Houlton, Maine

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Houlton is a town in Aroostook County, Maine, on the United States-Canada border, located at 46.13° N 67.84° W. As of the 2000 census, the town population was 6,476. It is perhaps best known as being at the northern terminus of Interstate 95 and for being the birthplace of Samantha Smith.

Houlton is the county seat for Aroostook County, and as such its nickname is the "Shire Town" and the Houlton High School sports teams are named "The Shiretowners". The Meduxnekeag River flows through the heart of the town, and the border with the Canadian province of New Brunswick is three miles east of the town's center. Houlton was the home of Ricker College which closed in 1978.

The town was settled by and named for Joseph Houlton, who immigrated from Massachusetts in 1805. In 1828, the U.S. government established a military post, the Hancock barracks, and Houlton was officially incorporated as a town in 1831. In 1839, when the Aroostook War flared up, Houlton was manned by three companies of the 1^st Artillery Regiment under Major R. M. Kirby. Major Kirby helped to restrain the twelve companies of militia that Maine sent there from starting a shooting war. The post was abandoned in 1847, five years after the Webster-Ashburton Treaty settled the boundary dispute.^[1]

This article describes the town as a whole. Additional demographic detail for the central settlement is available, although the values are also included in the aggregate values in this article. See: Houlton (CDP).

Contents 1 Geography 2 Demographics 3 External links 4 References

[edit] Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 95.2 km² (36.8 mi²). 95.2 km² (36.8 mi²) of it is land and 0.0 km² (0.0 mi²) of it (0.03%) is water.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 6,476 people, 2,677 households, and 1,654 families residing in the town. The population density was 68.0/km² (176.2/mi²). There were 2,994 housing units at an average density of 31.5 persons/km² (81.5 persons/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 94.19% White, 0.29% African American, 4.23% Native American, 0.48% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 0.09% from other races, and 0.63% from two or more races. 0.43% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 2,677 households out of which 29.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.4% were married couples living together, 11.0% have a woman whose husband does not live with her, and 38.2% were non-families. 34.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 18.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.29 and the average family size was 2.94.

In the town the population was spread out with 23.7% under the age of 18, 7.1% from 18 to 24, 26.0% from 25 to 44, 21.9% from 45 to 64, and 21.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 87.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.4 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $26,212, and the median income for a family was $34,812. Males had a median income of $27,623 versus $20,991 for females. The per capita income for the town was $14,007. 17.7% of the population and 13.5% of families were below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 21.0% are under the age of 18 and 15.8% are 65 or older.

[edit] External links

• Houlton Online
• Greater Houlton Chamber of Commerce
• Houlton High School Home Page
• Houlton Community Profile
• Greater Houlton Christian Academy

[edit] References