Rangeley (town), Maine
Encyclopedia
Rangeley is a town
in Franklin County
, Maine
, United States. The population was 1,052 at the 2000 census. Rangeley is the center of the Rangeley Lakes Region, a resort area. The town includes the villages of Oquossoc, Haines Landing and South Rangeley.
, Squire James Rangeley, who inherited a 31000 acres (125.5 km²) tract bought from Massachusetts
in 1796 by his father. He arrived in 1825 to establish an estate based on the English system of landlord and tenants, also giving extensive land to settlers. He built a sawmill
, a gristmill
, a two-story mansion, and a ten mile (16 km) road to connect his property with the rest of the world. Rangeley resided here for 15 years, then sold the property and moved to Portland
.
Farms produced hay
, wheat
, oats
, barley
and potato
es, with cattle
grazing the hills. Logging
became a principal industry, with boom
s of logs towed by steamboat
across the Rangeley lakes, then guided down rivers in log drives
. On March 29, 1855 the town of Rangeley was set off and incorporated from a portion of Rangeley Plantation. By 1870, the population was 313. In 1886, it had twenty dwellings, two hotels, two stores and a post office. Industries included a carriage
shop, two blacksmith
shops, a boat builder's
shop, a sawmill and a shoe
shop.
The Phillips and Rangeley Railroad
, a narrow gauge
common carrier
, opened in 1891, becoming part of the Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad
in 1908. Timber
and other goods were shipped to markets, and tourists arrived from Boston, Hartford
, New York and Philadelphia
. Consequently, the region developed in the 1900s into a seasonal resort area with camps, cabins, summer homes, inns and hotels. The cool mountain climate and abundance of sport fishing made this a highly desirable and exclusive resort destination. Some inhabitants became fishing guides, and among the anglers was President Herbert Hoover
. The big hotels would decline, however, with World War II
. In 1958, The Rangeley Lake House was razed. But motels have taken their place, and Rangeley remains a popular resort.
, the town has a total area of 55.7 square miles (144.3 km²), of which, 41.6 square miles (107.8 km²) of it is land and 14.1 square miles (36.5 km²) of it (25.28%) is water.
Centrally located between the headwaters of both the Androscoggin River
and Kennebec River
, the town lies on the eastern shores of Rangeley Lake
in the Western Maine Mountains
. Smalls Falls
, lying just south of the town on Route 4
, is a popular tourist destination. A sign in town notes that Rangeley is halfway between the Equator
and North Pole
.
of 2000, there were 1,052 people, 468 households, and 292 families residing in the town. The population density
was 25.3 people per square mile (9.8/km²). There were 1,561 housing units at an average density of 37.5 per square mile (14.5/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 99.24% White, 0.10% Black or African American
, 0.10% Native American, 0.10% from other races
, and 0.48% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.19% of the population.
There were 468 households out of which 24.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.9% were married couples
living together, 7.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.6% were non-families. 30.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.24 and the average family size was 2.79.
In the town the population was spread out with 21.3% under the age of 18, 4.4% from 18 to 24, 25.3% from 25 to 44, 28.3% from 45 to 64, and 20.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females there were 100.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.1 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $33,382, and the median income for a family was $43,250. Males had a median income of $32,426 versus $19,519 for females. The per capita income
for the town was $19,052. About 9.3% of families and 11.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.0% of those under age 18 and 10.1% of those age 65 or over.
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...
in Franklin County
Franklin County, Maine
Franklin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maine. As of 2010, the population was 30,768. Its county seat is Farmington.Franklin County was established on 9 May 1838.-Geography:...
, 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. The population was 1,052 at the 2000 census. Rangeley is the center of the Rangeley Lakes Region, a resort area. The town includes the villages of Oquossoc, Haines Landing and South Rangeley.
History
It is named after an EnglishmanEnglishman
Englishman may refer to:*English people*Grey Partridge*Jason Englishman, Canadian rock music singer and guitarist*Jenny-Bea Englishman, real name of the Canadien singer Esthero*Erald Briscoe, reggae musician who records under the name Englishman...
, Squire James Rangeley, who inherited a 31000 acres (125.5 km²) tract bought from Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
in 1796 by his father. He arrived in 1825 to establish an estate based on the English system of landlord and tenants, also giving extensive land to settlers. He built a sawmill
Sawmill
A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....
, a gristmill
Gristmill
The terms gristmill or grist mill can refer either to a building in which grain is ground into flour, or to the grinding mechanism itself.- Early history :...
, a two-story mansion, and a ten mile (16 km) road to connect his property with the rest of the world. Rangeley resided here for 15 years, then sold the property and moved to Portland
Portland, Maine
Portland is the largest city in Maine and is the county seat of Cumberland County. The 2010 city population was 66,194, growing 3 percent since the census of 2000...
.
Farms produced hay
Hay
Hay is grass, legumes or other herbaceous plants that have been cut, dried, and stored for use as animal fodder, particularly for grazing livestock such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep. Hay is also fed to pets such as rabbits and guinea pigs...
, wheat
Wheat
Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
, oats
OATS
OATS - Open Source Assistive Technology Software - is a source code repository or "forge" for assistive technology software. It was launched in 2006 with the goal to provide a one-stop “shop” for end users, clinicians and open-source developers to promote and develop open source assistive...
, barley
Barley
Barley is a major cereal grain, a member of the grass family. It serves as a major animal fodder, as a base malt for beer and certain distilled beverages, and as a component of various health foods...
and potato
Potato
The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family . The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well as the edible tuber. In the region of the Andes, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species...
es, with cattle
Cattle
Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...
grazing the hills. Logging
Logging
Logging is the cutting, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks.In forestry, the term logging is sometimes used in a narrow sense concerning the logistics of moving wood from the stump to somewhere outside the forest, usually a sawmill or a lumber yard...
became a principal industry, with boom
Log boom
A log boom is a barrier placed in a river, designed to collect and or contain floating logs timbered from nearby forests sometimes called a fence or bag. The term is also used as a place where logs were collected into booms, as at the mouth of a river...
s of logs towed by steamboat
Steamboat
A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...
across the Rangeley lakes, then guided down rivers in log drives
Log driving
Log driving is a means of log transport which makes use of a river's current to move floating tree trunks downstream to sawmills and pulp mills.It was the main transportation method of the early logging industry in Europe and North America...
. On March 29, 1855 the town of Rangeley was set off and incorporated from a portion of Rangeley Plantation. By 1870, the population was 313. In 1886, it had twenty dwellings, two hotels, two stores and a post office. Industries included a carriage
Carriage
A carriage is a wheeled vehicle for people, usually horse-drawn; litters and sedan chairs are excluded, since they are wheelless vehicles. The carriage is especially designed for private passenger use and for comfort or elegance, though some are also used to transport goods. It may be light,...
shop, two blacksmith
Blacksmith
A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut...
shops, a boat builder's
Boat building
Boat building, one of the oldest branches of engineering, is concerned with constructing the hulls of boats and, for sailboats, the masts, spars and rigging.-Parts:* Bow - the front and generally sharp end of the hull...
shop, a sawmill and a shoe
Shoemaking
Shoemaking is the process of making footwear. Originally, shoes were made one at a time by hand. Traditional handicraft shoemaking has now been largely superseded in volume of shoes produced by industrial mass production of footwear, but not necessarily in quality, attention to detail, or...
shop.
The Phillips and Rangeley Railroad
Phillips and Rangeley Railroad
The Phillips and Rangeley Railroad was a gauge narrow gauge common carrier railroad in the State of Maine.It connected the towns of Phillips and Rangeley and was built to serve the forestry and resort industries of Franklin County. This railroad pioneered the use of large 2-foot gauge rolling...
, a narrow gauge
Narrow gauge
A narrow gauge railway is a railway that has a track gauge narrower than the of standard gauge railways. Most existing narrow gauge railways have gauges of between and .- Overview :...
common carrier
Common carrier
A common carrier in common-law countries is a person or company that transports goods or people for any person or company and that is responsible for any possible loss of the goods during transport...
, opened in 1891, becoming part of the Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad
Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad
The Sandy River & Rangeley Lakes Railroad was a narrow gauge common carrier railroad that operated approximately of gauge railroad in Franklin County, Maine.-History:Josiah L...
in 1908. Timber
Timber
Timber may refer to:* Timber, a term common in the United Kingdom and Australia for wood materials * Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S...
and other goods were shipped to markets, and tourists arrived from Boston, Hartford
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...
, New York and Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
. Consequently, the region developed in the 1900s into a seasonal resort area with camps, cabins, summer homes, inns and hotels. The cool mountain climate and abundance of sport fishing made this a highly desirable and exclusive resort destination. Some inhabitants became fishing guides, and among the anglers was President Herbert Hoover
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...
. The big hotels would decline, however, with World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. In 1958, The Rangeley Lake House was razed. But motels have taken their place, and Rangeley remains a popular resort.
Geography
According to the United States Census BureauUnited 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 55.7 square miles (144.3 km²), of which, 41.6 square miles (107.8 km²) of it is land and 14.1 square miles (36.5 km²) of it (25.28%) is water.
Centrally located between the headwaters of both the Androscoggin River
Androscoggin River
The Androscoggin River is a river in the U.S. states of Maine and New Hampshire, in northern New England. It is long and joins the Kennebec River at Merrymeeting Bay in Maine before its water empties into the Gulf of Maine on the Atlantic Ocean. Its drainage basin is in area...
and Kennebec River
Kennebec River
The Kennebec River is a river that is entirely within the U.S. state of Maine. It rises in Moosehead Lake in west-central Maine. The East and West Outlets join at Indian Pond and the river then flows southward...
, the town lies on the eastern shores of Rangeley Lake
Rangeley Lake
Rangeley Lake is located in Franklin County, Maine in the United States. It is fed by several streams. Its waters flow out from the lake's northwestern end into the short Rangeley River, then into Mooselookmeguntic Lake, and ultimately into the Androscoggin River, Merrymeeting Bay, the lower...
in the Western Maine Mountains
Western Maine Mountains
The Western Maine Mountains region spans most of Maine's western border with New Hampshire. A small part of the scenic White Mountain National Forest is located in this area. This is essentially all of Oxford County and northern York County and Cumberland Counties. Notable towns include Bethel,...
. Smalls Falls
Smalls Falls
Smalls Falls, a waterfall in Maine, is a series of waterfalls and cascades on the Sandy River in Township E, West Central Franklin, Maine, in the United States. It totals in height, and consists of a 12-foot slide/horsetail, a 25-foot segmented waterfall, a 14-foot horsetail, and a 3-foot...
, lying just south of the town on Route 4
Maine State Route 4
State Route 4 is part of Maine's system of numbered state highways, running from the New Hampshire border in South Berwick to Haines Landing on Mooselookmeguntic Lake in the town of Rangeley...
, is a popular tourist destination. A sign in town notes that Rangeley is halfway between the Equator
Equator
An equator is the intersection of a sphere's surface with the plane perpendicular to the sphere's axis of rotation and containing the sphere's center of mass....
and North Pole
North Pole
The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is, subject to the caveats explained below, defined as the point in the northern hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface...
.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
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 1,052 people, 468 households, and 292 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 25.3 people per square mile (9.8/km²). There were 1,561 housing units at an average density of 37.5 per square mile (14.5/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 99.24% White, 0.10% Black or African American
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...
, 0.10% Native American, 0.10% 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 0.48% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.19% of the population.
There were 468 households out of which 24.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.9% 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 37.6% were non-families. 30.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.24 and the average family size was 2.79.
In the town the population was spread out with 21.3% under the age of 18, 4.4% from 18 to 24, 25.3% from 25 to 44, 28.3% from 45 to 64, and 20.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females there were 100.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.1 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $33,382, and the median income for a family was $43,250. Males had a median income of $32,426 versus $19,519 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 $19,052. About 9.3% of families and 11.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.0% of those under age 18 and 10.1% of those age 65 or over.
Sites of interest
- Rangeley Maine
- Rangeley Lakes Region Logging Museum
- Wilhelm Reich Museum
- Saddleback Maine-Ski Resort
Notable people
- Patrick DempseyPatrick DempseyPatrick Galen Dempsey is an American actor, known for his role as neurosurgeon Dr. Derek Shepherd on the medical drama Grey's Anatomy. Prior to Grey's Anatomy he made several television appearances and was nominated for an Emmy Award...
, actor - Wilhelm ReichWilhelm ReichWilhelm Reich was an Austrian-American psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, known as one of the most radical figures in the history of psychiatry...
, psychiatrist - Kurt RussellKurt RussellKurt Vogel Russell is an American television and film actor. His first acting roles were as a child in television series, including a lead role in the Western series The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters...
, actor - Arlo WestArlo WestArlo West is an American guitarist and singer-songwriter. He has recorded fourteen albums and has appeared as a guest artist on many others. He has toured with Uncle John Turner and Bobby "Bobby T" Torello...
, musician and photographer
External links
- Rangeley Public Library
- Rangeley Lakes Snowmobile Club
- Rangeley Family Tree
- Rangeley Maine Maps, Town Information and Complete Directory of Businesses and Services
- Rangeley Maine Vacation, Tourism, and Recreation & Sports Information. Includes lots of photos of the area.
- Rangeley Maine News
- Rangeley Maine Events Calendar