Dedham 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 Hancock 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 1,648 at the 2020 census. The town includes the site of a

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

airplane crash on Bald Mountain.

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. The small village corporation of Lucerne-in-Maine lies in a summer resort area along Phillips Lake near the center of the town. It is part of Dedham but has limited taxing and regulatory authority separate from the town's. The Lucerne-in-Maine Village Corp. was established in 1927 to give part-time residents a voice in how the village was run. In 2017 the village considered dissolving, but continues as a quasi-municipal corporation .

History

Dedham, Maine, was named after

Dedham, Massachusetts Dedham ( ) is a New England town, town in, and the county seat of, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Located on Boston's southwestern border, the population was 25,364 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. First settled by E ...

1961 F-101 Voodoo crash

Two

McDonnell F-101 Voodoo The McDonnell F-101 Voodoo is a Supersonic aircraft, supersonic jet fighter designed and produced by the American McDonnell Aircraft Corporation. Development of the F-101 began in the late 1940s as a long-range bomber escort (then known as a ...

fighters of the 75th Fighter Squadron were scrambled from

Dow Air Force Base Bangor Air National Guard Base is a United States Air National Guard base located on the grounds of Bangor International Airport in Bangor, Maine. Created in 1927 as the commercial Godfrey Field, the airfield was taken over by the U.S. Army ju ...

on the night of April 11, 1961, to intercept an unidentified aircraft approaching the United States. SAGE identified the incoming aircraft as a

Strategic Air Command Strategic Air Command (SAC) was a United States Department of Defense Specified Command and a United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command responsible for command and control of the strategic bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile compon ...

bomber shortly after the fighters were airborne. The fighters' return to Dow was complicated by a light spring rainstorm, creating an icy runway under a 500-foot cloud ceiling. Dow's

tactical air navigation system A tactical air navigation system, commonly referred to by the acronym TACAN, is a navigation system initially designed for naval aircraft to acquire moving landing platforms (i.e., ships) and later expanded for use by other military aircraft. It p ...

glide slope function was temporarily disabled after the first aircraft landed. The second aircraft was cleared to descend to 2,200 feet, using a two-dimensional

radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...

approach, when it hit Bald Mountain at an elevation of 1,200 feet. Both crewmen in the second aircraft were killed. Investigators concluded the airfield elevation had been incorrectly set on the aircraft altimeter, creating a 1000-foot error unrecognized when aircrew acknowledged only the last two digits of altimeter readings in radio transmissions.

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 1,681 people, 702 households, and 491 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 1,254 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 97.6% (1,640)

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 ...

, 0.4% (6)

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 ...

, 0.5% (8) Native American, 0.6% (10) Asian, 0.2% (3) from other races, and 0.8% (13) 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 people of any race were 0.8% (13) of the population. There were 702 households, of which 26.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.1% 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, 7.8% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.0% had a male householder with no wife present, and 30.1% were non-families. 21.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 2.76. The median age in the town was 46.2 years. 19.3% of residents were under the age of 18; 5.5% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 23.1% were from 25 to 44; 40.3% were from 45 to 64; and 11.8% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 51.5% male and 48.5% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 1,422 people, 564 households, and 412 families living in the town. The population density was . There were 1,055 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 98.17%

, 0.28%

, 0.35% Native American, 0.49% Asian, 0.14% from other races, and 0.56% from two or more races.

or Latino people of any race were 0.35% of the population. There were 564 households, out of which 35.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.9% were

living together, 8.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.8% were non-families. 18.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 2.86. In the town, the population was spread out, with 24.2% under the age of 18, 5.4% from 18 to 24, 33.3% from 25 to 44, 27.4% from 45 to 64, and 9.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 105.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.6 males. The median income for a household in the town was $47,917, and the median income for a family was $52,917. Males had a median income of $35,052 versus $29,028 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 $22,975. About 3.4% of families and 5.2% 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 5.4% of those under age 18 and 9.1% of those age 65 or over.

References

External links

Town website
{{authority control Towns in Hancock County, Maine Towns in Maine