Norway 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 ...

Oxford County, Maine Oxford County is a county in the state of Maine, United States. As of the 2020 Census, the county had a population of 57,777. Its county seat is the town of Paris. The county was formed on March 4, 1805, by the Massachusetts General Court in t ...

, United States. Norway was included in the Lewiston-Auburn, Maine metropolitan New England city and town area. The population was 5,077 at the 2020 census. It is home to Pennesseewassee Lake, a

freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. The term excludes seawater and brackish water, but it does include non-salty mi ...

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

and recreation area.

History

Fertile soil and abundant fauna surrounding the Pennessewasse Lake supported native people in the region for thousands of years. It wasn't until after the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

that European settlers established the town of Norway. In 1786, Joseph Stevens, George Leslie, Amos Hobbs, Jeremiah Hobbs, Jonas Stevens, and Nathaniel Stevens began clearing land and building homes. They intended to not only provide for their families, but also attract new settlers to their small community. Many of the early settlers had fought in the Revolutionary War, including Phineas Whitney, a veteran of the

Battle of Bunker Hill The Battle of Bunker Hill was fought on June 17, 1775, during the Siege of Boston in the first stage of the American Revolutionary War. The battle is named after Bunker Hill in Charlestown, Boston, Charlestown, Massachusetts, which was peri ...

. By 1789, a

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...

and

gristmill A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that h ...

were established, the first road was built in 1796, and the town of Norway was officially incorporated on March 9, 1797. Before incorporation, the township adopted the name Rustfield, to recognize the contributions of prominent landowner Henry Rust of Salem, Massachusetts, and the community once petitioned 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 be named Norage, meaning "falls" in the native peoples' language. According to ''A Gazetteer of the State of Maine'', the name of Norway was finally chosen to honor persons from

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

, in

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

. During 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 ...

, Norway and other municipalities in Oxford County formed a

militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

that joined the 1st Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment under the command of George Lafayette Beal. Beal would later rise to the rank of major general and serve as

State Treasurer In the state and territorial governments of the United States, 54 of the 56 states and territories have the executive position of treasurer. New York abolished the office of New York State Treasurer in 1926, in which the duties were transfer ...

from 1888 to 1894. With fertile soil for cultivation and access to the Pennesseewassee waterways, which drain into the

Little Androscoggin River } The Little Androscoggin River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 30, 2011 river in Maine. It flows from Bryant Pond in Woodstock () to its confluence with the A ...

, the community had ample

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 ...

to drive industrial manufacturing, including a cloth and

carding In Textile manufacturing, textile production, carding is a mechanical process that disentangles, cleans and intermixes fibres to produce a continuous web or sliver (textiles), sliver suitable for subsequent processing. This is achieved by passi ...

mill, a furniture factory, a box factory, and a

shovel A shovel is a tool used for digging, lifting, and moving bulk materials, such as soil, coal, gravel, snow, sand, or ore. Most shovels are hand tools consisting of a broad blade fixed to a medium-length handle. Shovel blades are usually made ...

handle factory.

Waterfalls A waterfall is any point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in several ...

powered two grain mills. Businesses like a

tannery Tanning, or hide tanning, is the process of treating skins and hides of animals to produce leather. A tannery is the place where the skins are processed. Historically, vegetable based tanning used tannin, an acidic chemical compound derived fr ...

, a harness maker, and a trunk manufacturer emerged.

Shoe A shoe is an item of footwear intended to protect and comfort the human foot. Though the human foot can adapt to varied terrains and climate conditions, it is vulnerable, and shoes provide protection. Form was originally tied to function, but ...

manufactory was established in 1872. The busy

stage Stage, stages, or staging may refer to: Arts and media Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly Brit ...

route from

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

, to Fryeburg passed through Norway. By 1878, there were 32 stores in the town. For a number of years, Norway had the fastest growing population of any similar town in the state. On December 30, 1879, the Norway Branch Railroad opened. The 1.45 mile (2.3 km) line connected Norway village with the

Atlantic and St. Lawrence Railroad The St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railroad , known as St-Laurent et Atlantique Quebec in Canada, is a short-line railway operating between Portland, Maine, on the Atlantic Ocean, and Montreal, Quebec, on the St. Lawrence River. It crosses the Ca ...

(later

Grand Trunk Railroad The Grand Trunk Railway (; ) was a railway system that operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The railway was operated ...

) at South Paris. On May 9, 1894, a fire sparked in the C. B. Cummings & Sons mill on Main Street. Spread by a strong wind, what would become known as The Great Norway Fire, destroyed a substantial portion of the

business district Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or buying and selling products (such as goods and services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for profit." A business entity is not necessar ...

, devastating the opera house,

Congregational Church Congregationalism (also Congregational Churches or Congregationalist Churches) is a Reformed Christian (Calvinist) tradition of Protestant Christianity in which churches practice congregational government. Each congregation independently a ...

, tannery, and 80 other buildings, including many homes. Reconstruction began the same year, and many of the original wooden buildings on Main Street were rebuilt with brick. Norway was known variously as the "Snowshoe Capital of the World" and the "Snowshoe Town of America" due to the town's influential snowshoe manufacturers. A. M. Dunham began making snowshoes there in 1878 and eventually supplied users across North America. In ''Secrets of Polar Travel'', explorer

Robert Peary Robert Edwin Peary Sr. (; May 6, 1856 – February 20, 1920) was an American explorer and officer in the United States Navy who made several expeditions to the Arctic in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was long credited as being ...

extolled their virtures, calling them "the best snow-shoes eever saw". Similarly, Walter Tubbs founded the Tubbs Snowshoe Company 1906. Tubbs produced high quality ash snowshoes,

skis Skis are runners, attached to the user's feet, designed to glide over snow. Typically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or partially secured heel. For climbing slopes, ski skins can ...

sled A sled, skid, sledge, or sleigh is a land vehicle that slides across a surface, usually of ice or snow. It is built with either a smooth underside or a separate body supported by two or more smooth, relatively narrow, longitudinal runners ...

s, and furniture, even supplying

Byrd Byrd commonly refers to: * William Byrd (c. 1540 – 1623), an English composer of the Renaissance * Richard E. Byrd (1888–1957), an American naval officer and explorer Byrd or Byrds may also refer to: Other people *Byrd (surname), including ...

polar expedition Robert Peary and sledge party with flags at the North Pole file:at the South Pole, December 1911.jpg"> Helmer_Hanssen.html" ;"title="Roald Amundsen, Helmer Hanssen">Roald Amundsen, Helmer Hanssen, Sverre Hassel, and Oscar Wisting at the Sout ...

s. Tubbs relocated to

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

in the early 1930s. Soon after, SnoCraft Inc., a company owned and operated by Kenneth (Kac) Aldrich, set up production in the old Tubbs Factory. SnoCraft was responsible for supplying 70% of the snowshoes ordered by the

U.S. government The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct branches: legislative, executi ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Founded in 1850, the C. B. Cummings & Son Company mass-produced wooden components like

dowel The dowel is a cylindrical shape made of wood, plastic, or metal. In its original manufactured form, a dowel is long and called a ''dowel rod'', which are often cut into shorter ''dowel pins''. Dowels are commonly used as structural reinforceme ...

s in downtown Norway. In 2001, after domestic furniture manufacturers were unable to compete with production costs in China, the company closed and auctioned their factory. Similarly, after

K2 Sports K2 Sports, LLC, known simply as K2, is an American sporting goods company headquartered in Seattle, Washington focused primarily on winter sports equipment. K2 operates under the labels K2 Snow and K2 Skates, as well as its subsidiaries Backcou ...

bought Tubbs Snowshoe Company in 2014, production moved from Vermont to

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

, China. In 1997, the New Balance Shoe Company built a manufacturing facility in Norway where production continues today.

Image gallery

File:Opera House, Norway, ME.jpg, Opera House in 1906 File:Main Street from Opera House, Norway, ME.jpg, Main Street in 1908 File:Main Street from Post Office, Norway, ME.jpg, Downtown in 1907 File:View of Main Street, Norway, ME.jpg, Street scene in 1906 File:Dunham Show Shoes.jpg, Original caption: "The center pair of unham's snowshoes... is the best shoe made" (Peary's ''Secrets of Polar Travel'').

Municipal

Norway is in School Administrative District (SAD) 17. Children attend Rowe Elementary School from pre-kindergarten to grade 6. Older students attend Oxford Hills middle school and high school. Norway has a water district and a waste water treatment facility. The town is administered by a board of selectmen. The town has a planning board.

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. Norway is drained by the Pennesseewassee Stream and

. The town is crossed by state routes 26, 117 and 118. It borders the towns of Greenwood and West Paris to the north;

to the east;

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

to the southeast; Otisfield to the south; Harrison to the southwest;

Waterford Waterford ( ) is a City status in Ireland, city in County Waterford in the South-East Region, Ireland, south-east of Ireland. It is located within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford H ...

to the west; and Albany to the northwest.

Climate

This

climatic Climate is the long-term weather pattern in a region, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteorolog ...

region is typified by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and cold (sometimes severely cold) winters. According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system, Norway 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 ...

, abbreviated "Dfb" on climate maps.

Demographics

2010 census

As of the census of 2010, there were 5,014 people, 2,163 households, and 1,357 families living in the town. The population density was . There were 2,804 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 96.1%

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 ...

; 0.6% Native American; 0.6% Asian; 0.1%

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 ...

; 0.1% from other races; and 2.3% 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 1.0% of the population. Of 2,163 households, 27.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them; 44.0% were married couples living together; 13.3% had an unmarried female head of household; 5.5% had an unmarried male head of household; and 37.3% were non-families. Of all households, 28.7% were made up of individuals, where 13.5% of individuals over 65 years of age lived alone. The average household size was 2.28 people and the average family size was 2.75. The median age in the town was 44.4 years. 21.4% of residents were under the age of 18; 6.9% were 18 to 24; 22.5% were 25 to 44; 29.3% were 45 to 64; and 20.1% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 48.5% male and 51.5% female.

2000 census

Per the census of 2000, there were 4,611 people, 1,972 households, and 1,256 families living in the town. The median income per household in the town was $28,497. The median income for a family was $34,464. The income per capita was $17,020, where males had a median income of $26,612, and annual income for females was $20,417. About 9.8% of families and 12.7% of the overall population's income was below the poverty line. Of those below the poverty line, 16.1% were under the age of 18, and 10.1% were 65 or older.

Stereographic cards of Norway

Photographer W. H. Green created several stereographic cards of the town and surrounding Oxford County. File:Horse pulling cart, Norway, Maine, by W. H. Green.jpg, Horse pulling cart File:Streets of Norway, Maine, by J. U. P. Burnham.jpg, Streets of Norway File:View of the street in Norway, Maine, by J. U. P. Burnham.jpg, Street view File:View of Norway dwellings, by W. H. Green.jpg, Norway dwellings File:View showing dwelings and streets of Norway with a boy and girl in foreground, by W. H. Green.jpg, Dwellings and streets

Sites of interest

* Norway Historical Society & Museum * Historical Walking Tour of Norway, MaineHistorical Walking Tour of Norway, Maine
/ref>

Notable people

* George Lafayette Beal, Civil War era general, state treasurer * Mellie Dunham, fiddler, snowshoe maker * Marshall Kirk, genealogist, writer * Henry Rust Mighels, journalist, politician *

Talbot Mundy Talbot Mundy (born William Lancaster Gribbon, 23 April 1879 – 5 August 1940) was an English writer of adventure fiction. Based for most of his life in the United States, he also wrote under the pseudonym of Walter Galt. Best known as th ...

, author *

George Lorenzo Noyes George "Shavey" Lorenzo Noyes (August 30, 1863 – 1945) was an American mineralogist, naturalist, development critic, writer and landscape artist. Biography Noyes was born in Norway, Maine, and was the son of Amos Oscar Noyes and Anna Chase Noy ...

, naturalist, writer, artist * Donald B. Partridge, U.S. Representative * Althea G. Quimby, president, Woman's Christian Temperance Union of Maine * Don Carlos Seitz, author, journalist * C. A. Stephens, writer * Town of Norway, Maine

Norway Memorial Library

University College at Norway/South Paris

''Advertiser Democrat'', regional weekly newspaper

''NorwayLake.com'', info about Norway Lake

Lakes Association of Norway

Maine.gov – Norway, Maine

Maine Genealogy: Norway, Oxford County, Maine
{{Authority control Norway, Maine"> Snowshoeing Towns in Oxford County, Maine">Snowshoeing">Norway, Maine"> Snowshoeing Towns in Oxford County, Maine es:Norway (condado de Oxford, Maine)