Farmington is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

in and the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

of Franklin County, Maine, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 7,592. Farmington is home to the University of Maine at Farmington, Nordica Memorial Auditorium, the Nordica Homestead, and the annual Farmington Fair.

History

The area was once territory of the Canibas tribe of

Abenaki The Abenaki ( Abenaki: ''Wαpánahki'') are Indigenous people 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 pred ...

Indians. They had two camps located near Farmington Falls, with fields cleared for cultivation of

maize Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago from wild teosinte. Native American ...

and

potato The potato () is a starchy tuberous vegetable native to the Americas that is consumed as a staple food in many parts of the world. Potatoes are underground stem tubers of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'', a perennial in the nightshade famil ...

es. Their fort's

stockade A stockade is an enclosure of palisades and tall walls, made of logs placed side by side vertically, with the tops sharpened as a defensive wall. Etymology ''Stockade'' is derived from the French word ''estocade''. The French word was derived f ...

enclosed about an acre at the center of what is today Farmington Falls village. A group from Topsham arrived in 1776 to explore the area and lay out a town, called Plantation No. 1 or Sandy River Plantation, but permanent settlement was delayed by the Revolutionary War. In 1781, the first settlers arrived, the same year a

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...

was established. On February 1, 1794, Sandy River Plantation was incorporated as Farmington, named for its unusually fertile soil. Beginning with a cluster of

log house A log house, or log building, is a structure built with horizontal logs interlocked at the corners by notching. Logs may be round, squared or hewn to other shapes, either handcrafted or milled. The term "log cabin" generally refers to a smal ...

s at Farmington Falls, the town grew quickly and prospered.

Agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

was an important early occupation, with hay a principal product.

Orchard An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit tree, fruit- or nut (fruit), nut-producing trees that are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also so ...

s yielded

apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

s and other fruit. Farmington became one of the largest

wool Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have some properties similar to animal w ...

producing towns in

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

, with many

herd A herd is a social group of certain animals of the same species, either wild or domestic. The form of collective animal behavior associated with this is called '' herding''. These animals are known as gregarious animals. The term ''herd'' ...

s of

sheep Sheep (: sheep) or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are a domesticated, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to d ...

grazing the hills and intervales. The town's

water power Hydropower (from Ancient Greek -, "water"), also known as water power or water energy, 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 kin ...

attracted industry, including five

lumber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

mills, two

sash A sash is a large and usually colorful ribbon or band of material worn around the human body, either draping from one shoulder to the opposing hip and back up, or else encircling the waist. The sash around the waist may be worn in daily attire, ...

, blind 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 securit ...

factories, two brickyards, a

foundry A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal into a mold, and removing the mold material after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals pr ...

, a

rake Rake may refer to: Common meanings * Rake (tool), a horticultural implement, a long-handled tool with tines * Rake (stock character), a man habituated to immoral conduct * Rake (poker), the commission taken by the house when hosting a poker game ...

factory, three

gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that h ...

s, nearly a dozen

carriage A carriage is a two- or four-wheeled horse-drawn vehicle for passengers. In Europe they were a common mode of transport for the wealthy during the Roman Empire, and then again from around 1600 until they were replaced by the motor car around 1 ...

factories, a

cheese Cheese is a type of dairy product produced in a range of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk (usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats or sheep). During prod ...

factory, two

corn Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout Poaceae, grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago ...

canning Canning is a method of food preservation in which food is processed and sealed in an airtight container (jars like Mason jars, and steel and tin cans). Canning provides a shelf life that typically ranges from one to five years, although under ...

factories, two

reaper A reaper is a farm implement that reaps (cuts and often also gathers) crops at harvest when they are ripe. Usually the crop involved is a cereal grass, especially wheat. The first documented reaping machines were Gallic reapers that were used ...

machine factories, a spool factory and a tannery. As a regional center for manufacturing, trade and agriculture, Farmington was designated county seat when Franklin County was formed in 1838. In 1859, the Androscoggin Railroad completed its line from Leeds Junction to Farmington, carrying

freight In transportation, cargo refers to goods transported by land, water or air, while freight refers to its conveyance. In economics, freight refers to goods transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. The term cargo is also used in ...

and tourists. In 1879, the town became the southern terminus for the

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with Minimum railw ...

Sandy River Railroad (later part of the Sandy River and Rangeley Lakes Railroad), making it a gateway to the Rangeley Lake and

Sugarloaf Mountain Sugarloaf Mountain (, ) is a peak situated in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on a peninsula at the mouth of Guanabara Bay. Rising above the harbor, the peak is named for its resemblance to the traditional shape of concentrated refined loaf suga ...

areas. Farmington suffered a devastating fire on October 22, 1886, when thirty-three houses, nineteen stores, three churches, the county jail and the post office were destroyed. The 1877 Methodist Church designed by noted architect Arthur H. Vinal survived. File:View of Broadway, Farmington, ME.jpg, Broadway File:Home of Jacob Abbott, Farmington, ME.jpg, Jacob Abbott home in 1906 File:View of Farmington Falls, ME.jpg, Farmington Falls in 1907

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the town has a total area of , of which is land and is water. Farmington is drained by Wilson Stream, Temple Stream, Beaver Brook and the Sandy River. The town is crossed by

U.S. Route 2 U.S. Route 2 or U.S. Highway 2 (US 2) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway System, United States Numbered Highway spanning across the northern continental United States. US 2 consists of two segments connected ...

and Maine State Routes 4, 27, 43, 133 and 149. It borders the towns of

Industry Industry may refer to: Economics * Industry (economics), a generally categorized branch of economic activity * Industry (manufacturing), a specific branch of economic activity, typically in factories with machinery * The wider industrial sector ...

and New Sharon to the east, Chesterville to the south, Wilton to the southwest,

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

to the west, and

Strong Strong may refer to: Education * The Strong, an educational institution in Rochester, New York, United States * Strong Hall (Lawrence, Kansas), an administrative hall of the University of Kansas * Strong School, New Haven, Connecticut, United ...

and New Vineyard to the north. Farmington is divided into four local areas and sometimes mapped as such. They are West Farmington, Fairbanks, Farmington Falls, and Farmington (downtown). Each except Fairbanks has its own zip code, but all are within Farmington's town limits.

Climate

Typical for Maine, Farmington has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''Dfb'') with cold (sometimes severely cold) winters and warm, often humid summers. Winters are cold and snowy, with forty nights per year under and 68.6 days failing to top freezing. Snow cover peaks in February at typically around , but the maximum reached is on February 28, 1969. The coldest month since records began in 1893 was January 1982, with an average of , and the hottest was July 1921, with an average of , including 12 days over , while the coldest winter was that of 1917–1918, with an average temperature of . The hottest day was August 3, 1975, which reached , while the coldest temperature was on January 20, 1994. Precipitation is abundant throughout the year, with snowfall especially heavy in winter. The wettest calendar month was December 1969, with including of snow and a fall from a warm front of of precipitation (mostly rain) on December 27 and 28. The snowiest season was from July 1968 to June 1969, with total snowfall of , while the least snowy was from July 1980 to June 1981, with .

Demographics

2010 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2010, there were 7,760 people, 3,072 households, and 1,597 families residing in the town. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), 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 geog ...

was . There were 3,441 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 96.9%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.3%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.4% Native American, 0.3% Asian, 0.1%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.3% from other races, and 1.7% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 1.3% of the population. There were 3,072 households, of which 23.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.2% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 9.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.9% had a male householder with no wife present, and 48.0% were non-families. 34.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.17 and the average family size was 2.75. The median age in the town was 32.1 years. 16% of residents were under the age of 18; 27.2% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 18.3% were from 25 to 44; 23.3% were from 45 to 64; and 15.5% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 45.3% male and 54.7% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 7,410 people, 2,813 households, and 1,533 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 3,048 housing units at an average density of 54.6 persons/sq mi (21.1 persons/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 97.48% White, 0.20%

, 0.30% Native American, 0.65%

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

n, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.40% from other races, and 0.94% from two or more races. 0.82% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 2,813 households, out of which 24.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.5% were

living together, 9.1% have a woman whose husband does not live with her, and 45.5% were non-families. 31.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.25 and the average family size was 2.87. In the town, the population was spread out, with 18.4% under the age of 18, 25.0% from 18 to 24, 21.5% from 25 to 44, 19.3% from 45 to 64, and 15.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 81.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 75.1 males. The median income for a household in the town was $26,814, and the median income for a family was $33,656. Males had a median income of $27,569 versus $21,101 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the town was $13,982. About 18.0% of families and 22.6% 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 ...

, including 30.6% of those under the age of 18 and 5.4% ages 65 or older.

Government

Farmington is the county seat and largest town in Franklin County. It has regional administrative buildings including a courthouse. It is governed by a board of selectmen who meet biweekly. Daily administration is by a town manager, and the town holds an annual town meeting in March.

Notable sites

* Sandy River * Mount Blue Middle School * University of Maine at Farmington * Cutler Memorial Library * First Congregational Church, United Church of Christ * Franklin County Courthouse * Free Will Baptist Meetinghouse * Greenacre, a historic house * Chester Greenwood House * Old Union Meetinghouse * Hiram Ramsdell House

University of Maine at Farmington

Farmington is home to The University of Maine at Farmington, part of Maine's public university system. UMF had a full-time enrollment of 1,800 in 2016.

Prophecy

Farmington is the subject of a prophecy by the Quaker Licia Kuenning (formerly Lisa Bieberman) about a Coming New Order in the town. This was originally prophesied for Tuesday, June 6, 2006 but, after gathering more than 80 people together with no apparent miracles on that date, is now prophesied "within the next few years".

Notable people

* Edward Abbott, clergyman, journalist, author * Jacob Abbott, author, educator * Elizabeth Akers Allen, author, journalist, poet * Nellie Greenwood Andrews, Canadian suffragist * Hiram Belcher, US congressman *

Supply Belcher Supply Belcher (March 29, 1751 – June 9, 1836) was an American composer, singer, and compiler of tune books. He was one of the so-called Yankee tunesmiths or First New England School, a group of mostly self-taught composers who created sacred ...

, composer, musician * Nathan Cutler, politician * Robert Goodenow, US congressman * Walter Gooley, state legislator *

Chester Greenwood Chester Greenwood (December 4, 1858 – July 5, 1937) was an American engineer and inventor, known for inventing the earmuffs in 1873. He reportedly came up with the idea while ice skating and he asked his grandmother to sew tufts of fur betwee ...

, the inventor of earmuffs *

Wilhelmina Harper Wilhelmina Harper (April 21, 1884 – December 23, 1973) was a children's librarian, and a children's author. She was a supervisor of children's work for the Kern County Free Library. Early life Wilhelmina Harper was born on April 21, 1884, i ...

, librarian and author * S. Clifton Ives, Methodist bishop * H. Scott Landry (born 1948 or 1949), politician * Julia Harris May (1833–1912), founder of May School in Farmington *

Janet Mills Janet Trafton Mills (born December 30, 1947) is an American politician and lawyer serving since 2019 as the 75th governor of Maine. She previously served as Maine Attorney General. A member of the Democratic Party, Mills was first elected a ...

, Governor of Maine, former state attorney general * Peter Mills, politician * Samuel P. Morrill, US congressman and minister * Lillian Nordica, singer * Thomas Parker, Judge, early donor to

Bates College Bates College () is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine. Anchored by the Historic Quad, the campus of Bates totals with a small urban campus which includes 33 Victorian ...

* Dan Simoneau, cross country skier * Charlie Webster, state legislator and Chair of the Maine Republican Party * Seth Wescott, first Olympic gold medalist in

Snowboard Cross Snowboard cross, also known as boardercross, is a snowboard competition in which four to six competitors race down a course. Snowboard cross courses are typically quite narrow and include cambered turns, various types of jumps, berms, rollers, ...

* Henry Clay Wood, U.S. Army officer who received the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

* Chandler Woodcock, state senator

References

External links

Town of Farmington, Maine

Farmington Public Library
{{Authority control County seats in Maine