Alna 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 Lincoln County,

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

, United States. The population was 710 at the 2020 census. Alna is home to the

Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington Railway The Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington Railway is a narrow gauge railway. The line was operated as a for-profit company from 1895 until 1933 between the Maine towns of Wiscasset, Maine, Wiscasset, Albion, Maine, Albion, and Winslow, Maine, Wi ...

Museum and is noted for its historic architecture, including the early mill village of Head Tide.

History

Originally a part of old Pownalborough, the town was settled around 1760 and incorporated in 1794 by the

Massachusetts General Court The Massachusetts General Court, formally the General Court of Massachusetts, is the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts located in the state capital of Boston. Th ...

as New Milford. But residents did not like the name, so it was changed in 1811 to Alna,

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

for

alder Alders are trees of the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus includes about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few species ex ...

, the tree which grows in profusion along the banks of the

Sheepscot River The Sheepscot River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed June 22, 2011 river in the U.S. state of Maine. Its lower portion is a complex island estuary with connections t ...

. Alna was the site of the first

fish hatchery A fish hatchery is a place for artificial breeding, hatching, and rearing through the early life stages of animals—finfish and shellfish in particular.Crespi V., Coche A. (2008) Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Gloss ...

in Maine, started shortly after the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

. Between 1895 and 1933, 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 ...

Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington Railway operated three stations in the town: Head Tide, Alna Center, and Sheepscot. The latter now serves as the base of operations for a

heritage railway A heritage railway or heritage railroad (U.S. usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) ...

in town. In 2024, The Alna Store, at the intersection of Dock Road and Alna Road (

Maine State Route 218 State Route 218 (SR 218) is a state highway in Lincoln County, Maine. The road connects U.S. Route 1 (US 1) and SR 27 at Wiscasset and SR 17/ SR 32 in the town of Whitefield. Throughout its whole route, SR 21 ...

), was voted by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' one of America's Best Restaurants 2024.

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. Alna is drained by the

. The town in crossed by

Maine State Route 194 State Route 194 (SR 194) is a numbered state highway in the U.S. state of Maine. The route runs from an intersection with SR 27 in Pittston to an intersection with SR 215 in North Newcastle, a village of Newcastle. The state route ...

and Maine State Route 218. It borders the towns of Wiscasset to the south;

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

to the west;

Pittston Pittston is a city in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city lies in the Wyoming Valley on the east side of the Susquehanna River and on the south side of the Lackawanna River. It is approximately midway between Wilkes-Barre, Pen ...

, Whitefield and Jefferson to the north; and across the Sheepscot River,

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

to the east.

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 709 people, 295 households, and 210 families living 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 346 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 97.5%

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 ...

, 0.1%

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 ...

, 1.1% Native American, 0.4% Asian, 0.1% from other races, and 0.7% 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 0.6% of the population. There were 295 households, of which 28.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.0% 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, 6.8% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.4% had a male householder with no wife present, and 28.8% were non-families. 21.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.7% 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 2.78. The median age in the town was 45.7 years. 20.9% of residents were under the age of 18; 5.5% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 22.1% were from 25 to 44; 35.2% were from 45 to 64; and 16.2% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 48.7% male and 51.3% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 675 people, 266 households, and 197 families living in the town. The population density was . There were 315 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 99.56%

, 0.30% Native American and 0.15% Asian.

or Latino of any race were 0.15% of the population. 0.1% African Americans. There were 266 households, out of which 34.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.3% were

living together, 6.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.6% were non-families. 19.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.54 and the average family size was 2.94. In the town, the population was spread out, with 25.0% under the age of 18, 4.9% from 18 to 24, 27.4% from 25 to 44, 28.6% from 45 to 64, and 14.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 99.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.9 males. The median income for a household in the town was $43,125, and the median income for a family was $48,611. Males had a median income of $34,375 versus $23,977 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 $17,340. About 6.7% of families and 6.3% 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 5.7% of those under age 18 and 10.1% of those age 65 or over.

Sites of interest

* Alna Meetinghouse (1789) * Alna School (1795) *

Museum

Notable people

* Fred H. Albee, surgeon * John T. Averill, US congressman *

Edwin Arlington Robinson Edwin Arlington Robinson (December 22, 1869 – April 6, 1935) was an American poet and playwright. Robinson won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry on three occasions and was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature four times. Early life Robins ...

, poet

References

External links

Contact information for Alna, Maine
{{Coord, 44, 06, 22, N, 69, 36, 13, W, type:city_region:US-ME, display=title Towns in Lincoln County, Maine Populated places established in 1794 1794 establishments in Massachusetts Towns in Maine