List of counties in Maine

Counties of Maine
Location	State of Maine
Number	16
Populations	16,931 (Piscataquis) – 289,977 (Cumberland)
Areas	370 square miles (960 km^2) (Sagadahoc) – 6,829 square miles (17,690 km^2) (Aroostook)
Government	County government
Subdivisions	cities, towns, plantations, unincorporated territories, census designated place, Indian Reservations

This is a list of the sixteen counties in the U.S. state of Maine. Before statehood, Maine was officially part of the state of Massachusetts and was called the District of Maine. Maine was granted statehood on March 15, 1820 as part of the Missouri Compromise. Nine of the sixteen counties had their borders defined while Maine was still part of Massachusetts, and hence are older than the state itself.^[1] Even after 1820, the exact location of the northern border of Maine was disputed with Britain, until the question was settled and the northern counties took their final, official form by the Webster-Ashburton Treaty, signed in 1842.^[2] Almost all of Aroostook County was disputed land until the treaty was signed.^[1]

The first county to be created was York County, created as York County, Massachusetts by the government of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1652 to govern territories it claimed in southern Maine.^[3] No new counties have been created since 1860, when Knox County and Sagadahoc County were created. The most populous counties tend to be located in the southwestern portion of the state, along the Atlantic seaboard. The largest counties in terms of land area are inland and further north. Maine's county names derive from a mix of British, American, and Native American sources, reflecting Maine's pre-colonial, colonial, and national heritage.^[1]

The Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) code, which is used by the United States government to uniquely identify states and counties, is provided with each entry. Maine's code is 23, which when combined with any county code would be written as 23XXX. The FIPS code for each county links to census data for that county.^[4]

List

County	FIPS County Code [5]	Seat [6]	Established [6]	Origin	Etymology	Population [6][7]	Area [6][7]	Map
Androscoggin County	001	Auburn	1854	From parts of Cumberland County, Kennebec County, and Lincoln County	The Androscoggin Native American tribe.	107,233	497 mi² (1,287 km²)
Aroostook County	003	Houlton	1839	From parts of Penobscot County, and Washington County	A Native American word meaning beautiful river.	68,628	6,829 sq mi (17,687 km^2)
Cumberland County	005	Portland	1761	As Cumberland County, Massachusetts from part of York County	Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, son of George II of Great Britain.	289,977	1,217 sq mi (3,152 km^2)
Franklin County	007	Farmington	1838	From parts of Kennebec County, Oxford County, and Somerset County	Benjamin Franklin, the Founding Father, scientist, printer, and diplomat.	29,991	1,744 sq mi (4,517 km^2)
Hancock County	009	Ellsworth	1790	As Hancock County, Massachusetts, from part of Lincoln County	John Hancock (1737–1793), the Founding Father and president of the convention that produced the United States Declaration of Independence.	54,659	2,351 sq mi (6,089 km^2)
Kennebec County	011	Augusta	1799	As Kennebec County, Massachusetts from part of Lincoln County	The Kennebec River in Maine.	119,980	951 sq mi (2,463 km^2)
Knox County	013	Rockland	1860	From parts of Lincoln County and Waldo County	Henry Knox (1750–1806), the first United States Secretary of War (1789 - 1794), who lived in Thomaston, Maine.	39,855	1,142 sq mi (2,958 km^2)
Lincoln County	015	Wiscasset	1760	As Lincoln County, Massachusetts from part of York County	The city of Lincoln, England.	33,969	700 sq mi (1,813 km^2)
Oxford County	017	Paris	1805	As Oxford County, Massachusetts from parts of Cumberland County and York County	Probably named for Oxford, Massachusetts.	57,202	2,175 sq mi (5,633 km^2)
Penobscot County	019	Bangor	1816	As Penobscot County, Massachusetts from part of Hancock County	The Penobscot Native American tribe.	152,692	3,556 sq mi (9,210 km^2)
Piscataquis County	021	Dover-Foxcroft	1838	From parts of Penobscot County and Somerset County	An Abenaki word meaning rapid waters.	16,931	4,377 sq mi (11,336 km^2)
Sagadahoc County	023	Bath	1854	From part of Lincoln County	A Native American word meaning mouth of big river.	35,149	370 sq mi (958 km^2)
Somerset County	025	Skowhegan	1809	As Somerset County, Massachusetts from parts of Kennebec County	The county of Somerset in England.	51,113	4,095 sq mi (10,606 km^2)
Waldo County	027	Belfast	1827	From parts of Hancock County, Kennebec County and Lincoln County	Samuel Waldo, Maine landowner and a colonial soldier in the 1745 siege of Louisbourg.	39,155	853 sq mi (2,209 km^2)
Washington County	029	Machias	1790	As Washington County, Massachusetts from part of Lincoln County	George Washington, the first President of the United States.	31,625	3,255 sq mi (8,430 km^2)
York County	031	Alfred	1652	As Yorkshire County, Massachusetts from the southern part of the District of Maine. Renamed York County by Massachusetts in 1668	York, England, the birthplace of Christopher Levett who first attempted to settle the area.	201,169	1,271 sq mi (3,292 km^2)

Song

A song is taught to many elementary school children across the state, entitled the Maine County Song, to aid in memorizing the names of the state's 16 counties. It is sung to the tune of Yankee Doodle.

Sixteen counties has our state

Cumberland and Franklin

Piscataquis and Kennebec

Oxford, Androscoggin

Waldo, Washington, and York

Lincoln, Knox, and Hancock

Sagadahoc and Somerset

Aroostook and Penobscot^[8]

An alternate version as put forth by the Maine Secretary of State's Kids' Page:

The sixteen counties in our state

Are Cumberland and Franklin

Piscataquis and Somerset

Aroostook, Androscoggin

Sagadahoc and Kennebec

Lincoln, Knox and Hancock

Waldo, Washington and York

Oxford and Penobscot^[9]

References

1. Clark, Charles E. (1990). Maine: A History. University Press of New England. ISBN 0-87451-520-3.
2. Bassett, John (1913). A Short History of the United States. New York: Macmillan. OCLC 869001. pp. 437–438
3. Clark, Charles E. (1970). The Eastern Frontier: The Settlement of Northern new England, 1610–1763. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. OCLC 94907. p. 50
4. "FIPS Publish 6-4". National Institute of Standards and Technology. Retrieved 2007-04-11.
5. "EPA County FIPS Code Listing". EPA.gov. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
6. National Association of Counties. "NACo - Find a county". Archived from the original on 2008-04-11. Retrieved 2008-04-30.
7. "Maine QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau". State & County QuickFacts. Retrieved 2007-04-18.
8. 16 counties fit nicely in ‘Yankee Doodle’
9. Secretary of State Kid's Page (Home)