Somerset County is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

in the U.S. state of

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. As of the 2020 census, its population was 50,477. Its

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 ...

is Skowhegan.

History

Somerset County was established on March 1, 1809from portions of Kennebec County and was named after Somerset County in England.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which (4.1%) are covered by water. It is the third-largest county in Maine by area.

Mountains

* Boundary Bald Mountain *

Coburn Mountain __NOTOC__ Coburn may refer to: Places * Coburn, Pennsylvania, a census-designated place, United States * Coburn, West Virginia, an unincorporated community, United States * Coburn Mountain (Maine), United States * Coburn Hill, Yellowstone Count ...

* Mount Bigelow * Moxie Mountain * Sandy Bay Mountain

Bodies of water

* Carrabassett River * Flagstaff Lake *

Kennebec River The Kennebec River (Abenaki language, Abenaki: ''Kinəpékʷihtəkʷ'') is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed June 30, 2011 natural river within the U.S. state of Ma ...

* Moose River * Moxie Falls

Major highways

Interstate 95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Florida, north to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between Maine and the ...

* Maine State Route 6 * Maine State Route 8 * Maine State Route 11 * Maine State Route 15 * Maine State Route 16 * Maine State Route 27 * Maine State Route 100 * Maine State Route 104 * Maine State Route 137 * Maine State Route 139 * U.S. Route 2 * U.S. Route 201 ** Armstrong–Jackman Border Crossing * U.S. Route 201A

Adjacent counties and municipalities

* Aroostook County – north * Penobscot County – east * Piscataquis County – east * Waldo County – southeast * Kennebec County – south * Franklin County – southwest * Le Granit Regional County Municipality, Quebec – west * Beauce-Sartigan Regional County Municipality, Quebec – west * Les Etchemins Regional County Municipality, Quebec – northwest * Montmagny Regional County Municipality, Quebec – northwest Somerset County is one of few counties in the United States to border 10 counties and county equivalents.

Demographics

2000 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 2000, 50,888 people, 20,496 households, and 14,121 families were living in the county. The population density was . The 28,222 housing units had an average density of . The Race (United States Census)racial makeup of the county was 98.00% White, 0.24% Black or African American, 0.41% Native American, 0.34% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.11% from other races, and 0.89% from two or more races. About 0.46% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race; 20.9% were of English, 17.7% French, 15.1% United States or American, 11.5% Irish, and 8.8%

French Canadian French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French people, French colonists first arriving in Canada (New France), France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of ...

ancestry. About 96.2% spoke English and 2.9% French as their first language. Of the 20,496 households, 31.6% had children under 18 living with them, 54.2% were married couples living together, 10.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.1% were not families. About 24.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.2% had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 2.87. In the county, the age distribution was 24.7% under 18, 7.0% from 18 to 24, 28.70% from 25 to 44, 25.30% from 45 to 64, and 14.30% who were 65 or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.00 males. For every 100 females 18 and over, there were 93.30 males. The median income for a household in the county was $30,731, and for a family was $36,464. Males had a median income of $29,032 versus $20,745 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 county was $15,474. About 11.1% of families and 14.9% 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 19.4% of those under 18 and 12.50% of those 65 or over.

2010 census

, 52,228 people, 21,927 households, and 14,353 families lived in the county. The population density was . The 30,569 housing units had an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 97.1% White, 0.6% Asian, 0.5% American Indian, 0.4% Black or African American, 0.1% from other races, and 1.3% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 0.8% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 25.1% were French, 24.2% were English, 15.8% were Irish, 8.0% were German, 7.9% were American, and 6.1% were

. Of the 21,927 households, 28.2% had children under 18 living with them, 49.7% were married couples living together, 10.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 34.5% were not families, and 26.9% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.80. The median age was 43.6 years. The median income for a household in the county was $36,647 and for a family was $47,177. Males had a median income of $41,235 versus $30,029 for females. The per capita income for the county was $20,709. About 14.0% of families and 18.4% of the population were below the

, including 25.0% of those under age 18 and 12.7% of those age 65 or over.

Government and politics

Somerset County is part of

Maine's 2nd congressional district Maine's 2nd congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Maine. Covering , it comprises nearly 92% of the state's total land area. The district comprises most of the land area north of the Portland and Augusta metr ...

and represented by Democrat

Jared Golden Jared Forrest Golden (born July 25, 1982) is an American politician and United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps veteran serving as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for Maine's 2nd congressional district since 2018 ...

since 2019. A "swing" or "pivot" county in the 21st century, despite voting for Democrat

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

in the

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

and

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

presidential elections, Somerset County voted for Republican

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

and

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, by a margin of victory of 23.37%. In 2020, Trump became the first presidential candidate to carry the county with more than 60% of the vote since

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

in 1984. In 2024, the county shifted to the right again, with Trump's win (a margin of over 27 points) being the best performance by a Republican since Nixon's 1972 landslide. In

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

, the county was one of three in Maine to vote for independent

Ross Perot Henry Ross Perot ( ; June 27, 1930 – July 9, 2019) was an American businessman, politician, and philanthropist. He was the founder and chief executive officer of Electronic Data Systems and Perot Systems. He ran an Independent politician ...

, along with neighboring Piscataquis and Waldo.

Voter registration

Communities

Towns

* Anson *

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

* Bingham *

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

Canaan CanaanThe current scholarly edition of the Septuagint, Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus Testamentum graece iuxta LXX interprets. 2. ed. / recogn. et emendavit Robert Hanhart. Stuttgart : D ...

* Caratunk * Cornville *

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 ...

* Embden * Fairfield *

Harmony In music, harmony is the concept of combining different sounds in order to create new, distinct musical ideas. Theories of harmony seek to describe or explain the effects created by distinct pitches or tones coinciding with one another; harm ...

* Hartland * Jackman * Madison * Mercer * Moose River *

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

* New Portland *

Norridgewock Norridgewock (Abenaki language, Abenaki: ''Nanrantsouak'') was the name of both an Indigenous village and a Band society, band of the Abenaki ("People of the Dawn") Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans/First Nations in Canada, ...

Palmyra Palmyra ( ; Palmyrene dialect, Palmyrene: (), romanized: ''Tadmor''; ) is an ancient city in central Syria. It is located in the eastern part of the Levant, and archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, and documents first menti ...

* Pittsfield * Ripley * St. Albans * Skowhegan * Smithfield * Solon * Starks

Census-designated places

* Anson * Bingham * Fairfield * Hartland * Madison *

* Pittsfield * Skowhegan

Plantations

* Brighton Plantation * Dennistown * Highland Plantation * Pleasant Ridge Plantation * The Forks * West Forks

Unorganized territories

* Central Somerset * Northeast Somerset * Northwest Somerset * Seboomook Lake

Villages

* Flagstaff * North Anson * Rockwood

Education

School administrative districts

The following school districts are located at least partly in Somerset County: * MSAD 4 * MSAD 12 * MSAD 13 * MSAD 49 * MSAD 53 * MSAD 54 * MSAD 59 * MSAD 74

Secondary schools

* Carrabec High School – North Anson * Faith Baptist Christian School – Skowhegan (serves multiple grades) * Forest Hills Consolidated School (K-12) – Jackman * Lawrence High School – Fairfield * Madison Area Memorial High School – Madison * Maine Academy of Natural Sciences – Hinckley * Maine Central Institute – Pittsfield * Skowhegan Area High School – Skowhegan * Upper Kennebec Valley Memorial High School – Bingham

Higher education

* Kennebec Valley Community College

Miscellaneous

* Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture * L.C. Bates Museum *

References

External links

* * * * * Digital Maine Repository. Items related t
Somerset County
* Core.ac.uk. Assorted items related t
Somerset County
* Digital Public Library of America. Assorted materials related t
Somerset County

County politics

* * {{coord, 45.51, -69.95, type:adm2nd_region:US-ME_source:UScensus1990, display=title Maine counties 1809 establishments in Massachusetts Populated places established in 1809 19th-century establishments in Maine