Unity (town), Maine

Unity is a town in Waldo County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,889 at the 2000 census. The town is the service center for the northern portion of Waldo County. Outside the county, it is best known as the home of the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association and Unity College, which the townspeople founded in 1965 to offset the economic effects of the declining chicken farming industry. As of 2007, the college is the town's largest employer.

When originally settled by Quakers, the town was known as Twenty-Five Mile Pond Plantation. The name came from its being located on a pond twenty five miles from Fort Halifax in Winslow. The name was changed to Unity upon incorporation as a town in 1804.

Notable residents

* Bates College president and English scholar George Colby Chase was born in Unity in 1844.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 41.8 square miles (108.3 km²), of which, 39.5 square miles (102.4 km²) of it is land and 2.3 square miles (5.9 km²) of it (5.45%) is water.

Demographics

As of the censusGR|2 of 2000, there were 1,889 people, 713 households, and 419 families residing in the town. The population density was 47.8 people per square mile (18.4/km²). There were 926 housing units at an average density of 23.4/sq mi (9.0/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 97.72% White, 0.32% Black or African American, 0.42% Native American, 0.26% Asian, 0.11% from other races, and 1.16% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.74% of the population.

There were 713 households out of which 27.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.6% were married couples living together, 10.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.2% were non-families. 32.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.27 and the average family size was 2.89.

In the town the population was spread out with 20.1% under the age of 18, 22.8% from 18 to 24, 22.6% from 25 to 44, 21.4% from 45 to 64, and 13.2% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 32 years. For every 100 females there were 100.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 103.2 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $26,927, and the median income for a family was $36,696. Males had a median income of $29,398 versus $22,708 for females. The per capita income for the town is $15,086. About 18.6% of families and 21.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 26.3% of those under age 18 and 16.1% of those age 65 or over.

References

Further reading

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