Orrington, Maine
Encyclopedia
Orrington is a town in Penobscot County
Penobscot County, Maine
Penobscot County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maine. For U.S. Census statistical purposes, it is part of the Bangor, Maine, New England County Metropolitan Area . As of 2010, the population was 153,923...

, Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The population was 3,526 at the 2000 census.

History

Orrington was originally part of Condustiegg (or Kenduskeag) Plantation, which also included the present-day cities of Bangor and Brewer. Orrington was incorporated as a town in 1788 with its major village at Brewer
Brewer, Maine
Brewer is a city in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. It is part of the Bangor, Maine Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city is named after its first settler, Colonel John Brewer. The population was 9,482 at the 2010 census....

, then called "New Worcester". Bangor incorporated three years later in 1791. Brewer broke away from Orrington in 1812 to form a separate town.

The name "Orrington" reportedly resulted from a spelling mistake. The settlers intended to name it "Orangetown" after Orangetown, Maryland, but it was written on the record-books in distant Massachusetts, of which Maine was then a territory, as "Orrington". "Orring" was a not unreasonable phonetic rendering of "orange" before the standardization of spelling.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...

, the town has a total area of 27.5 square miles (71.2 km²), of which, 25.4 square miles (65.8 km²) of it is land and 2.1 square miles (5.4 km²) of it (7.64%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

of 2000, there were 3,526 people, 1,396 households, and 1,042 families residing in the town. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 was 138.8 people per square mile (53.6/km²). There were 1,489 housing units at an average density of 58.6 per square mile (22.6/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 99.09% White, 0.20% African American, 0.11% Native American, 0.23% Asian, 0.03% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, and 0.34% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.14% of the population.

There were 1,396 households out of which 32.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.3% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

 living together, 7.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.3% were non-families. 19.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 2.89.

In the town the population was spread out with 23.6% under the age of 18, 5.8% from 18 to 24, 29.8% from 25 to 44, 28.8% from 45 to 64, and 12.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 99.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.7 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $44,327, and the median income for a family was $47,803. Males had a median income of $35,250 versus $27,381 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...

 for the town was $19,290. About 2.4% of families and 4.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.6% of those under age 18 and 5.8% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

  • Ebenezer M. Chamberlain
    Ebenezer M. Chamberlain
    Ebenezer Mattoon Chamberlain was a U.S. Representative from Indiana.Born in Orrington, Maine, Chamberlain attended public school before becoming employed in his father's shipyard...

     (1805–1861), congressman from Indiana.
  • Greenleaf A. Goodale, brig. general in Spanish-American War
    Spanish-American War
    The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...

  • Stephen King
    Stephen King
    Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...

    , author.
  • Molly Kool
    Molly Kool
    Myrtle 'Molly' Kool was North America's first registered female sea captain or ship master.She was born in Alma, New Brunswick, the daughter of Myrtle Anderson and Paul Kool, a Dutch sailor. She grew up sailing, eventually becoming captain of the Jean K, a 21-metre scow owned by her father...

    , first female master mariner in North America.
  • Benjamin Franklin Mudge
    Benjamin Franklin Mudge
    Benjamin Franklin Mudge was an American lawyer, geologist and teacher. Briefly the mayor of Lynn, Massachusetts, he later moved to Kansas where he was appointed the first State Geologist. He led the first geological survey of the state in 1864, and published the first book on the geology of Kansas...

     (1817–1879), geologist, paleontologist.
  • Enoch Mudge
    Enoch Mudge
    Enoch Mudge was the first Methodist minister reared in New England. He was born at Lynn, Mass., was converted under Jesse Lee, the pioneer of Methodism in New England, and entered the ministry in 1793. He labored as an itinerant preacher in Maine until 1799, when his health gave way and he was...

    , first American-born Methodist minister, state congressman.
  • Thomas H. Mudge
    Thomas H. Mudge
    Thomas Hicks Mudge was an American Methodist Episcopal clergyman, born at Orrington, Me., the nephew of Enoch Mudge. He graduated from Wesleyan University in 1840 and from Union Theological Seminary in 1843, and then entered the ministry, joining the New England conference...

    , Methodist minister, professor of theology.
  • Zachariah A. Mudge
    Zachariah A. Mudge
    Zachariah Atwell Mudge was an American Methodist Episcopal clergyman and author, nephew of Enoch Mudge. He was born at Orrington, Me., and was educated at Wesleyan University. He entered the ministry in 1840 and held various pastorates in Massachusetts. For three years he was editor of the...

    , Methodist clergyman, author.
  • Edward A. Pierce
    Edward A. Pierce
    Edward A. Pierce was an American businessman and stock broker. Pierce was most notable for leading the firm of A.A. Housman & Company through the 1920s and 1930s and turning the firm into the largest brokerage in the U.S. The firm, which was renamed E.A. Pierce & Co...

    , Wall St. banker, one of founders of Merrill, Lynch, Pierce, Fenner, and Smith, Inc., now Merrill Lynch
    Merrill Lynch
    Merrill Lynch is the wealth management division of Bank of America. With over 15,000 financial advisors and $2.2 trillion in client assets it is the world's largest brokerage. Formerly known as Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., prior to 2009 the firm was publicly owned and traded on the New York...


External links

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