salmon Stream Lake, to the northeast, flows into Salmon Stream Lake. A section of Penobscot Indian Territory is in the northwest corner of the township, along the…

Herseytown Township

Mount Katahdin from Herseytown (2012)

Herseytown Township should not be confused with the town of Hersey about 25 miles north on Route 11 in Penobscot County. Davidson, the only village in the township, was in the north at Davidson Pond on the Davidson Road off Route 11. A 1942 USGS Topographic map shows Davidson with several buildings (small squares). Other…

Golden Road

The Golden Road, privately owned and mostly unpaved, extends from Millinocket west over 100 miles to the Quebec border at township T5 R20 WELS, a four hour trip.  It was established in the 1970’s as a transportation conduit for raw wood to feed the hungry Great Northern Paper Company mills in Millinocket and East Millinocket.…

Benedicta Township

Plunkett Pond, locally known as Perry Pond, in Benedicta (2015)

Benedicta is located in southern Aroostook County. It was established as a plantation on February 1, 1873 with a population of about 400. Just over one-hundred years later, in 1987, it surrendered its plantation status and became an unorganized township administered by the State.     By 1970 it had reached a historic low of…

Stacyville

Mount Katahdin and Hunt Mountain from Swift Brook Road in Stacyville (2017)

Its main village is Sherman Station on the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad line and Maine Route 11 just across the town line from the Town of Sherman. Stacyville Village is in the southwest of the township; Siberia village is in the center on the Grindstone Road. That portion of Route 11 in Sherman Station Village serves as the “Main Street” for the town, with community buildings and businesses.

Patten

The Village from Route 11 Looking North (2006)

has continued its focus on lumbering since early settlement, including its informative Lumberman’s Museum on the Shin Pond Road. The Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church anchors the southern end of the main street. See photos. The small community has witnessed a dwindling population over the past several decades with the loss of jobs in farming, lumbering, and the paper industry. Patten is the northern gateway from Interstate 95 to Baxter State Park.

Lincoln

Panoramic view of Mount Katahdin from Gilman Road in Lincoln

In 1846, Henry David Thoreau noted that his group “came into the Houlton road again, here called the military road, at Lincoln where there is quite a village for this country.” See photos. It has been a manufacturing center for pulp and paper, shoes and textiles. Recent years have seen a declining population as those sectors have faded. A 40 turbine wind will benefit the town budget.

Hersey

Hersey Village is in the extreme west of the township on Route 11. Townline Road is its northern boundary, separating it from Moro Plantation. The interior of the township is accessible on the Retreat Road, which extends from Route 159 in Crystal in the south to Route 11 in Hersey’s northwest corner. The 137-acre Crystal Lake is the only one in the town.

Millinocket

This 1912 building was the Great Northern Paper Co. administration building. Later mill owners used it for offices until just before the mill

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.

Katahdin, Mount

A "Lake" of Fog under Katahdin (August 2014)

It was like sitting in a chimney and waiting for the smoke to blow away. It was, in fact, a cloud-factory,– these were the cloud-works, and the wind turned them off done from the cool, bare rocks. [Thoreau] Washington Irving described the Kaatskill Mountains as “a dismembered branch of the great Appalachian family…swelling up to…