St. George, Maine
Encyclopedia
St. George is a town
in Knox County
, Maine
, United States
. As of the 2000 census
, the town population was 2,580. It includes the villages of Port Clyde, Clark Island, Glenmere, Martinsville and Tenants Harbor, the latter its commercial center. A favorite with artists, writers and naturalists, St. George is home to the Brothers and Hay Ledge nature preserve, comprising four islands off Port Clyde.
and its islands were noted for immense flocks of duck
, geese and other waterfowl
. Although the region was part of the Waldo Patent
, General Samuel Waldo complied with requests from Abenaki Indians not to settle immigrants at what was their prized hunting
ground. Consequently, the peninsula remained unpopulated until after the close of the French and Indian Wars
in 1763. The Revolutionary War
further slowed development, but during the 1780s, there was rapid settlement of the peninsula. It was incorporated in 1789 as part of Cushing
. On February 7, 1803, the peninsula and its islands were set off and incorporated as St. George, taking its name from the river.
Farmers grew potato
es. After 1830, granite
was quarried
and shipped nationally for construction. Shipbuilders
annually produced three to four vessels, many for the coasting trade, exporting cordwood, lumber
and fish
. Factories canned
lobster
s, clam
s and sardine
s. In the 1880s, the town's rugged oceanfront beauty was discovered by "rusticators" -- visitors, including artist
s, who bought or built summer cottages.
, the town has a total area of 158.5 square miles (410.5 km²), of which, 25.6 square miles (66.3 km²) of it is land and 132.9 square miles (344.2 km²) of it (83.86%) is water. Bounded on the west by the Saint George River
, the town is located on a peninsula extending into the Gulf of Maine
.
St. George is crossed by state route 131. It borders the town of South Thomaston
to the north.
Both Allen Island
and Mosquito Island House are listed on the National Register of Historic Places
for St. George.
of 2000, there were 2,580 people, 1,119 households, and 757 families residing in the town. The population density
was 100.9 people per square mile (38.9/km²). There were 1,777 housing units at an average density of 69.5 per square mile (26.8/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 98.68% White, 0.16% African American, 0.23% Native American, 0.35% Asian, 0.04% from other races
, and 0.54% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.23% of the population.
There were 1,119 households out of which 28.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.8% were married couples
living together, 7.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.3% were non-families. 26.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.77.
In the town the population was spread out with 22.1% under the age of 18, 4.3% from 18 to 24, 24.5% from 25 to 44, 28.2% from 45 to 64, and 21.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females there were 96.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.7 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $41,211, and the median income for a family was $48,162. Males had a median income of $33,929 versus $25,439 for females. The per capita income
for the town was $23,272. About 3.8% of families and 8.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.7% of those under age 18 and 7.7% 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 Knox County
Knox County, Maine
Knox County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maine. As of 2010, the population was 39,736. Its county seat is Rockland. The county is named for American Revolutionary War general and Secretary of War Henry Knox, who lived in the county from 1795 until his death in 1806. The county was...
, 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...
. As of the 2000 census
United States Census, 2000
The Twenty-second United States Census, known as Census 2000 and conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2% over the 248,709,873 persons enumerated during the 1990 Census...
, the town population was 2,580. It includes the villages of Port Clyde, Clark Island, Glenmere, Martinsville and Tenants Harbor, the latter its commercial center. A favorite with artists, writers and naturalists, St. George is home to the Brothers and Hay Ledge nature preserve, comprising four islands off Port Clyde.
History
The peninsulaPeninsula
A peninsula is a piece of land that is bordered by water on three sides but connected to mainland. In many Germanic and Celtic languages and also in Baltic, Slavic and Hungarian, peninsulas are called "half-islands"....
and its islands were noted for immense flocks of duck
Duck
Duck is the common name for a large number of species in the Anatidae family of birds, which also includes swans and geese. The ducks are divided among several subfamilies in the Anatidae family; they do not represent a monophyletic group but a form taxon, since swans and geese are not considered...
, geese and other waterfowl
Waterfowl
Waterfowl are certain wildfowl of the order Anseriformes, especially members of the family Anatidae, which includes ducks, geese, and swans....
. Although the region was part of the Waldo Patent
Waldo Patent
The Waldo Patent, a letters patent also known as the Muscongus Patent or the Lincolnshire Patent, was an area of land 36 miles square in what is now the U.S...
, General Samuel Waldo complied with requests from Abenaki Indians not to settle immigrants at what was their prized hunting
Hunting
Hunting is the practice of pursuing any living thing, usually wildlife, for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...
ground. Consequently, the peninsula remained unpopulated until after the close of the French and Indian Wars
French and Indian Wars
The French and Indian Wars is a name used in the United States for a series of conflicts lasting 74 years in North America that represented colonial events related to the European dynastic wars...
in 1763. The Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
further slowed development, but during the 1780s, there was rapid settlement of the peninsula. It was incorporated in 1789 as part of Cushing
Cushing, Maine
Cushing is a town in Knox County, Maine, United States. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 1,322. A favorite of artists for its unspoiled natural setting, Cushing includes the villages of North Cushing, Cushing, South Cushing, and Pleasant Point.-History:Part of the Waldo...
. On February 7, 1803, the peninsula and its islands were set off and incorporated as St. George, taking its name from the river.
Farmers grew 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. After 1830, granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
was quarried
Quarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...
and shipped nationally for construction. Shipbuilders
Shipbuilding
Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to before recorded history.Shipbuilding and ship repairs, both...
annually produced three to four vessels, many for the coasting trade, exporting cordwood, lumber
Lumber
Lumber or timber is wood in any of its stages from felling through readiness for use as structural material for construction, or wood pulp for paper production....
and fish
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
. Factories canned
Canning
Canning is a method of preserving food in which the food contents are processed and sealed in an airtight container. Canning provides a typical shelf life ranging from one to five years, although under specific circumstances a freeze-dried canned product, such as canned, dried lentils, can last as...
lobster
Lobster
Clawed lobsters comprise a family of large marine crustaceans. Highly prized as seafood, lobsters are economically important, and are often one of the most profitable commodities in coastal areas they populate.Though several groups of crustaceans are known as lobsters, the clawed lobsters are most...
s, clam
Clam
The word "clam" can be applied to freshwater mussels, and other freshwater bivalves, as well as marine bivalves.In the United States, "clam" can be used in several different ways: one, as a general term covering all bivalve molluscs...
s and sardine
Sardine
Sardines, or pilchards, are several types of small, oily fish related to herrings, family Clupeidae. Sardines are named after the Mediterranean island of Sardinia, around which they were once abundant....
s. In the 1880s, the town's rugged oceanfront beauty was discovered by "rusticators" -- visitors, including artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
s, who bought or built summer cottages.
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 158.5 square miles (410.5 km²), of which, 25.6 square miles (66.3 km²) of it is land and 132.9 square miles (344.2 km²) of it (83.86%) is water. Bounded on the west by the Saint George River
Saint George River
The Saint George River is a river in Maine with a watershed of in a unique and historic area of mountains, sea coast, lakes, tidal streams and inlets. The origin of the Saint George River is the outflow of Saint George Lake in Liberty...
, the town is located on a peninsula extending into the Gulf of Maine
Gulf of Maine
The Gulf of Maine is a large gulf of the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of North America.It is delineated by Cape Cod at the eastern tip of Massachusetts in the southwest and Cape Sable at the southern tip of Nova Scotia in the northeast. It includes the entire coastlines of the U.S...
.
St. George is crossed by state route 131. It borders the town of South Thomaston
South Thomaston, Maine
South Thomaston is a town in Knox County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,416 at the 2000 census. A fishing and resort area, the town includes the village of Spruce Head.-History:...
to the north.
Both Allen Island
Allen Island (Maine)
Allen Island or Allen's Island is a private island which is part of St. George, Knox County, Maine. In 1979, it was purchased by Betsy Wyeth, wife of painter Andrew Wyeth. The Island had lost its full time residents when it was purchased by Wyeth and had become "a seasonal home for two fishing...
and Mosquito Island House are listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
for St. George.
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 2,580 people, 1,119 households, and 757 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 100.9 people per square mile (38.9/km²). There were 1,777 housing units at an average density of 69.5 per square mile (26.8/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 98.68% White, 0.16% African American, 0.23% Native American, 0.35% Asian, 0.04% 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 0.54% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.23% of the population.
There were 1,119 households out of which 28.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.8% 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, 7.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.3% were non-families. 26.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.77.
In the town the population was spread out with 22.1% under the age of 18, 4.3% from 18 to 24, 24.5% from 25 to 44, 28.2% from 45 to 64, and 21.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females there were 96.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.7 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $41,211, and the median income for a family was $48,162. Males had a median income of $33,929 versus $25,439 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 $23,272. About 3.8% of families and 8.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.7% of those under age 18 and 7.7% of those age 65 or over.
Notable people
- Albert S. BickmoreAlbert S. BickmoreAlbert Smith Bickmore was an American naturalist and one of the founders of the American Museum of Natural History.- Childhood :...
, naturalist. - Richard Falley Jr.Richard Falley Jr.Richard Falley Jr. was a soldier who fought in the Battle of Bunker Hill....
, (1740-1808) an ensign at the Battle of Bunker HillBattle of Bunker HillThe Battle of Bunker Hill took place on June 17, 1775, mostly on and around Breed's Hill, during the Siege of Boston early in the American Revolutionary War...
and armorer during the American Revolutionary WarAmerican Revolutionary WarThe American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
, born in St. George - John G. Roberts, Chief Justice of the U. S. Supreme CourtChief Justice of the United StatesThe Chief Justice of the United States is the head of the United States federal court system and the chief judge of the Supreme Court of the United States. The Chief Justice is one of nine Supreme Court justices; the other eight are the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States...
. Owned a vacation home on Hupper Island off the village of Port Clyde in St. George, MaineSt. George, MaineSt. George is a town in Knox County, Maine, United States. As of the 2000 census, the town population was 2,580. It includes the villages of Port Clyde, Clark Island, Glenmere, Martinsville and Tenants Harbor, the latter its commercial center. A favorite with artists, writers and naturalists, St...
. - Charles Wilbert SnowCharles Wilbert SnowCharles Wilbert Snow was an American poet, educator and politician and, very briefly, the 75th Governor of Connecticut. He generally went by Wilbert or Bill Snow, formally C. Wilbert Snow.-Biography:...
, 60th Governor of Connecticut. Born on White Head Island, in St. George Township on Penobscot Bay. He grew up there and in neighboring Spruce Head Village.
Sites of interest
- Marshall Point Light
- Marshall Point Lighthouse Museum -- St. George Historical Society
- Tenants Harbor LightTenants Harbor LightTenants Harbor Light, also known as Southern Island Light, is a lighthouse at the mouth of Tenants Harbor, St. George, Maine. It appears in paintings by Andrew Wyeth and his son Jamie Wyeth, who have owned the light house since 1978.-History:...
- Whitehead Light