Denmark is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

in Oxford County,

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

, United States. The population was 1,197 at the 2020 census. A number of ponds and lakes are located within the town.

History

The land was once part of Pequawket (now Fryeburg), village of the Sokokis

Abenaki The Abenaki (Abenaki: ''Wαpánahki'') are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands of Canada and the United States. They are an Algonquian-speaking people and part of the Wabanaki Confederacy. The Eastern Abenaki language was predom ...

Indians. Attacked by Captain

John Lovewell John Lovewell (October 14, 1691 – May 9, 1725) was a militia captain in the 18th century who fought during Father Rale's War (also known as Lovewell's War). He lived in present-day Nashua, New Hampshire. He led three expeditions against the Ab ...

in 1725 during

Dummer's War Dummer's War (1722–1725) is also known as Father Rale's War, Lovewell's War, Greylock's War, the Three Years War, the Wabanaki-New England War, or the Fourth Anglo-Abenaki War. It was a series of battles between the New England Colonies and the ...

, the tribe abandoned the area and fled to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. The township combined a grant made by the

Massachusetts General Court The Massachusetts General Court (formally styled the General Court of Massachusetts) is the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The name "General Court" is a hold-over from the earliest days of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, ...

Fryeburg Academy Fryeburg Academy, founded in 1792, is one of the oldest private schools in the United States, located in Fryeburg, Maine. Among notable faculty, Daniel Webster was one of the first Heads of School, teaching at the school for a year. Boarding stu ...

, Foster's Gore and a strip from

Brownfield In urban planning, brownfield land is any previously developed land that is not currently in use. It may be potentially contaminated, but this is not required for the area to be considered brownfield. The term is also used to describe land prev ...

. Several settlers came from

Andover Andover may refer to: Places Australia * Andover, Tasmania Canada * Andover Parish, New Brunswick * Perth-Andover, New Brunswick United Kingdom * Andover, Hampshire, England ** RAF Andover, a former Royal Air Force station United States * Ando ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. It was incorporated as Denmark on February 20, 1807, and named in a show of solidarity with

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

. That country's capital,

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, was attacked in 1801 and 1807 by the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

, which in 1775 had attacked

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

. Farmers found the soil to be very stony and sandy, producing fair yields of

potato The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern Unit ...

es,

corn Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

and

oats The oat (''Avena sativa''), sometimes called the common oat, is a species of cereal grain grown for its seed, which is known by the same name (usually in the plural, unlike other cereals and pseudocereals). While oats are suitable for human con ...

. But the town did have excellent

water power Hydropower (from el, ὕδωρ, "water"), also known as water power, is the use of falling or fast-running water to produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by converting the gravitational potential or kinetic energy of a wa ...

s at the streams, and

mills Mills is the plural form of mill, but may also refer to: As a name * Mills (surname), a common family name of English or Gaelic origin * Mills (given name) *Mills, a fictional British secret agent in a trilogy by writer Manning O'Brine Places Uni ...

were established to manufacture

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legum ...

, long

lumber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...

, barrel staves,

sashes Sashes Island is an island in the River Thames in England at Cookham Lock near Cookham, Berkshire. It is now open farmland, but has Roman and Anglo-Saxon connections. The island is located between Hedsor Water and the present navigation cha ...

blinds A window blind is a type of window covering. There are many different kinds of window blinds which use a variety of control systems. A typical window blind is made up of several long horizontal or vertical slats of various types of hard mater ...

and

door A door is a hinged or otherwise movable barrier that allows ingress (entry) into and egress (exit) from an enclosure. The created opening in the wall is a ''doorway'' or ''portal''. A door's essential and primary purpose is to provide security b ...

s. Denmark Village was established at the foot of Moose Pond, whose outlet, Moose Pond Brook, provided the best water-power site.George J. Varney, "History of Denmark, Maine" (1886)
/ref> Today, the town is site of

summer camp A summer camp or sleepaway camp is a supervised program for children conducted during the summer months in some countries. Children and adolescents who attend summer camp are known as ''campers''. Summer school is usually a part of the academ ...

s
Camp Wyonegonic
founded 1902, is the oldest girls' camp in the country. Also in Denmark is Camp Walden, established in 1916. Founded in 1994, th
Denmark Arts Center
is the latest addition to the town's culture.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, Denmark has a total area of , of which is land and is water. Denmark is drained by Moose Pond Brook and the

Saco River The Saco River (Abenaki language, Abenaki: ''Sαkóhki'') is a river in northeastern New Hampshire and southwestern Maine in the United States. It drains a rural area of of forests and farmlands west and southwest of Portland, Maine, Portland ...

. The largest of its many ponds is Moose Pond, which is about long. The town is crossed by State Routes 117 and 160. It is bordered by the towns of Bridgton to the northeast, Sebago to the southeast, Hiram to the south,

to the southwest, and Fryeburg to the northwest.

Demographics

As of 2000, the median income for a household in the town was $45,885, and the median income for a family was $57,625. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the town was $28,563. About 5.4% of families and 7.8% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 12.2% of those under age 18 and 6.9% of those age 65 or over.

2010 census

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

of 2010, there were 1,148 people, 479 households, and 330 families residing in the town. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

was . There were 1,075 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 98.4%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, 0.4%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.1% Native American, 0.3%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 0.3% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 0.5% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race were 0.3% of the population. There were 479 households, of which 28.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.6% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

living together, 6.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.6% had a male householder with no wife present, and 31.1% were non-families. 23.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.40 and the average family size was 2.80. The median age in the town was 46.6 years. 21.7% of residents were under the age of 18; 5% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 20.5% were from 25 to 44; 36.4% were from 45 to 64; and 16.4% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 52.0% male and 48.0% female.

Government

Denmark has a

town meeting Town meeting is a form of local government in which most or all of the members of a community are eligible to legislate policy and budgets for local government. It is a town- or city-level meeting in which decisions are made, in contrast with ...

- selectmen-

town manager A city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a city, in a "Mayor–council government" council–manager form of city government. Local officials serving in this position are sometimes referred to as the chief exec ...

form of government and is governed by a municipal charter. The three-member board of selectmen is elected at large on a non-partisan basis for staggered three-year terms. The town manager is appointed by the board of selectmen for an initial term of up to two years and may be reappointed in successive terms of up to three years each. Betty LeGoff is Denmark's town manager after being vacated by Ephrem Paraschak in June 2014

Education

The school system that serves Denmark is known as Maine School Administrative District 72 or MSAD 72. MSAD 72 also serves the municipalities of Brownfield, Fryeburg, Lovell, Stoneham, Stowe and Sweden in addition to Denmark.

Notable people

* Nathaniel Cobb Deering, US congressman * Richard L. Dunn, state legislator (1962–1972) *

Rufus Ingalls Rufus Ingalls (August 23, 1818 – January 15, 1893) was an American military general who served as the 16th Quartermaster General of the United States Army. Early life and career Ingalls was born in the village of Denmark in what is now Maine ...

, Civil War era general * Nancy Masterton, state legislator (1977–1984) * James W. Milliken, Michigan state senator * Hazen S. Pingree, 24th

governor of Michigan The governor of Michigan is the head of state, head of government, and chief executive of the U.S. state of Michigan. The current governor is Gretchen Whitmer, a member of the Democratic Party, who was inaugurated on January 1, 2019, as the stat ...

(1897–1901), mayor of

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

(1889–1897) * Ralph Sarty, state legislator (2007–2012)

Photographs

Image:Denmark Fire Station - Denmark, Maine.JPG, Denmark Fire Station 2008 Image:Moose Pond - Denmark, Maine.JPG, Moose Pond – Denmark, Maine 2008 Image:Hancock Pond - Denmark, Maine.jpg, Hancock Pond – Denmark, Maine 2008

References

External links

Congregational Church

Town of Denmark

Maine School Administrative District #72

Brownfield-Denmark Elementary School

Oxford County

Denmark Arts Center
{{authority control Towns in Oxford County, Maine Towns in Maine