Historical United States Census totals for Washington County, Maine

This article shows U.S. Census totals for Washington County, Maine, broken down by municipality, from 1900 to 2000.

There are two types of incorporated municipalities in Maine, towns and cities. The tables below differentiate between towns and cities.

Most areas of New England are entirely divided into incorporated municipalities, with no unincorporated territory. In the three northern New England states, however, some unincorporated territory does exist, generally in areas that are very sparsely populated. Maine contains significantly more unincorporated territory than the other states, with the bulk of it in interior and northern counties, including Washington County.

Some unincorporated territory in Maine is organized into a third type of town-level municipality unique to Maine, called a plantation (considered to be “organized”, but not incorporated), while some is entirely unorganized. Washington County also contains two Indian reservations, which are considered to be distinct entities independent from any municipality, although this has not always been the case in the past. Due to the large extent of unincorporated territory in Washington County, separate sections with detailed historical census totals for such areas follow the main tables below. For any census, adding up the totals for each town-level municipality, including any plantations, unorganized entities and Indian reservations (when recognized as independent entities), should yield the county total.

For more information on the New England municipal system, see New England town.

Corporate changes since 1900

1900

County Total: 45,232

Unincorporated territory reported 841 residents. This consisted of 611 residents in organized plantations, and 230 residents in unorganized territory.

1910

County Total: 42,905

Unincorporated territory reported 862 residents. This consisted of 670 residents in organized plantations, and 192 residents in unorganized territory.

1920

County Total: 41,709

Unincorporated territory reported 836 residents. This consisted of 623 residents in organized plantations, and 213 residents in unorganized territory.

1930

County Total: 37,826

Unincorporated territory reported 992 residents. This consisted of 490 residents in organized plantations, and 502 residents in unorganized territory.

1940

County Total: 37,767

Unincorporated territory reported 1,716 residents. This consisted of 725 residents in organized plantations, and 991 residents in unorganized territory. An additional 328 residents lived on an Indian reservation.

1950

County Total: 35,187

Unincorporated territory reported 2,298 residents. This consisted of 520 residents in organized plantations, and 1,778 residents in unorganized territory. An additional 354 residents lived on an Indian reservation.

1960

County Total: 32,908

Unincorporated territory reported 2,081 residents. This consisted of 376 residents in organized plantations, and 1,705 residents in unorganized territory. An additional 330 residents lived on an Indian reservation.

1970

County Total: 29,859

Unincorporated territory reported 1,522 residents. This consisted of 524 residents in organized plantations, and 998 residents in unorganized territory. An additional 600 residents lived on Indian reservations.

1980

County Total: 34,963

Unincorporated territory reported 1,746 residents. This consisted of 728 residents in organized plantations, and 1,018 residents in unorganized territory. An additional 972 residents lived on Indian reservations.

1990

County Total: 35,308

Unincorporated territory reported 1,641 residents. This consisted of 484 residents in organized plantations, and 1,157 residents in unorganized territory. An additional 1,189 residents lived on Indian reservations.

2000

County Total: 33,941

Unincorporated territory reported 1,757 residents. This consisted of 442 residents in organized plantations, and 1,315 residents in unorganized territory. An additional 1,316 residents lived on Indian reservations.

Plantations

As of 1900, Washington County contained six plantations: Codyville, Kossuth, Grand Lake Stream, Lambert Lake, Plantation No. 14, and Plantation No.21 (the last two were in an area originally laid out as sequentially numbered townships, and had simply kept their numbers when they organized as plantations). Kossuth had been incorporated as a town for a time in the 19th century, but had disincorporated and changed to a plantation form of government prior to 1900.

Of the six plantations in existence in 1900, only two remain today, Codyville and Grand Lake Stream. Kossuth and Lambert Lake apparently dissolved during the 1920s, while No. 21 did so in 1983 and No. 14 in 1986. On the other hand, an additional plantation has been added: the former town of Baring, which organized as a plantation in 1961 (Baring had disincorporated as a town in early 1940s). Topsfield also operated as a plantation for a brief period following its disincorporation as a town in 1940; it was reported as a plantation in the 1940 Census, but surrendered its organization as a plantation the following year (1941). Some sources also suggest that Edmunds and Brookton may have briefly operated as plantations following their disincorporations as towns; if they did, their existence as plantations must have been very brief, and did not last long enough for them to be reported as such in a decennial census.

1900

1910

1920

1930

1940

1950

1960

1970

1980

1990

2000

Unorganized Territory

Like all of Maine's interior and northern counties, Washington County contains a significant amount of unorganized territory. Most of the unorganized territory in Washington County is in areas which have historically been very sparsely populated. The southern and southeastern parts of the county, along the coast, were historically fully incorporated. Further inland, lower-lying areas with access to lakes and rivers have generally been incorporated or organized, while more mountainous or remote areas have often never had any significant population and have remained unorganized. The area along the western edge of the county, bordering Hancock County, is largely unorganized, down to a point just a few towns away from the coast.

Historically, about two-thirds of the county’s land area was incorporated or organized, leaving the remaining one-third unorganized. There are approximately 25 townships in the county which have never been organized, along with a few others which never advanced beyond the plantation stage. Washington County saw one town disincorporation as early as 1895 (Kossuth), followed by another in 1924 (Forest City).

Between 1935 and 1945, a large number of municipalities in Maine dissolved and reverted to unorganized townships. In Washington County, this included six communities which had historically been towns (Edmunds, Marion, Topsfield, Baring, Brookton and Trescott). Since that time, Piscataquis County has both gained and lost municipalities. In the 1960s, Topsfield re-incorporated as a town, and the former town of Baring organized as a plantation. In the 1980s, two plantations dissolved (No. 14 and No. 21), and in 2004 the town of Centerville disincorporated.

The areas of Hancock County that are entirely unorganized cover about 1,000 square miles (2,600 km2), with a population of about 1,300. This covers about 40% of the county’s land area, but includes less than 4% of its population. Six unorganized townships have large enough populations to maintain a registrar and clerk to conduct elections for state and federal offices, although they do not have true organized municipal governments: Brookton, Centerville, Edmunds, No. 14, No.21 and No. 27. All except No. 27 were incorporated towns or organized plantations at one time.

Over the years, the U.S. Census Bureau has used different methods to compile data for unorganized territory in Maine. From 1900 to 1950, data was tabulated for each individual unorganized entity. In 1960, a single catch-all “Unorganized Territory” listing was provided for each Maine county, generally with no further breakdown. Since 1970, the Census has grouped contiguous areas in each county into one or more “unorganized territories”. As of the 2000 Census, two such areas are recognized within Hancock County:

The roster of Unorganized Territories in Washington County has not changed since Unorganized Territories were first created for the 1970 Census.

The listings below provide population figures for 1) all unincorporated territory, including plantations; 2) organized plantations, for which breakouts are available in the main tables above; and 3) unorganized territory, with any available breakouts provided.

1900

All unincorporated territory 841

Organized plantations 611

Unorganized territory 230

1910

All unincorporated territory 862

Organized plantations 670

Unorganized territory 192

1920

All unincorporated territory 836

Organized plantations 623

Unorganized territory 213

1930

All unincorporated territory 992

Organized plantations 490

Unorganized territory 502

1940

All unincorporated territory 1,716

Organized plantations 725

Unorganized territory 991

1950

All unincorporated territory 2,298

Organized plantations 520

Unorganized territory 1,778

1960

All unincorporated territory 2,081

Organized plantations 376

Unorganized territory 1,705

The 1960 Census reported all unorganized territory in Washington County under a single catch-all listing. No breakdown is available.

1970

All unincorporated territory 1,522

Organized plantations 524

Unorganized territory 998

1980

All unincorporated territory 1,746

Organized plantations 728

Unorganized territory 1,018

1990

All unincorporated territory 1,641

Organized plantations 484

Unorganized territory 1,157

2000

All unincorporated territory 1,757

Organized plantations 442

Unorganized territory 1,315

Note: the unorganized townships in Washington County are on several different grids:

Indian Reservations

Maine contains three federally recognized Indian reservations. Two of these are in Washington County, both under the jurisdiction of the Passamaquoddy tribe. These are the Passamaquoddy Indian Township Reservation and the Passamaquoddy Pleasant Point Reservation. Maine currently treats Indian reservations as distinct entities, not part of any organized municipality or unorganized entity. This has not always been the case in the past; at one time, present-day reservation land was regarded as part of the municipalities or unorganized entities within which it is geographically located.

The Pleasant Point Reservation, the smaller of the two reservations, is an enclave in the town of Perry, with a short border with the city of Eastport. It covers less than half of a square mile. The larger Indian Township Reservation occupies an entire survey township, bordered by Grand Lake Stream Plantation and the towns of Waite and Princeton, along Grand Falls Lake. It has a land area of about 37 square miles (96 km2).

Treatment of the reservations by the State of Maine, and by the Census Bureau, has varied over time. The Passamaquoddy Pleasant Point Reservation was first recognized in the 1940 Census, where it was referred to simply as the “Passamaquoddy Indian Reservation”. The Census began referring to it by its present name in 1970. Prior to 1940, the population of the present-day reservation appears to have been included with the town of Perry.

Passamaquoddy Indian Township Reservation was first recognized by the Census under that name in 1970. Because it covers an area originally considered to be an entire survey township, however, its population can be tracked for all censuses from 1900 to 1950, though it was being treated as an unorganized township at the time, not as an Indian reservation (it was usually referred to in Census listings as “Indian Township” or “Indiantown Township”). See the “Unorganized Territory” section for population totals. In 1960, a separate breakout for Indian Township was not provided, as the Census had discontinued the practice of publishing totals for each individual unorganized township.

The population of the reservations has been recorded as follows:

1940

1950

1960

1970

Total: 600

1980

Total: 972

1990

Total: 1,189

2000

Total: 1,315

Notes

1970 Census

The Census Bureau made a number of revisions to 1970 census totals subsequent to their initial release:

1990 Census

The 1990 Census reports show Baring as a town. This appears to have been in error, as both the 1980 and 2000 Census reports show Baring as a plantation, the 1990 Census reports make no other reference to this change, and the author of this article has found no other evidence suggesting that Baring was a town around the time of the 1990 Census. Until information to the contrary is discovered, this article assumes that Baring should have been shown as a plantation in 1990.

See also

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