Piscataquis County, Maine
| Piscataquis County, Maine | |
 Location in the state of Maine |
|
 Maine's location in the U.S. |
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| Founded | March 23, 1838 |
|---|---|
| Seat | Dover-Foxcroft |
| Area - Total - Land - Water |
4,377.36 sq mi (11,337 km²) 3,966.22 sq mi (10,272 km²) 411.14 sq mi (1,065 km²), 9.39% |
| Population - (2010) - Density |
17,535 4.4/sq mi (1.7/km²) |
Piscataquis County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maine. In 2010, its population was 17,535, making it Maine's least-populous county. Its county seat is Dover-Foxcroft[1].
Piscataquis County was incorporated on 23 March 1838, taken from parts of adjacent Penobscot and Somerset counties. It is located at the geographic center of Maine. Originally it extended north to the Canadian border, but in 1844 its northern portion was annexed by Aroostook County. In land area, Piscataquis is one of the largest U.S. counties east of the Mississippi River. It is also one of two counties in the Northeast (and seven counties east of the Mississippi River)[2] that meets Frederick Jackson Turner's requirements for "frontier" country - that is, having fewer than six inhabitants per square mile, the other being Hamilton County, New York.
Piscataquis is an Abenaki word meaning "branch of the river" or "at the river branch."
Baxter State Park, a large wilderness preserve, is located in Piscataquis County.
Contents |
[edit] Geography
According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of 4,377.36 square miles (11,337.3 km2), of which 3,966.22 square miles (10,272.5 km2) (or 90.61%) is land and 411.14 square miles (1,064.8 km2) (or 9.39%) is water.[3] The largest lake in the county is Moosehead Lake at 120 square miles (310 km2). The highest natural point in the county and the state of Maine is Mount Katahdin at 5,271 feet (1,606 meters), while the geographic center is Greeley Landing in the Town of Dover-Foxcroft.
[edit] Adjacent counties
- Aroostook County, Maine - north
- Penobscot County, Maine - southeast
- Somerset County, Maine - west
[edit] Demographics
| Historical populations | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1840 | 13,138 |
|
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| 1850 | 14,735 | 12.2% | |
| 1860 | 15,032 | 2.0% | |
| 1870 | 14,403 | −4.2% | |
| 1880 | 14,872 | 3.3% | |
| 1890 | 16,134 | 8.5% | |
| 1900 | 16,949 | 5.1% | |
| 1910 | 19,887 | 17.3% | |
| 1920 | 20,554 | 3.4% | |
| 1930 | 18,231 | −11.3% | |
| 1940 | 18,467 | 1.3% | |
| 1950 | 18,617 | 0.8% | |
| 1960 | 17,379 | −6.6% | |
| 1970 | 16,285 | −6.3% | |
| 1980 | 17,634 | 8.3% | |
| 1990 | 18,653 | 5.8% | |
| 2000 | 17,235 | −7.6% | |
| 2010 | 17,535 | 1.7% | |
| [4][5][6] | |||
As of the census[7] of 2000, there were 17,235 people, 7,278 households, and 4,854 families residing in the county. The population density was 4 people per square mile (2/km²). There were 13,783 housing units at an average density of 4 per square mile (1/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 97.84% White, 0.21% Black or African American, 0.52% Native American, 0.27% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.14% from other races, and 1.00% from two or more races. 0.52% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 23.6% were of English, 16.4% French, 15.3% United States or American and 11.5% Irish ancestry according to Census 2000. 96.9% spoke English and 2.0% French as their first language.
There were 7,278 households out of which 28.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.10% were married couples living together, 8.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.30% were non-families. 27.80% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 2.83.
In the county the population was spread out with 23.40% under the age of 18, 5.70% from 18 to 24, 26.00% from 25 to 44, 27.50% from 45 to 64, and 17.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 96.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.20 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $28,250, and the median income for a family was $34,852. Males had a median income of $28,149 versus $20,241 for females. The per capita income for the county was $14,374. About 11.20% of families and 14.80% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.80% of those under age 18 and 13.90% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] Government and politics
County Commissioners: Eric Ward (District 1, Greenville); Tom Lizotte, Chair (District 2, Dover-Foxcroft); Fred Trask (District 3, Lakeview Plantation)
County Manager: Marilyn Tourtelotte
Sheriff: John Goggin
District Attorney: R. Chris Almy
Judge of Probate: James R. Austin
Registrar of Probate: Judith Raymond
Registrar of Deed: Linda Smith
Treasurer: J. Paul Raymond
In the 1992 presidential election, independent Ross Perot won a plurality 36.8% in the county, one of three counties he won in the state.[8] In 1996, Bill Clinton carried the county with 48.7% of the vote, the first Democrat to do so since 1968.[9]
Since 2000, though, Piscataquis County has generally been the most reliably Republican county in Maine, and by extension New England. In the 2000 U.S. Presidential election, George W. Bush carried the county by an 11.9% margin over Al Gore, with Gore carrying the state by a 5.1% margin over Bush. In 2004, the county was one of only two in Maine to vote for Bush over John Kerry. Bush won by a 9% margin over Kerry, with Kerry winning the state by a virtually even margin over Bush.[10] In 2008, Piscataquis was the only county in New England to vote for John McCain, by a margin of 355 votes or 3.8%[11] over Barack Obama, with Obama winning Maine by a 17.3% margin over McCain.[12]
[edit] Municipalities
- Abbot
- Atkinson
- Beaver Cove
- Bowerbank
- Brownville
- Dover-Foxcroft
- Greenville
- Guilford
- Kingsbury Plantation
- Lake View Plantation
- Medford
- Milo
- Monson
- Parkman
- Sangerville
- Sebec
- Shirley
- Wellington
- Willimantic
[edit] Territories
[edit] Notable residents
- Max Schubel, composer
- Sir Harry Oakes, philanthropist Harry Oakes
- David Mallett, Singer-Songwriter
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx. Retrieved 2011-06-07.
- ^ source: US Census Bureau. "Frontier Counties of the United States 2010". Rural Assistance Center. http://www.raconline.org/racmaps/mapfiles/frontier.png. Retrieved January 29, 2012.
- ^ "Census 2000 U.S. Gazetteer Files: Counties". United States Census. http://www.census.gov/tiger/tms/gazetteer/county2k.txt. Retrieved 2011-02-13.
- ^ http://www.census.gov/population/www/censusdata/cencounts/files/me190090.txt
- ^ http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=DEC_10_PL_QTPL&prodType=table
- ^ http://mapserver.lib.virginia.edu/
- ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ^ 1992 Presidential General Election Data Graphs - Maine. U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved 2010-08-02.
- ^ 1996 Presidential General Election Data Graphs - Maine. U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved 2010-08-02.
- ^ 2004 Presidential General Election Data Graphs - Maine. U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved 2010-08-02.
- ^ November 4, 2008 General Election Tabulations (US President by County)
- ^ 2008 Presidential General Election Results. U.S. Election Atlas. Retrieved 2010-08-02.
[edit] External links
- Official website of Piscataquis County
- History of Piscataquis County, Maine: From Its Earliest Settlement to 1880. By Amasa Loring. Published 1880.
- Piscataquis County Economic Development Council
- Piscataquis Chamber of Commerce
- Moosehead Lake Region Chamber of Commerce
- Three Rivers Community Alliance
- University of Maine Cooperative Extension Piscataquis County Office
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Aroostook County | |
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| Somerset County |  |
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 Piscataquis County, Maine  |
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| Penobscot County |
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