Fairfield, Maine

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Coordinates: 44°37′20″N 69°37′58″W / 44.62222, -69.63278
Fairfield, Maine

Fairfield, Maine Location within the state of Maine
Country	United States
State	Maine
County	Somerset
Incorporated	1788
Area
- Total	54.6 sq mi (141.5 km²)
- Land	53.8 sq mi (139.3 km²)
- Water	0.9 sq mi (2.2 km²)
Elevation	207 ft (63 m)
Population (2000)
- Total	6,573
- Density	122.3/sq mi (47.2/km²)
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code	04937
Area code(s)	207
FIPS code	23-24320
GNIS feature ID	0582471

Fairfield is a town in Somerset County, Maine, United States. The population was 6,573 at the 2000 census. The town includes Fairfield Center, Fairfield village and Hinckley. It is home to the Good Will-Hinckley School, Lawrence High School and Kennebec Valley Community College.

1 History
2 Geography
3 Demographics
4 Sites of interest
5 References
6 External links

[edit] History

Dam at Shawmut in 1908

The area was territory of the Canibas tribe of Abenaki Indians residing at Taconnet village, once located downriver at the confluence of the Sebasticook River with the Kennebec River in what is today Winslow. But in 1692 during King William's War, the village was burned, so the Canibas tribe abandoned the area. The French and Indian Wars finally ended in 1763, leaving the region open for English colonization. Fairfield Plantation, named for its fair aspect, was first settled 1774.

Benedict Arnold and his troops rested and re-provisioned here in 1775 during their march up the Kennebec River to the ill-fated Battle of Quebec. Following the Revolutionary War, Fairfield Plantation developed as a trade and agricultural town, with farms producing hay, grain and potatoes. It was noted for the number and quality of its cattle. On June 18, 1788, it was incorporated as Fairfield. By 1790, the community had 492 inhabitants. In 1837, it produced 11,531 bushels of wheat and a large quantity of wool.

Falls on the Kennebec drop 34 feet at Fairfield, providing water power for industry. The mill town had 8 sawmills, 3 planing mills, a gristmill, a canned corn factory, plaster mill, 3 carriage factories, a sled factory, 2 door, sash and blind factories, a cabinet and box factory, coffin factory, a clothing factory, a marble works and a tannery. The largest factories were the textile plants -- Kendall's Mills in the southeastern extremity of the town, and Somerset Mills located about 2 miles above. The Somerset branch of the Maine Central Railroad connected Fairfield with Waterville and Skowhegan.

In 1889, Reverend George W. Hinckley founded the Hinckley School. In 1899-1900, The Gerald Hotel was built downtown. Designed by noted Maine architect William Robinson Miller, it was commissioned by Amos F. Gerald, builder of the first electric trolley system in Maine. The hotel was topped with a statue of Mercury, the Roman god of speed, and remained in operation from 1900 until 1937. Miller also designed the town's Lawrence Public Library, dedicated on July 25, 1901, and the Lawrence High School. Today, Fairfield makes wood and paper products, and is largely a bedroom community for Waterville.

The town has 3 post offices because it contains 3 different unincorporated townships under municipal jurisdiction of the town of Fairfield:

Fairfield Center (no post office)
Shawmut (post office location)
Hinckley (post office location)

The third post office serves the incorporated urban Fairfield (CDP), an early name for which was Kendall's Mills. For approximately 75 years, the urban district was under a village corporation government. Thus, the town would hold New England style town meetings that covered business for the greater town, followed by a village corporation meeting to deal with urban needs, including police service, fire department service and town engineer service (public works). The non-urban, unincorporated areas -- Shawmut, Fairfield Center and Hinckley -- were not assessed taxes for urban services they did not receive. This arrangement ended in 1929.

[edit] Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 54.6 square miles (141.5 km²), of which, 53.8 square miles (139.3 km²) of it is land and 0.9 square miles (2.2 km²) of it (1.56%) is water. Fairfield is drained by the Kennebec River.

[edit] Demographics

See also: Fairfield (CDP), Maine

The Gerald Hotel in 1905

As of the census^[1] of 2000, there were 6,573 people, 2,586 households, and 1,773 families residing in the town. The population density was 122.3 people per square mile (47.2/km²). There were 2,801 housing units at an average density of 52.1/sq mi (20.1/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 97.92% White, 0.35% Black or African American, 0.33% Native American, 0.27% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 0.05% from other races, and 1.03% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.30% of the population.

There were 2,586 households out of which 33.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.0% were married couples living together, 11.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.4% were non-families. 24.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 2.92.

Bridge and woolen mill in 1905

In the town the population was spread out with 26.8% under the age of 18, 7.2% from 18 to 24, 30.6% from 25 to 44, 23.4% from 45 to 64, and 12.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 94.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.7 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $36,462, and the median income for a family was $43,533. Males had a median income of $31,227 versus $22,930 for females. The per capita income for the town was $16,335. About 6.3% of families and 10.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.8% of those under age 18 and 12.4% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Sites of interest

L. C. Bates Museum
Cotton-Smith House, Fairfield Historical Society Museum
Stone historical markers commemorating:
- Benedict Arnold's 1775 encampment -- north end of Main Street at its merger with Route 201.
- Veterans of American conflicts in Panama, Grenada, Lebanon, Libya and the Gulf War -- across from Fairfield Primary School.