Sumner, Maine
Encyclopedia
Sumner is a town in Oxford County
, Maine
, United States
. Sumner is included in the Lewiston
-Auburn
, Maine metropolitan New England city and town area
. The population was 854 at the 2000 census
. The town includes the villages of West Sumner and East Sumner.
, Massachusetts
. Most of the early settlers were Revolutionary
soldiers from Plymouth County, Massachusetts
. The town was incorporated by the General Court
on June 13, 1798 and named for Increase Sumner
, who was then the governor of Massachusetts
.
Despite an uneven and somewhat broken surface, the town's principal occupation became agriculture
. The two branches of the Nezinscot River
provided water power for mills
. By 1859, when the population was 1,151, Sumner had three sawmill
s, two gristmill
s, two shingle
mills, a starch
factory, a clover
mill (to clean clover seeds, food for cattle
), and a powder mill
. The Rumford Falls and Buckfield Railroad opened a station near East Sumner in 1878.
, the town has a total area of 44.8 square miles (116 km²), of which, 44.2 square miles (114.5 km²) of it is land and 0.6 square miles (1.6 km²) of it (1.29%) is water. It is drained by the east
and west
branches of the Nezinscot River
. The town is bordered by Peru
to the north, Hartford
to the east, Buckfield
to the south, and Paris
and Woodstock
to the west.
Sumner is served by state routes 140 and 219.
of 2000, there were 854 people, 330 households, and 248 families residing in the town. The population density
was 19.3 people per square mile (7.5/km²). There were 488 housing units at an average density of 11.0 per square mile (4.3/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 98.59% White, 0.12% African American, 0.47% Native American, 0.23% from other races
, and 0.59% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.47% of the population.
There were 330 households out of which 28.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.2% were married couples
living together, 7.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.8% were non-families. 18.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.59 and the average family size was 2.87.
In the town the population was spread out with 23.4% under the age of 18, 6.2% from 18 to 24, 28.2% from 25 to 44, 31.5% from 45 to 64, and 10.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 98.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.2 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $39,196, and the median income for a family was $41,786. Males had a median income of $31,806 versus $23,500 for females. The per capita income
for the town was $17,370. About 7.7% of families and 11.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 26.1% of those under age 18 and 2.4% of those age 65 or over.
Oxford County, Maine
Oxford County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maine with a population of 57,833 as of the 2010 U.S. census. Its county seat is Paris.Part of Oxford County is included in the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine, metropolitan New England City and Town Area while a different part of Oxford County is...
, 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...
. Sumner is included in the Lewiston
Lewiston, Maine
Lewiston is a city in Androscoggin County in Maine, and the second-largest city in the state. The population was 41,592 at the 2010 census. It is one of two principal cities of and included within the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine metropolitan New England city and town area and the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine...
-Auburn
Auburn, Maine
Auburn is a city in and the county seat of Androscoggin County, Maine, United States. The population was 23,055 at the 2010 census. It is one of two principal cities of and included in the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine metropolitan New England city and town area and the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine metropolitan...
, Maine metropolitan New England city and town area
New England City and Town Area
A New England City and Town Area or NECTA is a geographic and statistical entity defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, for use in describing aspects of the New England region of the United States...
. The population was 854 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...
. The town includes the villages of West Sumner and East Sumner.
History
Originally called West Buckfield Plantation, it was first settled in 1783 by Noah Bosworth from PlymptonPlympton, Massachusetts
Plympton is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 2,820 at the 2010 census. The United States senator William Bradford was born here.- History :Plympton was first settled in 1662 as the western parish of Plymouth...
, 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...
. Most of the early settlers were Revolutionary
American Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
soldiers from Plymouth County, Massachusetts
Plymouth County, Massachusetts
Plymouth County is a county located in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. As of 2010, the population was 494,919. Its county seats are Plymouth and Brockton...
. The town was incorporated by the General Court
Massachusetts General Court
The Massachusetts General Court is the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name "General Court" is a hold-over from the Colonial Era, when this body also sat in judgment of judicial appeals cases...
on June 13, 1798 and named for Increase Sumner
Increase Sumner
Increase Sumner was an American politician from Massachusetts. He served as the fifth governor of Massachusetts from 1797 to 1799. Trained as a lawyer, he served in the provisional government of Massachusetts during the American Revolutionary War, and was elected to the Confederation Congress in...
, who was then the governor of Massachusetts
Governor of Massachusetts
The Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the executive magistrate of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. The current governor is Democrat Deval Patrick.-Constitutional role:...
.
Despite an uneven and somewhat broken surface, the town's principal occupation became agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
. The two branches of the Nezinscot River
Nezinscot River
The Nezinscot River is a river in Maine. It runs east from the confluence of its East Branch and West Branch in Buckfield to its mouth on the Androscoggin River in Turner.-References:**...
provided water power for mills
Watermill
A watermill is a structure that uses a water wheel or turbine to drive a mechanical process such as flour, lumber or textile production, or metal shaping .- History :...
. By 1859, when the population was 1,151, Sumner had three 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, two 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 :...
s, two shingle
Roof shingle
Roof shingles are a roof covering consisting of individual overlapping elements. These elements are typically flat rectangular shapes laid in rows from the bottom edge of the roof up, with each successive higher row overlapping the joints in the row below...
mills, a starch
Starch
Starch or amylum is a carbohydrate consisting of a large number of glucose units joined together by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by all green plants as an energy store...
factory, a clover
Clover
Clover , or trefoil, is a genus of about 300 species of plants in the leguminous pea family Fabaceae. The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution; the highest diversity is found in the temperate Northern Hemisphere, but many species also occur in South America and Africa, including at high altitudes...
mill (to clean clover seeds, food for 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...
), and a powder mill
Powder mill
The term powder mill is usually used for a mill that manufactures blackpowder, a type of gunpowder.A powder mill could be driven by wind or water power, and contained rollers for grinding the ingredients of gunpowder together, as well as presses and tumbling barrels and sieves for compacting,...
. The Rumford Falls and Buckfield Railroad opened a station near East Sumner in 1878.
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 44.8 square miles (116 km²), of which, 44.2 square miles (114.5 km²) of it is land and 0.6 square miles (1.6 km²) of it (1.29%) is water. It is drained by the east
East Branch Nezinscot River
The East Branch Nezinscot River is a river in Maine. It flows from its source on Black Mountain in Peru to its confluence with the West Branch in Buckfield. The resulting river, the Nezinscot, continues east to the Androscoggin River, which flows to the Kennebec River near its mouth at the...
and west
West Branch Nezinscot River
The West Branch Nezinscot River is an river in Maine. It flows from Shagg Pond in Woodstock to its confluence with the East Branch in Buckfield. The resulting river, the Nezinscot, flows east to the Androscoggin River, which in turn flows southeast to the Kennebec River near its mouth at the...
branches of the Nezinscot River
Nezinscot River
The Nezinscot River is a river in Maine. It runs east from the confluence of its East Branch and West Branch in Buckfield to its mouth on the Androscoggin River in Turner.-References:**...
. The town is bordered by Peru
Peru, Maine
Peru is a town in Oxford County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,515 at the 2000 census. In 1970 the town had 1345 residents.-History:...
to the north, Hartford
Hartford, Maine
Hartford is a town in Oxford County, Maine, United States. Hartford is included in the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine metropolitan New England City and Town Area...
to the east, Buckfield
Buckfield, Maine
Buckfield is a town in Oxford County, Maine, United States. Buckfield is included in the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine metropolitan New England City and Town Area. It is a member of Maine School Administrative District 39 along with nearby Hartford and Sumner...
to the south, and Paris
Paris, Maine
Paris is a town in and the county seat of Oxford County, Maine, United States. The population was 4,793 at the 2000 census. The census-designated place of South Paris is located within the town. Because the U.S. Post Office refers to the entire town as South Paris, the town as a whole is commonly...
and Woodstock
Woodstock, Maine
Woodstock is a town in Oxford County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,307 at the 2000 census. The village of Bryant Pond, on State Route 26 in the northern part of Woodstock, is the town's urban center and largest settlement.-Geography:...
to the west.
Sumner is served by state routes 140 and 219.
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 854 people, 330 households, and 248 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 19.3 people per square mile (7.5/km²). There were 488 housing units at an average density of 11.0 per square mile (4.3/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 98.59% White, 0.12% African American, 0.47% Native American, 0.23% 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 0.59% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.47% of the population.
There were 330 households out of which 28.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.2% 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, 7.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.8% were non-families. 18.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.59 and the average family size was 2.87.
In the town the population was spread out with 23.4% under the age of 18, 6.2% from 18 to 24, 28.2% from 25 to 44, 31.5% from 45 to 64, and 10.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 98.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.2 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $39,196, and the median income for a family was $41,786. Males had a median income of $31,806 versus $23,500 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 $17,370. About 7.7% of families and 11.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 26.1% of those under age 18 and 2.4% of those age 65 or over.