Brewer, Maine

Brewer
City
FIPS code		23-06925
GNIS feature ID	0562936
Website	www.brewermaine.gov

Brewer is a city in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. It is part of the Bangor metropolitan area. The city is named after its first settler, Colonel John Brewer.^[4] The population was 9,672 at the 2020 census.^[5]

Brewer is the sister city of Bangor. The two are at the head of navigation on opposite sides of the Penobscot River estuary and are connected by three bridges. Brewer and Bangor were originally both part of Condeskeag Plantation, though the Brewer part was also called "New Worcester" after John Brewer's birthplace. In 1788, Orrington, Maine was incorporated with Brewer/New Worcester as its major village. The other half of Kenduskeag incorporated in 1791 as Bangor. Finally, in 1812, Brewer broke away from Orrington and incorporated as a separate town.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 15.68 square miles (40.61 km²), of which 15.23 square miles (39.45 km²) is land and 0.45 square miles (1.17 km²) is water.^[6]

The villages of South Brewer and North Brewer are both within city limits. South Brewer was formerly the city's major industrial area.

This

Government

• Brewer Community School

The Victorian-style Daniel Sargent House (1847 and later) in South Brewer is listed on the

, also called "The Bangor Regiment". This was the first unit to march out of the state in 1861, and participated in 11 battles over two years. Sargent was eventually promoted to Lt. Col., or second in-command of the regiment.

The city's most imposing architectural landmark is the

First Congregational Church, which stands on a bluff above the river overlooking Bangor.

Brewer was as famous for

company.

The Eastern Manufacturing Company opened a pulp and paper mill in South Brewer in 1889^[11] that became the city's largest employer. The mill closed in 2004, and the site has now been re-developed by the Cianbro Corporation.^[12] The Eastern began as a sawmill owned by Fred W. Ayer, who in the late 1880s began experimenting with paper-making (using the newly developed sulfite process) in order to utilize his left-over slab lumber. In 1899, Ayer patented a new method of sulfite digestion which subsequently became the basis for operations at the Eastern, as well as the Great Northern mill in Millinocket, Maine, thus circumventing an important patent owned by the competing International Paper Corporation. "The Eastern", as the mill was known locally, began specializing in fine grades of paper around 1905 (such as their trademark "Atlantic Bond"), and the company was eventually renamed Eastern Fine Paper, Inc..

In 1900, Dione Polliot, a 17-year-old

In the early hours of August 29, 1903,

On June 12, 1906, four

In January 2019, a photographer conducting a

This prompted calls from across the country to various city offices inquiring into the event.

Notable people

• Gen. John Blake, U.S. Army officer, led militia in the Battle of Hampden (1814) during the War of 1812^[18]
• Joseph E. Brooks, member of the Maine House of Representatives and journalist
• Governor of Maine
• Sean Danielsen, lead vocalist and guitarist of the band Smile Empty Soul
• Howie Day, singer-musician, raised in Brewer, graduated from Brewer High School (1999)^[19]
• Charles Fletcher Dole, influential Unitarian minister, speaker and writer
• Fannie Hardy Eckstorm, author, ornithologist, folklorist and researcher on psychic phenomena
• Oliver C. Farrington, noted geologist and meteorite expert at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago
• Kenneth P. MacLeod, President of the Maine Senate
• Stephanie Lynne Niznik
  , was an American film, television, and theatre actress.
• William E. Quinby, editor of the Detroit Free Press, United States Ambassador to the Netherlands^[20]
• Ambureen Rana, maine state representative^[21]

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1820	744		—
1830	1,078		44.9%
1840	1,736		61.0%
1850	2,628		51.4%
1860	2,835		7.9%
1870	3,214		13.4%
1880	3,170		−1.4%
1890	4,193		32.3%
1900	4,835		15.3%
1910	5,667		17.2%
1920	6,064		7.0%
1930	6,329		4.4%
1940	6,510		2.9%
1950	6,862		5.4%
1960	9,009		31.3%
1970	9,300		3.2%
1980	9,017		−3.0%
1990	9,021		0.0%
2000	8,987		−0.4%
2010	9,482		5.5%
2020	9,672		2.0%
sources:[22]

As of the

of any race were 1.2% of the population.

There were 4,163 households, of which 27.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.3% were married couples living together, 11.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.2% had a male householder with no wife present, and 41.2% were non-families. 31.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.25 and the average family size was 2.81.

The median age in the city was 41.1 years. 20.2% of residents were under the age of 18; 8.9% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 26.2% were from 25 to 44; 27.6% were from 45 to 64; and 17.1% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 47.1% male and 52.9% female.

At the 2000

of any race were 0.63% of the population.

There were 3,842 households, of which 29.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.5% were married couples living together, 11.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.5% were non-families. 29.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.2% 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 2.86.

22.4% of the population were under the age of 18, 7.6% from 18 to 24, 30.4% from 25 to 44, 23.0% from 45 to 64, and 16.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.1 males.

The

, including 13.3% of those under age 18 and 9.2% of those age 65 or over.

• City of Brewer
• Bangor and Brewer City Directories – via Bangor Public Library, 1875-1922