Brooksville, Maine
Brooksville, Maine | ||
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FIPS code 23-07975 | | |
GNIS feature ID | 0582372 |
Brooksville is a
History
The Brooksville area has likely been inhabited for over 11,000 years. In the centuries prior to European settler colonists arrival,
Brooksville's first English settlers were John Wasson, Samuel Wasson and David Hawes, soldiers in the Revolutionary War. Incorporated on June 13, 1817, the town was formed from parts of Castine, Penobscot and Sedgwick. It was named Brooksville after Governor John Brooks of Massachusetts, who then governed Maine.[4]
The surface of the town abounds with
Brooksville's Cape Rosier is named after James Rosier, an early explorer of the Penobscot River.
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Old Bray House in 1908
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Methodist Church in 1908
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Steamboat leaving in 1909
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The Corner, North Brooksville, ME
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 51.12 square miles (132.40 km2), of which 31.13 square miles (80.63 km2) is land and 19.99 square miles (51.77 km2) is water.[1] Brooksville is bounded on the west by Penobscot Bay, on the north and east by the Bagaduce River, a tidal estuary, and on the south by Eggemoggin Reach. It is nearly an island, with just two slim land bridges to the rest of the mainland, and has 53.75 miles (86.50 km) of shoreline.
Brooksville is crossed by state routes 175 and 176.
Demographics
Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
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1820 | 972 | — | |
1830 | 1,089 | 12.0% | |
1840 | 1,246 | 14.4% | |
1850 | 1,333 | 7.0% | |
1860 | 1,428 | 7.1% | |
1870 | 1,275 | −10.7% | |
1880 | 1,419 | 11.3% | |
1890 | 1,310 | −7.7% | |
1900 | 1,171 | −10.6% | |
1910 | 1,176 | 0.4% | |
1920 | 1,019 | −13.4% | |
1930 | 810 | −20.5% | |
1940 | 805 | −0.6% | |
1950 | 751 | −6.7% | |
1960 | 603 | −19.7% | |
1970 | 673 | 11.6% | |
1980 | 753 | 11.9% | |
1990 | 760 | 0.9% | |
2000 | 911 | 19.9% | |
2010 | 934 | 2.5% | |
2020 | 935 | 0.1% | |
U.S. Decennial Census[6] |
2010 census
As of the
There were 437 households, of which 20.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.0% were married couples living together, 6.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.0% had a male householder with no wife present, and 33.2% were non-families. 26.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.14 and the average family size was 2.52.
The median age in the town was 53 years. 15.3% of residents were under the age of 18; 5.8% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 18% were from 25 to 44; 35.7% were from 45 to 64; and 25.2% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 48.0% male and 52.0% female.
2000 census
As of the
There were 412 households, out of which 23.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.7% were married couples living together, 4.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.5% were non-families. 26.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.21 and the average family size was 2.65.
In the town, the population was spread out, with 18.0% under the age of 18, 5.3% from 18 to 24, 21.3% from 25 to 44, 34.8% from 45 to 64, and 20.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 49 years. For every 100 females, there were 100.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.5 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $36,458, and the median income for a family was $41,875. Males had a median income of $26,923 versus $24,750 for females. The
Points of interest
- Bagaduce Lunch, a James Beard Foundation Award winning clam shack
- Brooksville Historical Society Museum[citation needed]
- Callahan mine. See the list of superfund sites in Maine.
- Four Season Farm, the nationally known organic farm of Eliot Coleman and Barbara Damrosch.[citation needed]
- Good Life Center, the hand-built last home of Helen and Scott Nearing, dedicated to advancing their vision of social justice and simple living.[citation needed]
- Holbrook Island Sanctuary State Park, a protected natural area on Penobscot Bay for hiking and wildlife watching.
- The reversing falls on the Bagaduce River at Davis Narrows, where Routes 175 and 176 cross the river.[citation needed]
- The reversing falls at Goose Pond in Harborside.
National historic sites
- Topside, added to the National Register of Historic Places August 13, 1975.
- Von Mach Site, added to the National Register of Historic Places January 17, 1989.
- West Brooksville Congregational Church, added to the National Register of Historic Places June 20, 1995.
Notable people
- Eliot Coleman, farmer, author, agricultural researcher and educator, and proponent of organic farming
- Melissa Coleman, author, columnist, and writer
- Clarence Milville Condon, Medal of Honor recipient during the Philippine–American War
- United States Solicitor General, and first special prosecutor in the Watergate scandal, fired on the order of Richard Nixon in the Saturday Night Massacre
- Daniel Hoffman, poet laureate of the United States, 1973–1974
- Edmund von Mach, German-American art historian
- John Mack, Civil War seaman, Medal of Honor recipient
- Robert McCloskey, award-winning author and illustrator of children's books
- Helen Nearing, wife of Scott Nearing, advocates of simple living, and leaders of the back-to-the-land movement
- Scott Nearing, husband of Helen Nearing
- Clara Parkes, author, yarn critic, and wool expert
- Robert Shetterly, painter, Americans Who Tell The Truth
- open accessto research
- David Atwood Wasson, early American intellectual leader
References
- ^ a b "US Gazetteer files 2010". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved December 16, 2012.
- ^ "Census - Geography Profile: Brooksville town, Hancock County, Maine". Retrieved January 22, 2022.
- ^ Moorehead, Warren King (1922). A report on the archæology of Maine; being a narrative of explorations in that state, 1912-1920, together with work at Lake Champlain, 1917. Andover, Mass.: Phillips Academy. Dept. of Archaeology, The Andover Press. p. 145.
In 1912 some members of our expedition went to Sargentville in the town of Sedgwick and explored the shores of Walker's pond. ... On July 9th pits were sunk on a knoll twenty meters from the lake on the land of Mr. Grindel. The place is called "the Indian burying ground." On the very top of this knoll, in dry, stony soil, were found the remains of a single skeleton, accompanied by copper and shell beads.
- ^ Coolidge, Austin J.; John B. Mansfield (1859). A History and Description of New England. Boston, Massachusetts: A.J. Coolidge. pp. 74.
coolidge mansfield history description new england 1859.
- ^ Varney, George J. (1886), Gazetteer of the state of Maine. Brooksville, Boston: Russell[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
- ^ "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved December 16, 2012.
- ^ "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
Further reading
- Ellenore W. Doudiet, Majabigwaduce: Castine, Penobscot, Brooksville, Castine Scientific Society, 1978.
- Reta Farnham Hunter, Anita’s Island: A History of Holbrook Island, privately published, 2012.
- Stanley Joseph and Lynn Karlin, Maine Farm: A Year of Country Life, Random House, 1991.
- Joan McCracken, All Around Town: The Best of the Brooksville Breeze (2007-2015), 2016.
- LeCain W. Smith, Maritime History of Brooksville, Brooksville Historical Society, 2005.
- Walter A. Snow (ed.), Brooksville, Maine: A Town in the Revolution, Downeast Graphics, 1976.
- George Augustus Wheeler, History of Castine, Penobscot, and Brooksville, Maine, including the ancient settlement of Pentagoet. Bangor: Burr & Robinson, 1875.