Denmark 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
Oxford 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 1,197 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 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. Attacked by Captain
John Lovewell in 1725 during
Dummer's War
Dummer's War (1722–1725) (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) was a series of battles between the New England Colonies and the Wab ...
, the tribe abandoned the area and fled to
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
. The township combined a grant made 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 ...
to
Fryeburg Academy,
Foster's Gore and a strip from
Brownfield
Brownfield is previously-developed land that has been abandoned or underused, and which may carry pollution, or a risk of pollution, from industrial use. The specific definition of brownfield land varies and is decided by policy makers and l ...
. 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
* Andov ...
,
Massachusetts
Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
. It was incorporated as Denmark on February 20, 1807, and named in a show of solidarity with
Denmark
Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
. That country's capital,
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...
, was attacked in 1801 and 1807 by the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
, which in 1775 had attacked
Portland.
Farmers found the soil to be very stony and sandy, producing fair yields of
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,
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 ...
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). Oats appear to have been domesticated as a secondary crop, as their seed ...
. But the town did have excellent
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 ...
s at the streams, and
mills were established to manufacture
grain
A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached husk, 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 ...
, long
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). ...
,
barrel staves,
sashes,
blinds 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 ...
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, also known as a sleepaway camp or residential camp, is a supervised overnight program for children conducted during the summer vacation from school in many countries. Children and adolescents who attend summer residential camps ...
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, the 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, 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 ...
, Denmark has a total area of , of which is land and is water.Brownfield
Brownfield is previously-developed land that has been abandoned or underused, and which may carry pollution, or a risk of pollution, from industrial use. The specific definition of brownfield land varies and is decided by policy makers and l ...
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 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 $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 ...
, 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 (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 ...
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 1,075 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 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% 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 ...
, 0.1% Native American, 0.3% Asian, 0.3% from other races, and 0.5% 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 0.3% 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 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, 6.7% 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, also known as an "open town meeting", is a form of local government in which eligible town residents can directly participate in an assembly which determines the governance of their town. Unlike representative town meeting where ...
- selectmen-town manager
A city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a city in the council–manager form of city government. Local officials serving in this position are referred to as the chief executive officer (CEO) or chief administ ...
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 government 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 state's 49th governor. She was re-ele ...
(1897–1901), mayor of Detroit
Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...
(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