Rome is a town in Kennebec 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 1,148 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Belgrade Lakes resort area, and is included in the Augusta, Maine, micropolitan New England City and Town Area.

History

Originally a part of West Pond Plantation, Rome was first settled about 1780 by Richard Furbush from

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

. The town was incorporated on March 7, 1804, and named after

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. Although

farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer ...

s found the surface broken and uneven, the hills and valleys offered excellent

grazing In agriculture, grazing is a method of animal husbandry whereby domestic livestock are allowed outdoors to free range (roam around) and consume wild vegetations in order to feed conversion ratio, convert the otherwise indigestible (by human diges ...

. By 1839, when the population was 1,074, it was described as "a beautiful farming town," with "a pleasant and flourishing village." In 1837, its

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

crop was 4,117

bushel A bushel (abbreviation: bsh. or bu.) is an Imperial unit, imperial and United States customary units, US customary unit of volume, based upon an earlier measure of dry capacity. The old bushel was used mostly for agriculture, agricultural pr ...

s. The ponds abounded in

trout Trout (: trout) is a generic common name for numerous species of carnivorous freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of which are members of the subfamily Salmoninae in the ...

perch Perch is a common name for freshwater fish from the genus ''Perca'', which belongs to the family Percidae of the large order Perciformes. The name comes from , meaning the type species of this genus, the European perch (''P. fluviatilis'') ...

and pickerel. By 1859, Rome had one

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 ...

, one

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 ...

, and one shingle mill, although

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

remained the principal occupation. By 1870, when the population was 725, it had two post offices: Rome and Belgrade Mills.George J. Varney, ''History of Rome, Maine;'' Boston, Massachusetts 1886
/ref> On April 4, 2013, 47-year-old Christopher Thomas Knight was arrested on suspicion of over a thousand burglaries. He was reported to have lived, on stolen supplies, in forests near Rome for 27 years with no intentional human contact.

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. Rome includes the northern portions of Long Pond and Great Pond. The town is serviced by state routes 8, 27, 137 and

225 __NOTOC__ Year 225 ( CCXXV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Fuscus and Domitius (or, less frequently, year 978 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 225 ...

. It borders the towns of

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

to the west,

Mount Vernon Mount Vernon is the former residence and plantation of George Washington, a Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States, and his wife, Martha. An American landmar ...

to the west and south,

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

to the south and east, a portion of Smithfield to the northeast, Mercer to the north, and New Sharon to the northwest.

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 1,010 people, 439 households, and 299 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 1,038 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 98.5%

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 ...

, 0.2%

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, 0.1% Asian, 0.7% from other races, and 0.1% 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 0.6% of the population. There were 439 households, of which 25.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.3% 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, 9.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.5% had a male householder with no wife present, and 31.9% were non-families. 24.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 2.67. The median age in the town was 46.2 years. 19.3% of residents were under the age of 18; 6.2% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 22.9% were from 25 to 44; 37.4% were from 45 to 64; and 14% 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 980 people, 386 households, and 289 families living in the town. The population density was . There were 941 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 98.27%

, 0.10%

, 0.82% Native American, 0.10% Asian, and 0.71% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 0.31% of the population. There were 386 households, out of which 32.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.2% were

living together, 9.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.9% were non-families. 17.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.54 and the average family size was 2.85. In the town, the population was spread out, with 25.0% under the age of 18, 5.6% from 18 to 24, 29.5% from 25 to 44, 27.9% from 45 to 64, and 12.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.1 males. The median income for a household in the town was $42,344, and the median income for a family was $46,635. Males had a median income of $32,153 versus $26,042 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 $21,355. About 7.0% of families and 11.0% 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 14.5% of those under age 18 and 13.3% of those age 65 or over.

References

External links

* *
Maine.gov – Rome, Maine
{{authority control Towns in Kennebec County, Maine Towns in Maine