Stockton Springs, Maine
Encyclopedia
Stockton Springs is a town
in Waldo County
, Maine
, United States. The population was 1,481 at the 2000 census
. Stockton Springs is home to Fort Point State Park and Fort Point Light, both located on Fort Point, a peninsula
on Cape Jellison
.
, it was first settled about 1759, the year Governor Thomas Pownall
completed Fort Pownall on Fort Point. The defense was intended to guard the mouth of the Penobscot River
during the French and Indian War
. Fort Pownall was burned in 1775 and 1779 by the British
themselves, to prevent it from falling into the hands of American rebels
.
On February 29, 1794, the area was incorporated as part of Prospect
, but then set off and incorporated as a town on March 13, 1857, named Stockton after a port in England. In 1859, businesses included four sawmill
s, three shingle mills, two lath
mills, one carding
machine, one cloth-dressing mill, one tannery
, four shipyard
s, six blacksmith
shops, and several mechanic shops. By 1886, it also had a shoe
factory, cheese
factory, a door
, sash and blind
factory, cask
and barrel
makers, and a clothing
factory. On February 5, 1889, the town's name was changed to Stockton Springs in anticipation of bottling local spring water. When sediment
was discovered in the bottles, however, the plan was abandoned.
Cape Jellison developed into a bustling port. Between 1905 and 1907, three huge wooden pier
s were built, the biggest 1,750 feet (534 meters) in length. The Bangor & Aroostook Railroad transported goods to and from the docks. An immense warehouse
held potato
es from Aroostook County until schooner
s could deliver them elsewhere. The wharves were destroyed in a fire on November 8, 1924, ending the harbor's industrial era.
, the town has a total area of 29.9 square miles (77.4 km²), of which, 19.6 square miles (50.8 km²) of it is land and 10.3 square miles (26.7 km²) of it (34.46%) is water. Stockton Springs is located on Penobscot Bay
, part of the Gulf of Maine
, Atlantic Ocean
.
The town is crossed by U.S. Route 1
, U.S. Route 1A and Maine State Route 3
.
of 2000, there were 1,481 people, 628 households, and 428 families residing in the town. The population density
was 75.6 people per square mile (29.2/km²). There were 750 housing units at an average density of 38.3 per square mile (14.8/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 96.69% White, 0.41% African American, 0.54% Native American, 0.34% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 0.07% from other races
, and 1.89% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.81% of the population.
There were 628 households out of which 28.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.7% were married couples
living together, 8.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.7% were non-families. 24.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 2.82.
In the town the population was spread out with 23.8% under the age of 18, 5.5% from 18 to 24, 27.9% from 25 to 44, 29.0% from 45 to 64, and 13.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 93.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.3 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $37,050, and the median income for a family was $42,847. Males had a median income of $34,886 versus $23,750 for females. The per capita income
for the town was $18,370. About 8.5% of families and 12.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.8% of those under age 18 and 6.5% 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 Waldo County
Waldo County, Maine
Waldo County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maine. As of 2010, the population was 38,786. Its county seat is Belfast.Waldo County was founded on 7 February 1827 from a portion of Hancock County...
, 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 1,481 at 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...
. Stockton Springs is home to Fort Point State Park and Fort Point Light, both located on Fort Point, a peninsula
Peninsula
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"....
on Cape Jellison
Cape Jellison
Cape Jellison is a peninsula that juts into Penobscot Bay on the coast of Maine. In colonial times it was known as Wasaumkeag Point. It is part of the town of Stockton Springs, between Searsport and Bucksport, in the upper mid-coast region of the state...
.
History
Part of the Waldo PatentWaldo 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...
, it was first settled about 1759, the year Governor Thomas Pownall
Thomas Pownall
Thomas Pownall was a British politician and colonial official. He was governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay from 1758 to 1760, and afterward served in the British Parliament. He traveled widely in the North American colonies prior to the American Revolutionary War, and opposed...
completed Fort Pownall on Fort Point. The defense was intended to guard the mouth of the Penobscot River
Penobscot River
The Penobscot River is a river in the U.S. state of Maine. Including the river's West Branch and South Branch increases the Penobscot's length to , making it the second longest river system in Maine and the longest entirely in the state. Its drainage basin contains .It arises from four branches...
during the French and Indian War
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...
. Fort Pownall was burned in 1775 and 1779 by the British
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
themselves, to prevent it from falling into the hands of American rebels
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...
.
On February 29, 1794, the area was incorporated as part of Prospect
Prospect, Maine
Prospect is a town in Waldo County, Maine, United States. The population was 642 at the 2000 census.The most prominent landmark in Prospect is Fort Knox, a large 19th-century fort...
, but then set off and incorporated as a town on March 13, 1857, named Stockton after a port in England. In 1859, businesses included four 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....
s, three shingle mills, two lath
Lath
A lath is a thin, narrow strip of some straight-grained wood or other material, including metal or gypsum. A lattice, or lattice-work, is a criss-crossed or interlaced arrangement of laths, or the pattern made by such an arrangement...
mills, one carding
Carding
Carding is a mechanical process that breaks up locks and unorganised clumps of fibre and then aligns the individual fibres so that they are more or less parallel with each other. The word is derived from the Latin carduus meaning teasel, as dried vegetable teasels were first used to comb the raw wool...
machine, one cloth-dressing mill, one tannery
Tanning
Tanning is the making of leather from the skins of animals which does not easily decompose. Traditionally, tanning used tannin, an acidic chemical compound from which the tanning process draws its name . Coloring may occur during tanning...
, four shipyard
Shipyard
Shipyards and dockyards are places which repair and build ships. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance and basing activities than shipyards, which are sometimes associated more with initial...
s, six 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, and several mechanic shops. By 1886, it also had 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...
factory, cheese
Cheese
Cheese is a generic term for a diverse group of milk-based food products. Cheese is produced throughout the world in wide-ranging flavors, textures, and forms....
factory, a door
Door
A door is a movable structure used to open and close off an entrance, typically consisting of a panel that swings on hinges or that slides or rotates inside of a space....
, sash and blind
Window shutter
A window shutter is a solid and stable window covering usually consisting of a frame of vertical stiles and horizontal rails...
factory, cask
CASK
Peripheral plasma membrane protein CASK is a protein that in humans is encoded by the CASK gene. This gene is also known by several other names: CMG 2 , calcium/calmodulin-dependent serine protein kinase 3 and membrane-associated guanylate kinase 2.-Genomics:This gene is located on the short arm of...
and barrel
Barrel
A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container, traditionally made of vertical wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. Traditionally, the barrel was a standard size of measure referring to a set capacity or weight of a given commodity. A small barrel is called a keg.For example, a...
makers, and a clothing
Clothing
Clothing refers to any covering for the human body that is worn. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic and is a feature of nearly all human societies...
factory. On February 5, 1889, the town's name was changed to Stockton Springs in anticipation of bottling local spring water. When sediment
Sediment
Sediment is naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of fluids such as wind, water, or ice, and/or by the force of gravity acting on the particle itself....
was discovered in the bottles, however, the plan was abandoned.
Cape Jellison developed into a bustling port. Between 1905 and 1907, three huge wooden pier
Pier
A pier is a raised structure, including bridge and building supports and walkways, over water, typically supported by widely spread piles or pillars...
s were built, the biggest 1,750 feet (534 meters) in length. The Bangor & Aroostook Railroad transported goods to and from the docks. An immense warehouse
Warehouse
A warehouse is a commercial building for storage of goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial areas of cities and towns. They usually have loading docks to load and unload...
held 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 from Aroostook County until schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
s could deliver them elsewhere. The wharves were destroyed in a fire on November 8, 1924, ending the harbor's industrial era.
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 29.9 square miles (77.4 km²), of which, 19.6 square miles (50.8 km²) of it is land and 10.3 square miles (26.7 km²) of it (34.46%) is water. Stockton Springs is located on Penobscot Bay
Penobscot Bay
Penobscot Bay originates from the mouth of Maine's Penobscot River. There are many islands in this bay, and on them, some of the country's most well-known summer colonies. The bay served as portal for the one time "lumber capital of the world," namely; the city of Bangor...
, part of 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...
, Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
.
The town is crossed by U.S. Route 1
U.S. Route 1 in Maine
In the U.S. state of Maine, U.S. Route 1 is a major north–south state highway serving the eastern part of the state. It parallels the Atlantic Ocean from New Hampshire north through Portland, Brunswick, and Belfast to Calais, and then the St. Croix River and the rest of the Canadian border...
, U.S. Route 1A and Maine State Route 3
Maine State Route 3
State Route 3 is part of Maine's system of numbered state highways, running from Interstate 95 exit 113 in Augusta to an intersection with Route 102 in the village of Somesville in the town of Mount Desert, on Mount Desert Island...
.
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 1,481 people, 628 households, and 428 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 75.6 people per square mile (29.2/km²). There were 750 housing units at an average density of 38.3 per square mile (14.8/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 96.69% White, 0.41% African American, 0.54% Native American, 0.34% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 0.07% 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 1.89% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.81% of the population.
There were 628 households out of which 28.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.7% 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, 8.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.7% were non-families. 24.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 2.82.
In the town the population was spread out with 23.8% under the age of 18, 5.5% from 18 to 24, 27.9% from 25 to 44, 29.0% from 45 to 64, and 13.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 93.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.3 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $37,050, and the median income for a family was $42,847. Males had a median income of $34,886 versus $23,750 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 $18,370. About 8.5% of families and 12.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.8% of those under age 18 and 6.5% of those age 65 or over.