Fort Fairfield 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 Aroostook County, eastern

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, located along the Canada–US border. The population was 3,322 at the 2020 census.

History

Fort Fairfield is named for John Fairfield, 13th and 16th governor of Maine.

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.

Demographics

2010 census

As of the census of 2010, there were 3,496 people, 1,494 households, and 952 families living in the town. The population density was . There were 1,674 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 96.5%

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 ...

, 0.9%

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% Native American, 0.2% Asian, 0.3% from other races, and 1.5% 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 1.3% of the population. There were 1,494 households, of which 28.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.1% were married couples living together, 11.8% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.9% had a male householder with no wife present, and 36.3% were non-families. 31.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 2.88. The median age in the town was 43.8 years. 22.5% of residents were under the age of 18; 6.7% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 22.8% were from 25 to 44; 30.7% were from 45 to 64; and 17.2% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 48.4% male and 51.6% female.

2000 census

As of the census of 2000, there were 3,579 people, 1,523 households, and 1,015 families living in the town. The population density was . There were 1,654 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 98.35%

, 0.20%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

, 0.45% Native American, 0.03% Asian, 0.03%

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 ...

, 0.20% from other races, and 0.75% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 0.75% of the population. There were 1,523 households, out of which 27.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.9% were married couples living together, 10.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.3% were non-families. 29.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.86. In the town, the population was spread out, with 23.4% under the age of 18, 6.8% from 18 to 24, 25.5% from 25 to 44, 27.2% from 45 to 64, and 17.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 88.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.9 males. The median annual income for a household in the town was $28,563, and the median income for a family was $33,446. Males had a median income of $28,448 versus $25,000 for females. The per capita income for the town was $14,757. About 9.8% of families and 16.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.0% of those under age 18 and 25.0% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

Agricultural produce, particularly potato and

broccoli Broccoli (''Brassica oleracea'' var. ''italica'') is an edible green plant in the Brassicaceae, cabbage family (family Brassicaceae, genus ''Brassica'') whose large Pseudanthium, flowering head, plant stem, stalk and small associated leafy gre ...

farming, is important to the local economy.

Education

Fort Fairfield is part of Maine School Administrative District #20. There are two schools in the district, Fort Fairfield Middle/High School for grades 6 to 12 and Fort Fairfield Elementary School for grades pre-kindergarten to 5. For the 2011 to 2012 school year, there were approximately 600 students.

Places and events of interest

Aroostook Valley Country club entrance showing US and Canadian flags

The town contains the Blockhouse Museum, displaying artifacts from the

Aroostook War The Aroostook War (sometimes called the Pork and Beans WarLe Duc, Thomas (1947). The Maine Frontier and the Northeastern Boundary Controversy. ''The American Historical Review'' Vol. 53, No. 1 (Oct., 1947), pp. 30–41), or the Madawaska War, w ...

. Just south of Fort Fairfield at Maple Grove is the restored Maple Grove Friends Church, a historic

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

meeting house built and national historic building built, believed to be the oldest ecclesiastical building in the Fort Fairfield area as well as the northernmost station on the

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was an organized network of secret routes and safe houses used by freedom seekers to escape to the abolitionist Northern United States and Eastern Canada. Enslaved Africans and African Americans escaped from slavery ...

for people escaping slavery. The annual State of Maine Potato Blossom Festival is held in the third week of July. The town has a public library. A large levee holds back the spring surge of waters from the

Aroostook River The Aroostook River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 22, 2011 tributary of the Saint John River in the U.S. state of Maine and the Canadian province of New Brun ...

. The nearest significant shopping center is in Presque Isle, about 11 miles away. The nearby Aroostook Valley Country Club at 234 Russell Road straddles the Maine-New Brunswick border.Aroostook Valley Country Club
Club History
/ref> The entrance is in the U.S., but most of the club's golf course and its clubhouse are in Canada. Until the Covid-19 pandemic, members and their guests, as long as they remain on the club's property, were not required to clear Canadian customs; however, post pandemic, all visitors from the USA must now enter Canada at a formal entry point.

Notable people

* Mark Babin, state legislator * Sharon Barker, director of the Women's Resource Center at the

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Orono, Maine, United States. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the Flagship universitie ...

* Dick Curless, country music singer * Edward Perrin Edmunds, State Representative and Senator from 1957 to 1964 * Nicholas Fessenden,

Secretary of State of Maine The secretary of state of Maine is a State constitutional officer, constitutional officer in the U.S. state of Maine and serves as the head of the Maine Department of State. The Secretary of State performs duties of both a legislative branch as w ...

from 1891 to 1896 * Stirling Fessenden, chairman and Secretary General of the

Shanghai Municipal Council The Shanghai International Settlement () originated from the 1863 merger of the British and American enclaves in Shanghai, in which British and American citizens would enjoy extraterritoriality and consular jurisdiction under the terms of ...

from 1923 to 1939 * Ruth Lockhart, former executive director of the Mabel Sine Wadsworth Women's Health Center, Bangor * John H. Reed, 66th

governor of Maine The governor of Maine is the head of government of the U.S. state of Maine. Before Maine was admitted to the Union in 1820, Maine was part of Massachusetts and the governor of Massachusetts was chief executive. The current governor of Maine is J ...

; chairman of the

National Governors Association The National Governors Association (NGA) is an American Politics of the United States, political organization founded in 1908. The association's members are the governors of the 55 U.S. state, states, Territories of the United States, territories ...

* Tim Sample, New England humorist * Aldric Saucier, American scientist and whistleblower * Herbert W. Trafton, Speaker of the Maine House of Representatives

References

External links

Town of Fort Fairfield
*
Map of Fort Fairfield, , from the Maine Memory Network

{{Coord, 46, 46, 8.6, N, 67, 50, 9.1, W, display=title Towns in Aroostook County, Maine Towns in Maine