Orrington, Maine

Orrington, Maine
—  Town  —
Orrington, Maine Location within the state of Maine
Coordinates: 44°43′17″N 68°47′21″W / 44.72139°N 68.78917°W / 44.72139; -68.78917
Country	United States
State	Maine
County	Penobscot
Area
– Total	27.5 sq mi (71.2 km2)
– Land	25.4 sq mi (65.8 km2)
– Water	2.1 sq mi (5.4 km2)
Elevation	118 ft (36 m)
Population (2000)
– Total	3,526
– Density	138.8/sq mi (53.6/km2)
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
– Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code	04474
Area code(s)	207
FIPS code	23-55680
GNIS feature ID	0582652
Website	www.orrington.govoffice.com

Orrington is a town in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. The population was 3,526 at the 2000 census.

History

Orrington was originally part of Condustiegg (or Kenduskeag) Plantation, which also included the present-day cities of Bangor and Brewer. Orrington was incorporated as a town in 1788 with its major village at Brewer, then called "New Worcester". Bangor incorporated three years later in 1791. Brewer broke away from Orrington in 1812 to form a separate town.

The name "Orrington" reportedly resulted from a spelling mistake. The settlers intended to name it "Orangetown" after Orangetown, Maryland, but it was written on the record-books in distant Massachusetts, of which Maine was then a territory, as "Orrington". "Orring" was a not unreasonable phonetic rendering of "orange" before the standardization of spelling.^[1]

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 27.5 square miles (71 km²), of which, 25.4 square miles (66 km²) of it is land and 2.1 square miles (5.4 km²) of it (7.64%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census^[2] of 2000, there were 3,526 people, 1,396 households, and 1,042 families residing in the town. The population density was 138.8 people per square mile (53.6/km²). There were 1,489 housing units at an average density of 58.6 per square mile (22.6/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 99.09% White, 0.20% African American, 0.11% Native American, 0.23% Asian, 0.03% from other races, and 0.34% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.14% of the population.

There were 1,396 households out of which 32.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.3% were married couples living together, 7.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.3% were non-families. 19.3% 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 2.52 and the average family size was 2.89.

In the town the population was spread out with 23.6% under the age of 18, 5.8% from 18 to 24, 29.8% from 25 to 44, 28.8% from 45 to 64, and 12.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 99.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.7 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $44,327, and the median income for a family was $47,803. Males had a median income of $35,250 versus $27,381 for females. The per capita income for the town was $19,290. About 2.4% of families and 4.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.6% of those under age 18 and 5.8% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

• Ebenezer M. Chamberlain (1805–1861), congressman from Indiana.
• Greenleaf A. Goodale, brig. general in Spanish-American War
• Stephen King, author.^{[citation needed]}
• Molly Kool, first female master mariner in North America.
• Benjamin Franklin Mudge (1817–1879), geologist, paleontologist.
• Enoch Mudge, first American-born Methodist minister, state congressman.^{[citation needed]}
• Thomas H. Mudge, Methodist minister, professor of theology.
• Zachariah A. Mudge, Methodist clergyman, author.
• Edward A. Pierce, Wall St. banker, one of founders of Merrill, Lynch, Pierce, Fenner, and Smith, Inc., now Merrill Lynch

References

1. ^ George J. Varney, Gazetteer of the State of Maine (Boston, 1886)
2. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 

External links

• Town of Orrington

Coordinates: 44°43′52″N 68°49′35″W / 44.73111°N 68.82639°W / 44.73111; -68.82639