Historical U.S. Census Totals for Piscataquis County, Maine

This article shows U.S. Census totals for Piscataquis County, Maine, broken down by municipality, from 1900 to 2000.

There are two types of incorporated municipalities in Maine, towns and cities. The tables in the New England Historical U.S. Census Totals series differentiate between towns and cities; however, there have never been any cities in Piscataquis County.

Most areas of New England

New England

New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...

are entirely divided into incorporated municipalities, with no unincorporated territory. In the three northern New England states, however, some unincorporated territory does exist, generally in areas that are very sparsely populated. Maine contains significantly more unincorporated territory than the other states, with the bulk of it in interior and northern counties, including Piscataquis County.

Some unincorporated territory in Maine is organized into a third type of town-level municipality unique to Maine, called a plantation (considered to be “organized”, but not incorporated), while some is entirely unorganized. Due to the large extent of unorganized territory in Piscataquis County, separate sections with detailed historical census totals for such areas follows the main tables below. For any census, adding up the totals for each town-level municipality, including any plantations or unorganized entities, should yield the county total.

For more information on the New England municipal system, see New England town

New England town

The New England town is the basic unit of local government in each of the six New England states. Without a direct counterpart in most other U.S. states, New England towns are conceptually similar to civil townships in other states, but are incorporated, possessing powers like cities in other...

Corporate changes since 1900

1907 – Bowerbank Plantation re-incorporated as a town

1922 – Dover and Foxcroft merged to form Dover-Foxcroft

1940 – Medford disincorporated; subsequently organized as a plantation, but later reverted to unorganized territory

1940 – Williamsburg disincorporated and reverted to unorganized territory

1945 – Orneville disincorporated and reverted to unorganized territory

1951 – Blanchard disincorporated; subsequently organized as a plantation, but later reverted to unorganized territory

1967 – Medford re-incorporated as a town

1978 – Beaver Cove Plantation incorporated as a town

1900

County Total: 16,949

Dover 1,889
Foxcroft 1,629
Brownville 1,570
Guilford 1,544
Sangerville 1,294
Milo 1,150
Greenville 1,117
Monson 1,116
Parkman 718
Abbot 716
Sebec 593
Atkinson 495
Willimantic 419
Wellington 413
Orneville 325
Medford 282
Blanchard 248
Shirley 248
Williamsburg 117

Unincorporated territory reported 1,066 residents. This consisted of 529 residents in organized plantations, and 537 residents in unorganized territory.

1910

County Total: 19,887

Milo 2,556
Dover 2,091
Foxcroft 1,867
Brownville 1,808
Guilford 1,680
Greenville 1,474
Sangerville 1,319
Monson 1,243
Abbot 705
Parkman 646
Sebec 549
Atkinson 528
Wellington 393
Orneville 350
Shirley 334
Willimantic 271
Medford 262
Blanchard 175
Williamsburg 138
Bowerbank 76

Unincorporated territory reported 1,422 residents. This consisted of 574 residents in organized plantations, and 848 residents in unorganized territory.

1920

County Total: 20,554

Milo 2,894
Foxcroft 2,071
Dover 1,979
Brownville 1,743
Guilford 1,687
Greenville 1,550
Sangerville 1,246
Monson 1,079
Abbot 572
Parkman 565
Sebec 464
Wellington 459
Atkinson 456
Shirley 273
Orneville 241
Medford 228
Willimantic 196
Blanchard 124
Williamsburg 82
Bowerbank 41

Unincorporated territory reported 2,604 residents. This consisted of 659 residents in organized plantations, and 1,945 residents in unorganized territory.

1930

County Total: 18,231

Dover-Foxcroft 3,750
Milo 2,912
Brownville 1,910
Guilford 1,735
Greenville 1,615
Sangerville 1,225
Monson 1,181
Abbot 525
Parkman 538
Atkinson 394
Sebec 357
Wellington 350
Shirley 197
Orneville 286
Medford 251
Willimantic 173
Blanchard 104
Williamsburg 67
Bowerbank 43

Unincorporated territory reported 618 residents. This consisted of 315 residents in organized plantations, and 303 residents in unorganized territory.

1940

County Total: 18,467

Dover-Foxcroft 4,015
Milo 3,000
Greenville 1,955
Brownville 1,914
Guilford 1,752
Sangerville 1,194
Monson 977
Parkman 581
Abbot 466
Sebec 372
Atkinson 312
Wellington 261
Shirley 236
Orneville 210
Willimantic 188
Blanchard 118
Bowerbank 49

Unincorporated territory reported 867 residents. This consisted of 307 residents in organized plantations, and 560 residents in unorganized territory.

1950

County Total: 18,617

Dover-Foxcroft 4,218
Milo 2,898
Brownville 1,964
Greenville 1,889
Guilford 1,842
Sangerville 1,161
Monson 855
Parkman 590
Abbot 462
Sebec 442
Atkinson 400
Wellington 252
Shirley 212
Willimantic 189
Blanchard 75
Bowerbank 20

Unincorporated territory reported 1,148 residents. This consisted of 163 residents in organized plantations, and 985 residents in unorganized territory.

1960

County Total: 17,379

Dover-Foxcroft 4,173
Milo 2,756
Greenville 2,025
Brownville 1,641
Guilford 1,880
Sangerville 1,157
Monson 852
Parkman 530
Abbot 404
Sebec 384
Atkinson 280
Wellington 231
Shirley 214
Willimantic 137
Bowerbank 17

Unincorporated territory reported 698 residents. This consisted of 138 residents in organized plantations, and 560 residents in unorganized territory.

1970

County Total: 16,285

Dover-Foxcroft 4,178
Milo 2,572
Greenville 1,894
Guilford 1,694
Brownville 1,490
Sangerville 1,107
Monson 669
Parkman 457
Abbot 453
Sebec 325
Wellington 232
Atkinson 213
Shirley 174
Medford 146
Willimantic 126
Bowerbank 29

Unincorporated territory reported 526 residents. This consisted of 129 residents in organized plantations, and 397 residents in unorganized territory.

1980

County Total: 17,634

Dover-Foxcroft 4,323
Milo 2,624
Greenville 1,839
Guilford 1,793
Brownville 1,545
Sangerville 1,219
Monson 804
Parkman 621
Abbot 576
Sebec 469
Atkinson 306
Wellington 287
Shirley 242
Willimantic 164
Medford 163
Beaver Cove 56
Bowerbank 27

Unincorporated territory reported 576 residents. This consisted of 162 residents in organized plantations, and 414 residents in unorganized territory.

1990

County Total: 18,653

Dover-Foxcroft 4,657
Milo 2,600
Greenville 1,884
Guilford 1,710
Brownville 1,506
Sangerville 1,398
Parkman 790
Monson 744
Abbot 677
Sebec 554
Atkinson 332
Shirley 271
Wellington 270
Medford 194
Willimantic 170
Beaver Cove 104
Bowerbank 72

Unincorporated territory reported 720 residents. This consisted of 36 residents in organized plantations, and 684 residents in unorganized territory.

2000

County Total: 17,235

Dover-Foxcroft 4,211
Milo 2,383
Greenville 1,623
Guilford 1,531
Sangerville 1,270
Brownville 1,259
Parkman 811
Monson 666
Abbot 630
Sebec 612
Atkinson 323
Wellington 258
Medford 231
Shirley 183
Willimantic 135
Bowerbank 123
Beaver Cove 91

Unincorporated territory reported 895 residents. This consisted of 52 residents in organized plantations, and 843 residents in unorganized territory:

Plantations

As of 1900, Piscataquis County contained five plantations: Barnard, Bowerbank, Elliotsville, Lake View and Kingsbury. Four had been incorporated as towns in the 19th century, but had disincorporated and changed to a plantation form of government prior to 1900. The only one of the five that had never been a town is Lake View.

Only two plantations remain today, Lake View and Kingsbury. Bowerbank re-incorporated as a town in 1907. The other two surrendered their organization and reverted to unorganized territory in the early 1980s: Barnard (1982) and Elliotsville (1983). Four other plantations have also existed at some point since 1900:

The isolated community of Chesuncook, to the northeast of Moosehead Lake, was organized as a plantation for a short time, from 1921 to 1933. The 1930 Census was the only census in which it was reported as a plantation.

After its disincorporation, the former town of Medford operated as a plantation for about three years, from 1942 to 1945. It then surrendered its organization and reverted to unorganized territory. (It would later re-incorporate as a town in the 1960s.)

After the town of Blanchard disincorporated in 1951, it adopted a plantation form of government. It remained a plantation until 1984, when it surrendered its organization and reverted to unorganized territory.

Beaver Cover Plantation was formed from previously unorganized territory in 1975. It incorporated as a town in 1978.

1900

Lake View 173
Kingsbury 106
Barnard 98
Elliottsville 86
Bowerbank 66

1910

Lake View 245
Elliottsville 120
Kingsbury 108
Barnard 101

1920

Lake View 368
Barnard 155
Elliottsville 73
Kingsbury 63

1930

Elliottsville 77
Chesuncook 70
Barnard 61
Lake View 57
Kingsbury 50

1940

Elliottsville 100
Barnard 74
Lake View 70
Kingsbury 63

1950

Barnard 66
Elliottsville 39
Kingsbury 35
Lake View 23

1960

Blanchard 57
Barnard 32
Elliottsville 23
Lake View 18
Kingsbury 8

1970

Blanchard 56
Elliottsville 26
Barnard 24
Lake View 16
Kingsbury 7

1980

Blanchard 64
Barnard 48
Elliottsville 26
Lake View 20
Kingsbury 4

1990

Lake View 23
Kingsbury 13

2000

Lake View 43
Kingsbury 9

Unorganized Territory

Like all of Maine's interior counties, Piscataquis County contains a significant amount of unorganized territory. Most of it is in the northern and central parts of the county, in areas which are very sparsely populated. Historically, only about the southern third of the county (roughly, south of Moosehead Lake) has been incorporated or organized. The northern edge of the organized part of the county followed Shirley, Greenville, Elliotsville, and a line running along the northern edge of Bowerbank, Barnard, Williamsburg, Brownville and Lake View. All territory south of that line was historically organized, with all but Lake View once incorporated as towns (Note that Barnard, Elliotsville and Kingsbury were all towns at one time but had changed to plantations prior to 1900). North of that line, the entire county has historically been unorganized, with only a few minor exceptions. From 1921 to 1933 the isolated community of Chesuncook, to the northeast of Moosehead Lake, was organized as a plantation. Beaver Cover Plantation was established in 1975 from previously unorganized territory at the southeast corner of Moosehead Lake, adjacent to Greenville (“Gore A”, also known as TA2R13 & TA2R14). Beaver Cover later incorporated as a town.

Most of the northern two-thirds of the county is quite remote and has never had any significant population on more than a transitory basis. The distinction between a “township” and a “gore-like entity”, etc. in Piscataquis County is not always clear, as there are some surveyed townships labeled as “grants”. There are at least seventy townships in the county which have never been organized, however, along with some additional gore-like entities. Some islands in Moosehead Lake are not part of any larger unorganized entity, but constitute their own.

Between 1935 and 1945, a large number of municipalities in Maine dissolved and reverted to unorganized townships. In Piscataquis County, this included three communities which had historically been towns (Williamsburg, Medford and Orneville). Since that time, Piscataquis County has both gained and lost municipalities. In 1951, the town of Blanchard disincorporated; Blanchard subsequently maintained a plantation form of government until the 1980s, when it was one of three plantations in the county that dissolved and reverted to unorganized territory (the others were Barnard and Elliotsville). On the other hand, the former town of Medford re-incorporated as a town in 1967, and the new municipality of Beaver Cove was later created from previously unorganized territory.

The areas of Piscataquis County that are entirely unorganized cover about 3100 square miles (8,029 km²), with a population of about 850 people. This covers about three-quarters of the county’s land area, but includes only about 5% of its population. Two unorganized townships have a large enough population to maintain a registrar and clerk to conduct elections for state and federal offices, although they do not have true organized municipal governments. One is the former town of Orneville. The other is the unnamed township designated as T1R9 (this township is not close to the populated areas of the county, but is along the border with Penobscot County, not far from Millinocket). Two similar entities have also been formed by groups of multiple unorganized townships banding together: “Greenville Townships”, and the “Unorganized Townships of Big Moose, Harford’s Point, Lily Bay, Little Moose Township, TAR10/12”.

Over the years, the U.S. Census Bureau has used different methods to compile data for unorganized territory in Maine. From 1900 to 1950, data was tabulated for each individual unorganized entity. In 1960, a single catch-all “Unorganized Territory” listing was provided for each Maine county, generally with no further breakdown. Since 1970, the Census has grouped contiguous areas in each county into one or more “unorganized territories”. As of the 2000 Census, four such areas are recognized within Piscataquis County:

Northwest Piscataquis Unorganized Territory: the western portion of the historically unorganized northern and central parts of the county. This covers all of the unorganized territory around Moosehead Lake that is within Piscataquis County, including an area at the southwest corner of the lake, west of Greenville, that has no land connection to the rest of the Territory. The eastern boundary of this Territory, bordering Northeast Piscataquis Unorganized Territory, is an irregular line that appears to follow roads and watercourses in most places, not township boundaries.

Northeast Piscataquis Unorganized Territory: the eastern portion of the historically unorganized northern and central parts of the county. At its southern end, it includes the territory of the former towns of Elliotsville, Barnard and Williamsburg. The western boundary of this Territory, bordering Northwest Piscataquis Unorganized Territory, is an irregular line that appears to follow roads and watercourses in most places, not township boundaries.

Southeast Piscataquis Unorganized Territory: the former town of Orneville, in the southeast corner of the county. (It is unclear why this territory is called “Southeast Piscataquis Unorganized Territory” rather than “Orneville Unorganized Territory”. A possible explanation may be that the Territory was originally intended to include Medford, which had re-incorporated as a town by the time the 1970 Census was taken.)

Blanchard Unorganized Territory: the former town (later plantation) of Blanchard, which is its own Unorganized Territory because it does not border any other land that is both unorganized and within Piscataquis County.

When the Unorganized Territories were first created for the 1970 Census, there were just two in Piscataquis County County: North Piscataquis and Southeast Piscataquis. Southeast Piscataquis was the same as it is currently (Orneville Township). North Piscataquis was all other unorganized territory in the county, (including the present-day town of Beaver Cove, which was unorganized at the time). For the 1980 Census, North Somerset was broken up into Northeast Somerset and Northwest Somerset. Blanchard Unorganized Territory was added for the 1990 Census, after Blanchard Plantation surrendered its organization and reverted to unorganized territory.

The listings below provide population figures for 1) all unincorporated territory, including plantations; 2) organized plantations, for which breakouts are available in the main tables above; and 3) unorganized territory, with any available breakouts provided.

1900

All unincorporated territory 1,066

Organized plantations 529

Unorganized territory 537

Big Squaw (T2R6) & Little Squaw (T3R5) Twps. 131
Kathadin Iron Works Twp. (T6R9 NWP) 114
Chesuncook Twp. (T5R13) 65
Kineo Twp. 43
Bowdoin College Grant East (T7R10 NWP) 42
Days Academy Grant 37
Northeast Carry Twp. (T3R15) 24
Frenchtown Twp. (TAR13) 20
T4R9 WELS 11
T5R9 WELS 11
Gore A (TA2R13 & 14) 10
Lily Bay Twp. (TAR14) 5
T6R13 5
T2R12 3
T2R10 2
Trout Brook Twp. (T6 R9 WELS) 2
T3R10 1
T4R10 1

Islands: 10 (see “Notes” section below)

1910

All unincorporated territory 1,422

Organized plantations 574

Unorganized territory 848

T2R13 91
Chsuncook Twp. (T5R13) 90
T4R9 NWP 77
Kathadin Iron Works Twp. (T6R9 NWP) 75
Little Squaw Twp. (T3R5) 62
Northeast Carry Twp. (T3R15) 55
Kineo Twp. 48
Big Squaw Twp. (T2R6) 42
Frenchtown Twp. (TAR13) 39
Days Academy Grant 32
T1R9 28
Lily Bay Twp. (TAR14) 23
T2R10 19
Trout Brook Twp. (T6 R9 WELS) 19
T4R11 15
T5R9 NWP 15
T5R14 12
T6R11 9
T7R9 NWP 9
T3R10 8
T5R11 8
T6R10 8
T7R12 8
T1R10 6
T4R14 6
T3R12 5
Rainbow Twp. (T2R11) 4
T5R10 4
T1R11 3
Bowdoin College Grant East (T7R10 NWP) 3
TAR11 2
T3R11 2
T4R10 2
T7R11 2
TBR11 1
T7R9 WELS 1
T7R10 1

Islands: 14 (see “Notes” section below)

1920

All unincorporated territory 2,604

Organized plantations 659

Unorganized territory 1,945

Chesuncook Twp. (T5R13) 247
T4R11 152
T5R12 147
Little Squaw Twp. (T3R5) 135
Bowdoin College Grant East (T7R10 NWP) 115
Days Academy Grant 113
T5R10 96
Lily Bay Twp. (TAR14) 92
Kathadin Iron Works Twp. (T6R9 NWP) 92
T1R12 82
Shawtown Twp. (TAR12) 69
TBR11 62
Gore A (TA2R13 & 14) 55
T1R9 55
Smithtown Twp. (T1R13) 40
T8R5 39
Northeast Carry Twp. (T3R15) 34
T7R9 NWP 34
Frenchtown Twp. (TAR13) 33
Big Squaw Twp. (T2R6) 33
T4R12 27
Lobster Twp. (T3R14) 24
T2R13 23
East Middlesex Canal Grant 21
Kineo Twp. 21
T3R11 17
Bowdoin College Grant West (T8R10 NWP) 17
T4R14 16
Trout Brook Twp. (T6 R9 WELS) 11
T4R10 8
T5R11 7
T1R10 5
Rainbow Twp. (T2R11) 5
T3R12 3
T7R12 3
T2R12 1
T10 R15 1

Islands: 10 (see “Notes” section below)

1930

All unincorporated territory 618

Organized plantations 315

Unorganized territory 303

Little Squaw Twp. (T3R5) 47
Kathadin Iron Works Twp. (T6R9 NWP) 42
T4R9 NWP 29
Kineo Twp. 27
Big Squaw Twp. (T2R6) 23
T2R13 19
T3R11 18
TAR12 15
T3R10 14
T5R9 NWP 11
Frenchtown Twp. (TAR13) 10
TAR11 6
Rainbow Twp. (T2R11) 6
Lily Bay Twp. (TAR14) 5
T5R10 5
Days Academy Grant 3
TBR11 3
T2R12 1
T5R12 1

Islands: 18 (see “Notes” section below)

1940

All unincorporated territory 867

Organized plantations 307

Unorganized territory 560

Medford Twp. 213
Williamsburg Twp. 100
Little Squaw Twp. (T3R5) 58
Chesuncook Twp. (T5R13) 32
Big Squaw Twp. (T2R6) 30
Northeast Carry Twp. (T3R15) 23
Smithtown Twp. (T1R13) 20
T4R9 NWP 13
Kathadin Iron Works Twp. (T6R9 NWP) 9
T10R12 9
Lily Bay Twp. (TAR14) 7
T5R9 NWP 7
T1R9 5
T1R10 5
T1R14 5
Kineo Twp. 4
T2R13 4
East Middlesex Canal Grant 2
T3R11 2
Harfords Point Twp. 1
TAR11 1
TBR11 1
T7R9 WELS 1
T7R10 1

Islands: 7 (see “Notes” section below)

1950

All unincorporated territory 1,148

Organized plantations 163

Unorganized territory 985

Little Squaw Twp. (T3R5) 222
Orneville Twp. 209
Medford Twp. 191
Williamsburg Twp. 105
Kineo Twp. 40
Big Squaw Twp. (T2R6) 36
Chesuncook Twp. (T5R13) 16
Lily Bay Twp. (TAR14) 16
TAR12 15
T4R9 NWP 12
T5R9 NWP 11
T1R9 10
T3R12 10
Smithtown Twp. (T1R13) 9
T2R13 8
Kathadin Iron Works Twp. (T6R9 NWP) 8
Northeast Carry Twp. (T3R15) 7
Frenchtown Twp. (TAR13) 6
Rainbow Twp. (T2R11) 6
Eagle Lake Twp. (T8R13) 5
T10R12 5
T3R10 4
T3R11 4
T7R12 4
Days Academy Grant 3
Gore A (TA2R13 & 14) 3
T1R10 3
TAR10 2
T2R9 2
T7R9 WELS 2
TAR11 1
T2R10 1
T5R12 1
Lobster Twp. (T3R14) 1
Trout Brook Twp. (T6 R9 WELS) 11
T6R10 1
T6R11 1
T7R13 1
T8R14 1

Islands: 2 (see “Notes” section below)

1960

All unincorporated territory 698

Organized plantations 138

Unorganized territory 560

The 1960 Census reported all unorganized territory in Piscataquis County under a single catch-all listing. No breakdown is available.

1970

All unincorporated territory 526

Organized plantations 129

Unorganized territory 397

Starting with the 1970 Census, the unorganized territory in Piscataquis County was broken into groups of contiguous territory. Two such entities were recognized in 1970.

North Piscataquis Unorganized Territory 241
Southeast Piscataquis Unorganized Territory 156

1980

All unincorporated territory 576

Organized plantations 162

Unorganized territory 414

For the 1980 Census, the former North Piscataquis Unorganized Territory was broken into two entities, for a total of three recognized within the county.

Southeast Piscataquis Unorganized Territory 183
Northeast Piscataquis Unorganized Territory 132
Northwest Piscataquis Unorganized Territory 99

1990

All unincorporated territory 720

Organized plantations 36

Unorganized territory 684

A fourth Unorganized Territory was added for 1990, reflecting the dissolution of the former Blanchard Plantation (Blanchard got its own listing because it does not border any other unorganized territory within Piscataquis County).

Southeast Piscataquis Unorganized Territory 247
Northeast Piscataquis Unorganized Territory 218
Northwest Piscataquis Unorganized Territory 141
Blanchard Unorganized Territory 78

2000

All unincorporated territory 895

Organized plantations 52

Unorganized territory 843

Northeast Piscataquis Unorganized Territory 347
Southeast Piscataquis Unorganized Territory 254
Northwest Piscataquis Unorganized Territory 159
Blanchard Unorganized Territory 83

Note: the unorganized townships in Piscataquis County are on three different grids:

WELS (west of the Easterly Line of the State): as its name suggests, the baseline for this grid is the boundary between Maine and New Brunswick in Aroostook County. In places, it has up to 20 numbered rows, arranged from north to south. The upper rows exist only in Aroostook County, however, so that only rows 1 through 10 enter the modern borders of Somerset County. A row “A” and “B” also exist in some areas to the south of row 1; the boundary between this grid and the one to the south of it (NWP) is irregular. The townships on this grid in Piscataquis County are generally in ranges 9 through 15, although Moosehead Lake cuts off range 15 in some of the rows, and rows A and B do not exists in all ranges. The area of Piscataquis County covered by the WELS system is for the most part very remote and very sparsely populated. Most of the townships are identified only by their row and range numbers and have never developed informal township names.

NWP (North of Waldo Patent): covers the area to the immediate south of the WELS grid, to the southeast of Moosehead Lake. Much of the organized portion of Piscataquis County was originally on this grid, but the last few ranges at the northern end have remained mostly unorganized. Ranges are numbered south to north, rows east to west. The northernmost range is generally range 9, although there is a range 10 in some places, as the boundary between this grid and the one to the north of it (WELS) is irregular. All of the never-organized townships on this grid in Piscataquis County are in those two ranges. The never-organized townships on this grid in Piscataquis County are in rows 4 through 8. (Lower-numbered rows are further east, in Penobscot County).

BKP EKR (Bingham’s Kennebec Purchase, East of the Kennebec River): covers a small portion of Piscataquis County that lies southwest of Moosehead Lake. The rows of townships on this grid are numbered west to east, with the baseline at the Kennebec River; most of the grid is in Somerset County. The only two unorganized townships in Piscataquis County numbered on this grid are Big Squaw Twp. (T2R6) and Moosehead Junction Twp. (T3R5). Because the Kennebec River does not run at all due north-south in this area, row numbering is somewhat irregular, accounting for why T2R6 is directly north of T3R5. Some of the current or former municipalities to the immediate south of those two townships were originally on this grid (e.g., Blanchard, Shirley, Kingsbury, Wellington).

In 1999, the Maine state legislature officially changed the name of Big Squaw Township (T2R6) to Big Moose Township, and Little Squaw Township (T3R5) to Moosehead Junction Township. In 2003, the legislature officially named T5R9 NWP, which had not previously had a generally used name, as Ebemee Township.