Brooksville, Maine
Encyclopedia
Brooksville is a town
in Hancock County, Maine
, United States
. As of the 2010 census, the town population was 934. It contains the villages of North Brooksville, South Brooksville (on Buck's Harbor), West Brooksville, Brooksville Corner, and Harborside (on Cape Rosier).
. 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
, which then governed Maine.
The surface of the town abounds with granite
, and several quarries
were established. The soil is a clay loam
, which yielded wheat
and potato
es. Buck's Harbor, safe and deep, is one of the best coves in the region for small boats, and many residents became involved in the coasting trade and fisheries
. By 1880, when the population was 1,419, Brooksville had a porgy
oil
factory, two sawmill
s, a shingle mill
, a planing mill
, two gristmill
s, a wool
carding
mill, and a cloth and yarn
factory.
, the town has a total area of 51.1 square miles (132.3 km²), of which, 31.1 square miles (80.5 km²) of it is land and 20 square miles (51.8 km²) of it (39.12%) is water. 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. It has 53.75 miles (86.5 km) of shoreline.
Brooksville is crossed by state routes 175 and 176.
of 2000, there were 911 people, 412 households, and 278 families residing in the town. The population density
was 29.3 people per square mile (11.3/km²). There were 791 housing units at an average density of 25.4 per square mile (9.8/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 98.68% White, 0.44% Asian, 0.22% Pacific Islander, and 0.66% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.33% of the population.
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 per capita income
for the town was $23,565. About 7.6% of families and 9.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.5% of those under age 18 and 2.2% of those age 65 or over.
New England town
The New England town is the basic unit of local government in each of the six New England states. Without a direct counterpart in most other U.S. states, New England towns are conceptually similar to civil townships in other states, but are incorporated, possessing powers like cities in other...
in Hancock County, Maine
Hancock County, Maine
Hancock County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maine. As of 2010, the population was 54,418. Its county seat is Ellsworth. It was incorporated on June 25, 1789...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. As of the 2010 census, the town population was 934. It contains the villages of North Brooksville, South Brooksville (on Buck's Harbor), West Brooksville, Brooksville Corner, and Harborside (on Cape Rosier).
History
It was first settled by John Wasson, Samuel Wasson and David Hawes, soldiers in the Revolutionary WarAmerican Revolution
The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
. Incorporated on June 13, 1817, the town was formed from parts of Castine
Castine, Maine
Castine is a town in Hancock County, Maine, United States and was once the capital of Acadia . The population was 1,343 at the 2000 census. Castine is the home of Maine Maritime Academy, a four-year institution that graduates officers and engineers for the United States Merchant Marine and marine...
, Penobscot
Penobscot, Maine
Penobscot is a town in Hancock County, Maine, United States. The Bagaduce River runs through the town. The population was 1,344 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...
and Sedgwick
Sedgwick, Maine
Sedgwick is a town in Hancock County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,102 at the 2000 census. The town includes the village of Sargentville....
. It was named Brooksville after Governor John Brooks
John Brooks
John Brooks was the 11th Governor of Massachusetts from 1816 to 1823; he was the last significant Federalist elected official in office in the United States....
of Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, which then governed Maine.
The surface of the town abounds with granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
, and several quarries
Quarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...
were established. The soil is a clay loam
Loam
Loam is soil composed of sand, silt, and clay in relatively even concentration . Loam soils generally contain more nutrients and humus than sandy soils, have better infiltration and drainage than silty soils, and are easier to till than clay soils...
, which yielded wheat
Wheat
Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
and potato
Potato
The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family . The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well as the edible tuber. In the region of the Andes, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species...
es. Buck's Harbor, safe and deep, is one of the best coves in the region for small boats, and many residents became involved in the coasting trade and fisheries
Fishery
Generally, a fishery is an entity engaged in raising or harvesting fish which is determined by some authority to be a fishery. According to the FAO, a fishery is typically defined in terms of the "people involved, species or type of fish, area of water or seabed, method of fishing, class of boats,...
. By 1880, when the population was 1,419, Brooksville had a porgy
Sparidae
The Sparidae is a family of fish, included in the order Perciformes. The fish of the family are commonly called sea breams and porgies . The sheepshead, scup, and red sea bream are species in this family. They are found in shallow temperate and tropical waters and are bottom-dwelling carnivores....
oil
Fish oil
Fish oil is oil derived from the tissues of oily fish. Fish oils contain the omega-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid , and docosahexaenoic acid , precursors of certain eicosanoids that are known to reduce inflammation throughout the body, and are thought to have many health benefits.Fish do not...
factory, two sawmill
Sawmill
A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....
s, a shingle mill
Roof shingle
Roof shingles are a roof covering consisting of individual overlapping elements. These elements are typically flat rectangular shapes laid in rows from the bottom edge of the roof up, with each successive higher row overlapping the joints in the row below...
, a planing mill
Planing mill
A planing mill is a facility that takes cut and seasoned boards from a sawmill and turns them into finished dimensional lumber. Machines used in the mill include the planer and matcher, the molding machines, and varieties of saws...
, two gristmill
Gristmill
The terms gristmill or grist mill can refer either to a building in which grain is ground into flour, or to the grinding mechanism itself.- Early history :...
s, a wool
Wool
Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....
carding
Carding
Carding is a mechanical process that breaks up locks and unorganised clumps of fibre and then aligns the individual fibres so that they are more or less parallel with each other. The word is derived from the Latin carduus meaning teasel, as dried vegetable teasels were first used to comb the raw wool...
mill, and a cloth and yarn
Yarn
Yarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibres, suitable for use in the production of textiles, sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery and ropemaking. Thread is a type of yarn intended for sewing by hand or machine. Modern manufactured sewing threads may be finished with wax or...
factory.
Geography
According to the United States Census BureauUnited States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the town has a total area of 51.1 square miles (132.3 km²), of which, 31.1 square miles (80.5 km²) of it is land and 20 square miles (51.8 km²) of it (39.12%) is water. Brooksville is bounded on the west by Penobscot Bay
Penobscot Bay
Penobscot Bay originates from the mouth of Maine's Penobscot River. There are many islands in this bay, and on them, some of the country's most well-known summer colonies. The bay served as portal for the one time "lumber capital of the world," namely; the city of Bangor...
, on the north and east by the Bagaduce River
Bagaduce River
The Bagaduce River is a tidal river in the Hancock County, Maine that empties into Penobscot Bay near the town of Castine. From the confluence of Black Brook and the outflow of Walker Pond , the river runs about north, northwest, and southwest, forming the border between Brooksville on its left...
(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. It has 53.75 miles (86.5 km) of shoreline.
Brooksville is crossed by state routes 175 and 176.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 911 people, 412 households, and 278 families residing in the town. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 29.3 people per square mile (11.3/km²). There were 791 housing units at an average density of 25.4 per square mile (9.8/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 98.68% White, 0.44% Asian, 0.22% Pacific Islander, and 0.66% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.33% of the population.
There were 412 households out of which 23.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.7% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
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 per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the town was $23,565. About 7.6% of families and 9.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.5% of those under age 18 and 2.2% of those age 65 or over.
Points of interest
- Four Season Farm, the nationally-known organic farm of Eliot ColemanEliot ColemanEliot Coleman is an American farmer, author, agricultural researcher and educator, and proponent of organic farming. His 1989 book, The New Organic Grower, is important reading for organic farmers and market gardeners. He served for two years as Executive Director of the International Federation...
and Barbara DamroschBarbara DamroschBarbara Damrosch is a professional in the field of horticulture, a writer, and co-owner of the Four Season Farm. From 1979 to 1992, she was the owner of a company by the name of Barbara Damrosch Landscape Design. She operated this company in Washington, Connecticut. Her book The Garden Primer...
. - Good Life Center, the hand-built last home of Helen and Scott NearingHelen and Scott NearingHelen Knothe Nearing and Scott Nearing were well-known American back-to-the-landers who wrote extensively about their experience living what they termed "the good life".- Philosophy :...
, dedicated to advancing their vision of social justice and simple living. - The massive gravel pitGravel pitGravel pit is the term for an open cast working for extraction of gravel. Gravel pits often lie in river valleys where the water table is high, so they may fill naturally with water to form ponds or lakes. Old, abandoned gravel pits are normally used either as nature reserves, or as amenity areas...
on Varnumville Road, once the best farmland in the town but now minedMiningMining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
for gravelGravelGravel is composed of unconsolidated rock fragments that have a general particle size range and include size classes from granule- to boulder-sized fragments. Gravel can be sub-categorized into granule and cobble...
and also used as an illegal dumping site for toxic chemicals. A garbage fire burned there from Christmas of 2001 to May 2002. While the local community has made some efforts to draw government attention to the situation, as of the present date little has been done. - Brooksville Historical Society Museum
- Holbrook Island Sanctuary, a protected natural area on Penobscot BayPenobscot BayPenobscot Bay originates from the mouth of Maine's Penobscot River. There are many islands in this bay, and on them, some of the country's most well-known summer colonies. The bay served as portal for the one time "lumber capital of the world," namely; the city of Bangor...
for hiking and wildlife watching. - The reversing falls on the Bagaduce RiverBagaduce RiverThe Bagaduce River is a tidal river in the Hancock County, Maine that empties into Penobscot Bay near the town of Castine. From the confluence of Black Brook and the outflow of Walker Pond , the river runs about north, northwest, and southwest, forming the border between Brooksville on its left...
at Davis Narrows, where Routes 175 and 176 cross the river.
Notable people
- Clarence Milville Condon (1875–1916), Medal of Honor recipient during the Philippine American War
- Archibald CoxArchibald CoxArchibald Cox, Jr., was an American lawyer and law professor who served as U.S. Solicitor General under President John F. Kennedy. He became known as the first special prosecutor for the Watergate scandal. During his career, he was a pioneering expert on labor law and also an authority on...
(1912–2004), Harvard law professor, Solicitor General, first special prosecutor in the Watergate scandalWatergate scandalThe Watergate scandal was a political scandal during the 1970s in the United States resulting from the break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C., and the Nixon administration's attempted cover-up of its involvement... - John MackJohn Mack (Medal of Honor recipient)Michael Connelly was a United States Navy sailor and a Medal of Honor recipient for his role in the American Civil War. He served under the name John Mack....
(1843–1865), Civil War seaman, Medal of Honor recipient - Robert McCloskeyRobert McCloskeyRobert McCloskey was an American author and illustrator of children's books. McCloskey wrote and illustrated eight books, two of which won the Caldecott Medal, the American Library Association's annual award of distinction for children's book illustration.Many of McCloskey's books were set on the...
(1914–2003), award-winning author and illustrator of children's books - Helen and Scott NearingHelen and Scott NearingHelen Knothe Nearing and Scott Nearing were well-known American back-to-the-landers who wrote extensively about their experience living what they termed "the good life".- Philosophy :...
, authors, socialists, advocates of simple living - Eliot ColemanEliot ColemanEliot Coleman is an American farmer, author, agricultural researcher and educator, and proponent of organic farming. His 1989 book, The New Organic Grower, is important reading for organic farmers and market gardeners. He served for two years as Executive Director of the International Federation...
, farmer, author, agricultural researcher and educator, and proponent of organic farming - Melissa ColemanMelissa ColemanMelissa Coleman is an American author, columnist, and writer best known as the author of This Life Is in Your Hands, a childhood memoir exploring her iconic family's search for a sustainable lifestyle....
, author, columnist, and writer - Peter SuberPeter SuberPeter Suber is the creator of the game Nomic and a leading voice in the open access movement. He is a senior research professor of philosophy at Earlham College, the open access project director at Public Knowledge, a senior researcher at SPARC , and a Fellow at Harvard's and...
, a leader in the movement for open access to research - David Atwood WassonDavid Atwood WassonDavid Atwood Wasson was an American minister and Transcendentalist author, an essayist and poet. He was early influenced by Thomas Carlyle, an influence he would shed; he is usually regarded as a disciple of Ralph Waldo Emerson.-Life:...
(1823–1887), early American intellectual leader
Further reading
- Jean Hay Bright, Meanwhile, Next Door to the Good Life, Dixmont, Maine: BrightBerry Press, 2003.
- Ellenore W. Doudiet, Majabigwaduce: Castine, Penobscot, Brooksville, Castine Scientific Society, 1978.
- Stanley Joseph and Lynn Karlin, Maine Farm: A Year of Country Life, Random House, 1991.
- 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.