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Hollis is a town in
York County, Maine York County is both the southernmost and the westernmost county in the U.S. state of Maine, along the state of New Hampshire's eastern border. It is divided from Strafford County, New Hampshire, by the Salmon Falls River and the connected ti ...
, United States. The population was 4,745 at the 2020 census. Hollis is a rural
bedroom community A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...
of
Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...
and is part of the
Portland-South Portland-Biddeford metropolitan area The city of Portland, Maine, is the hub city of a metropolitan area in southern Maine. The region is commonly known as Greater Portland or the Portland metropolitan area. For statistical purposes, the U.S. federal government defines three differ ...
.


History

The town of Hollis was originally called Little Falls Plantation, which also encompassed all of the town of
Dayton Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...
and a small part of
Limington Limington, also archaically Lymington, is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Yeovilton and District, in Somerset, England, situated north of Yeovil. The parish has a population of 199. The parish included the Hamlet (place ...
, namely the area south of the Little Ossipee River. It was bought in 1664 by Major William Phillips from Hobinowell and Mogg Hegon, sagamores of the local
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 ...
people. In 1728, 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 ...
ordered that a combination
trading post A trading post, trading station, or trading house, also known as a factory in European and colonial contexts, is an establishment or settlement where goods and services could be traded. Typically a trading post allows people from one geogr ...
and
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 ...
d
blockhouse A blockhouse is a small fortification, usually consisting of one or more rooms with loopholes, allowing its defenders to fire in various directions. It is usually an isolated fort in the form of a single building, serving as a defensive stro ...
be constructed on the
Saco River The Saco River ( , Abenaki: ''Sαkóhki'') is a river in northeastern New Hampshire and southwestern Maine in the United States. It drains a rural area of of forests and farmlands west and southwest of Portland, emptying into the Atlantic O ...
to conduct trade with the Native Americans. It was made crudely of logs and equipped with a
cannon A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder during th ...
. Ten men and a
sergeant Sergeant (Sgt) is a Military rank, rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and in other units that draw their heritage f ...
garrisoned it. John and Andrew Gordon tried to settle the land in 1754, but were driven away by the Native Americans. On March 27, 1781, the first recorded plantation meeting took place and Joseph Chadbourne was elected moderator. By 1790 the population had grown to 607. The first vote for state office came in 1791, when Little Falls gave
John Hancock John Hancock ( – October 8, 1793) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father, merchant, statesman, and prominent Patriot (American Revolution), Patriot of the American Revolution. He was the longest-serving Presi ...
27 votes. In 1798, Little Falls was incorporated into Phillipsburg, named in honor of Major Phillips. The first town meeting took place on September 27, 1798, at the home of Stephen Hopkinson. The moderator was Joseph Chadbourne. In 1810 a committee was put together to rename the town, headed by Colonel Isaac Lane and Captain Eben Cleaves. It was finally decided upon the name Hollis. The reasoning behind the name is not known; it is thought to have been inspired by Hollis,
New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...
, or possibly by the
Duke of Newcastle Duke of Newcastle upon Tyne was a title that was created three times, once in the Peerage of England and twice in the Peerage of Great Britain. The first grant of the title was made in 1665 to William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Newcastle, Willi ...
, whose family name was Holles. Farmers grew
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 ...
,
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 and
hay Hay is grass, legumes, or other herbaceous plants that have been cut and dried to be stored for use as animal fodder, either for large grazing animals raised as livestock, such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep, or for smaller domesticate ...
in the sandy
loam Loam (in geology and soil science) is soil composed mostly of sand (particle size > ), silt (particle size > ), and a smaller amount of clay (particle size < ). By weight, its mineral composition is about 40–40–20% concentration of sand–si ...
.
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 ...
ed
mills Mills is the plural form of mill, but may also refer to: As a name * Mills (surname), a common family name of English or Gaelic origin * Mills (given name) *Mills, a fictional British secret agent in a trilogy by writer Manning O'Brine Places U ...
were built along the
Saco River The Saco River ( , Abenaki: ''Sαkóhki'') is a river in northeastern New Hampshire and southwestern Maine in the United States. It drains a rural area of of forests and farmlands west and southwest of Portland, emptying into the Atlantic O ...
at Hollis village, Bar Mills, Moderation Falls (opposite West Buxton), North Hollis and Bonny Eagle Falls. These included
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, a spool factory, a
woodturning Woodturning is the craft of using a wood lathe with hand-held tools to cut a shape that is symmetrical around the axis of rotation. Like the potter's wheel, the wood lathe is a mechanism that can generate a variety of forms. The operator is kno ...
mill, a wooden box factory and the Saco River Woolen Company. The Portland and Rochester Railroad crossed the southern part of the town. Hollis was the closest community to the epicenter of a 4.0 magnitude earthquake felt by many across New England on October 16, 2012.


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. Hollis is drained by Cook's Brook and the
Saco River The Saco River ( , Abenaki: ''Sαkóhki'') is a river in northeastern New Hampshire and southwestern Maine in the United States. It drains a rural area of of forests and farmlands west and southwest of Portland, emptying into the Atlantic O ...
. Hollis borders the towns of
Limington Limington, also archaically Lymington, is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Yeovilton and District, in Somerset, England, situated north of Yeovil. The parish has a population of 199. The parish included the Hamlet (place ...
and Standish to the north,
Buxton Buxton is a spa town in the High Peak, Derbyshire, Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, in the East Midlands region of England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level.Alston, Cumbria also claims this, but lacks a regu ...
to the east,
Dayton Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...
to the south, Lyman to the southwest and Waterboro to its west.


Climate

Hollis 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''). Winters are cold and snowy, whereas summers are mild to warm with frequent rainfall.


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 4,281 people, 1,668 households, and 1,216 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 1,801 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 97.9%
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 ...
, 0.2%
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, 0.4% Asian, 0.1% from other races, and 1.0% 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 0.4% of the population. There were 1,668 households, of which 33.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.2% 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, 8.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.8% had a male householder with no wife present, and 27.1% were non-families. 18.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 2.89. The median age in the town was 40.9 years. 22% of residents were under the age of 18; 7.1% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 26.9% were from 25 to 44; 33.5% were from 45 to 64; and 10.5% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 50.4% male and 49.6% female.


2000 census

As of the census of 2000, there were 4,114 people, 1,507 households, and 1,139 families living in the town. The population density was . There were 1,592 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 98.81%
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 ...
, 0.15%
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 ...
, 0.12% Native American, 0.15% Asian, 0.10%
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 ...
, 0.07% from other races, and 0.61% 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 0.53% of the population. There were 1,507 households, out of which 38.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.7% were married couples living together, 8.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.4% were non-families. 16.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.73 and the average family size was 3.06. In the town, the age distribution of the population shows 26.8% under the age of 18, 7.8% from 18 to 24, 32.7% from 25 to 44, 25.1% from 45 to 64, and 7.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.1 males. The median income for a household in the town was $48,846, and the median income for a family was $53,621. Males had a median income of $35,064 versus $25,510 for females. The per capita income for the town was $19,065. About 4.6% of families and 6.6% 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 9.3% of those under age 18 and 10.6% of those age 65 or over.


Economy

With a population slightly above 4,000 and its proximity to
Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...
, Hollis is growing fast. Many residents commute to jobs in Portland, South Portland, Saco,
Biddeford Biddeford ( ) is a city in York County, Maine, United States. It is the principal commercial center of York County. Its population was 22,552 at the 2020 census. The twin cities of Saco and Biddeford include the resort communities of Biddefo ...
, and Sanford. The few large businesses in Hollis include Eagle Industries, a precision sheet metal shop that employs about 35 and used to also be the main sponsor of
FIRST Robotics Competition FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) is an international high school robotics competition operated by ''FIRST''®. Each year, teams of high school students, coaches, and mentors work to build robots capable of competing in that year's game. Robots c ...
Team BERT 133 from Bonny Eagle High School. There is also a bottling plant for Poland Spring Water, and a pizza restaurant called Hollis Tommy's Pizza. Many of the local businesses are family-run and well-established in the community.


Education

Elementary students in Hollis attend Hollis Elementary School, while middle and high school students attend Bonny Eagle Middle School and High School respectively. Hollis is located within Maine School Administrative District 6. Paul Penna is the Superintendent of Schools. Trevor Hustus is the chairman of the board.


Earthquake

At 7:12 pm local time, on October 16, 2012, an earthquake originally estimated as a 4.6 magnitude, then downgraded to a 4.0 struck Hollis, with its epicenter approximately west of the center of town. According to the
U.S. Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The agency was founded on March ...
, the quake occurred at a depth of 6.6 km (4.1 miles). Some residents reported cracked floors and walls, but there were no reports of major damage. There were reports of tremors felt in all six
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 ...
states and New York.


Notable people

* Alias, hip-hop artist/producer *
Kate Douglas Wiggin Kate Douglas Wiggin (September 28, 1856August 24, 1923) was an American educator, author and composer. She wrote children's stories, most notably the classic children's novel ''Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm,'' and composed collections of children's ...
, author


References


Further reading

* Jewett, Martin H. and Olive W. Hannaford, ''A History of Hollis, Maine: 1660–1976''; Farmington, Maine: The Knowlton & McLeary Co., 1976


External links


Town of Hollis, Maine

Hollis Center Public Library

Salmon Falls Library

Hollis Elementary School

Epodunk town profile

Maine Genealogy: Hollis, York County, Maine
{{authority control Populated places established in 1798 Portland metropolitan area, Maine Towns in York County, Maine Towns in Maine 1798 establishments in Massachusetts