| Piscataquis County, Maine | |
| Map | |
 Location in the state of Maine |
|
 Maine's location in the U.S. |
|
| Statistics | |
| Founded | 1838 |
|---|---|
| Seat | Dover-Foxcroft |
| Area - Total - Land - Water |
4,377 sq mi (11,336 km²) 3,966 sq mi (10,272 km²) 411 sq mi (1,064 km²), 9.39% |
| Population - (2000) - Density |
17,235 4.3/sq mi (1.7/km²) |
Piscataquis County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maine. In 2000, its population was 17,235. Its county seat is Dover-Foxcroft[1].
Piscataquis County was incorporated in 1838, taken from parts of adjacent Penobscot and Somerset counties. It is located at the geographic center of Maine. Originally it extended north to the Canadian border, but in 1844 its northern portion was annexed by Aroostook County. In land area, Piscataquis is one of the largest U.S. counties east of the Mississippi River. It is also the only county in the northeast that meets Frederick Jackson Turner's requirements for "frontier" country - that is, having fewer than six inhabitants per square mile.
Piscataquis is an Abenaki word meaning "branch of the river" or "at the river branch."
Baxter State Park, a large wilderness preserve, is located in Piscataquis County.
Contents |
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 4,377 square miles (11,337 km²), of which, 3,966 square miles (10,272 km²) of it is land and 411 square miles (1,065 km²) of it (9.39%) is water. The largest lake in the county is Moosehead Lake at 120 square miles (310 km²). The highest point in the county is Mount Katahdin at 5,271 feet (1,606 meters), while the geographic center is Greeley Landing in the Town of Dover-Foxcroft.
Adjacent counties
- Aroostook County, Maine - north
- Penobscot County, Maine - southeast
- Somerset County, Maine - west
 |
Aroostook County | |
||
| Somerset County |  |
|||
 Piscataquis County, Maine  |
||||
 |
||||
| Penobscot County |
Demographics
As of the census[2] of 2000, there were 17,235 people, 7,278 households, and 4,854 families residing in the county. The population density was 4 people per square mile (2/km²). There were 13,783 housing units at an average density of 4 per square mile (1/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 97.84% White, 0.21% Black or African American, 0.52% Native American, 0.27% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.14% from other races, and 1.00% from two or more races. 0.52% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 23.6% were of English, 16.4% French, 15.3% United States or American and 11.5% Irish ancestry according to Census 2000. 96.9% spoke English and 2.0% French as their first language.
There were 7,278 households out of which 28.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.10% were married couples living together, 8.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.30% were non-families. 27.80% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 2.83.
In the county the population was spread out with 23.40% under the age of 18, 5.70% from 18 to 24, 26.00% from 25 to 44, 27.50% from 45 to 64, and 17.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 96.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.20 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $28,250, and the median income for a family was $34,852. Males had a median income of $28,149 versus $20,241 for females. The per capita income for the county was $14,374. About 11.20% of families and 14.80% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.80% of those under age 18 and 13.90% of those age 65 or over.
Government and politics
County Commissioners: Eric Ward (District 1, Greenville); Tom Lizotte, Chair (District 2, Dover-Foxcroft); Fred Trask (District 3, Lakeview Plantation)
County Manager: Marilyn Tourtelotte
Sheriff: John Goggin
District Attorney: R. Chris Almy
Judge of Probate: James R. Austin
Registrar of Probate: Judith Raymond
Registrar of Deed: Linda Smith
Treasurer: J. Paul Raymond
In national elections, Piscataquis County is the most reliably Republican county in Maine, and by extension, New England. In the 2000 U.S. Presidential election, George W. Bush carried the county by an 11.9% margin over Al Gore, with Gore carrying the state by a 5.1% margin over Bush. In 2004, the county was one of only two in Maine to vote for Bush over John Kerry. Bush won by a 9% margin over Kerry, with Kerry winning the state by a virtually even margin over Bush. In 2008, Piscataquis was the only county in New England to vote for John McCain, by a margin of 355 votes (3.8%)[3] over Barack Obama, with Obama winning Maine by a 17.3% margin over McCain.[4]
Municipalities
- Abbot
- Atkinson
- Beaver Cove
- Bowerbank
- Brownville
- Dover-Foxcroft
- Greenville
- Guilford
- Kingsbury Plantation
- Lake View Plantation
- Medford
- Milo
- Monson
- Parkman
- Sangerville
- Sebec
- Shirley
- Wellington
- Willimantic
Territories
Notable residents
- Max Schubel, composer
- Sir Harry Oakes, philanthropist [1]
- David Mallett, Singer-Songwriter
References
- ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. http://www.naco.org/Template.cfm?Section=Find_a_County&Template=/cffiles/counties/usamap.cfm. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ^ November 4, 2008 General Election Tabulations (US President by County)
- ^ U.S. Election Atlas
External links
- Official website of Piscataquis County
- History of Piscataquis County, Maine: From Its Earliest Settlement to 1880. By Amasa Loring. Published 1880.
- Piscataquis County Economic Development Council
- Piscataquis Chamber of Commerce
- Moosehead Lake Region Chamber of Commerce
- Three Rivers Community Alliance
- University of Maine Cooperative Extension Piscataquis County Office
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
