Next AppleFest is Sept 26, 2026
Tours will happen when warmer weather arrives! Located at the southern end of Kennebec County in lush agricultural land that has become noted for the production of high quality apples, the town of Monmouth encompasses an area of almost twenty-five square miles. Initially a part of the English Plymouth Company's grant, the town was originally incorporated as a planta
tion and included the territory that is now the town of Wales in Androscoggin County. The first white settlers came from New Meadows (near Brunswick) and the first cabin was built in the town in 1775 by Thomas Gray, an old hunter and trapper, and his son James. Other settlers followed from New Meadows in the next several months and their cabins adorned the many, choice meadows of the growing community. The land on which they settled, and called Freetown, was the lawful property of a Tory, William Vassal, of Boston, who returned after the Revolution to claim his land and to demand outrageous prices for the improvements the settlers had made on "his" lands. The settlers united in the defense of their property, but were eventually forced into settlement of two or three dollars per acre for titles to the land. Henry Dearborn, who made the trip to Quebec with the Arnold expedition to Quebec in 1775, became a general in the Continental Army during the Revolution, served in a similar capacity in the War of 1812, and was later Secretary of War, exchanged some land in his native New Hampshire for 5,000 acres of "wild land" in Maine, and found the early settlers "squatting" on his property here. After settling a fair price for the improvements done to his land, Dearborn built the first house in the settlement. Two of his brothers and six neighbors came from Epping, New Hampshire, to settle on Dearborn's land about 1782. Among the Epping men was John Chandler, who built a frame house across from the present Academy. He was prominent in local, county and state affairs, and was elected one of Maine's two United States senators when statehood was gained in 1820. Probably the first town meeting was held sometime in 1780 and the town had become known as Bloomingboro. At a town meeting held at Ichabod Baker's house at noon, Friday, August 24, 1781, it was voted "that the Destrict wherin we now reside shall be known by the name of Wales . . ." and so the plantation was named out of respect for settler John Welch, whose ancestors had come from Wales. During the Revolution, General Dearborn firmly established his brilliance and skill as a military leader at the Battle of Monmouth, New Jersey. a town meeting held on December 21. 1789, voted to petition for an act of incorporation as a town and to name it Monmouth. The general's brother Simon was chosen to forward the request to the Massachusetts General Court. The act of incorporation passed January 20, 1792. LOCAL GOVERNMENT: From its founding, Monmouth has been governed by an assembly of its citizens who gather annually to determine the extent of expenditures and other major legislation affecting the town for the coming fiscal year in the tradition of the New England town meeting. On occasion special town meetings are called for some specific legislative purpose. At the early town meetings, the citizens delegated the authority for the daily operation of the town government to elected selectmen who are charged with conducting the functions of the executive branch of town government. Since 1948, Monmouth has employed a full-time town manager, who serves in a daily executive capacity, is town clerk, tax collector, and fulfills such other duties as the selectmen and town meeting shall direct. The judicial branch of the local community was served by trial justices and justices of the peace throughout the colonial period of the town's growth and into the nineteenth century. Presently, the judicial needs of the town have been assumed by the state through its district and superior court systems. EDUCATION: Two school districts were established and a school built in the plantation about 1790, and by 1797 there were four districts in the town. By the time Maine became a state in 1820 there were 14 districts in the community. In 1801 ten citizens petitioned the general court for a grant of land in the undeveloped portion of Maine to support a free grammar school. From sources including the Plymouth Company, Lady Elizabeth Temple, John Chandler and General Dearborn, more than $1,500 was raised, and the General Court passed the act of incorporation in 1803 along with a grant of 1500 acres of wild land, later increased to 10,020 acres. From this beginning came Monmouth Academy and its reputation as one of the oldest and best college preparatory schools in the state. Presently the elementary education of the community is consolidated in the Henry L. Cottrell School, just north of the Academy, with a middle school occupying the old Academy building, and a new Monmouth Academy building serves the needs of secondary education as a public high school while retaining the name. THE VILLAGES: The first settlers established themselves on the low lands near the present Wales line, then by the beginning of the nineteenth century there was a substantial settlement on the hill where Monmouth Academy stands today. When the railroad came through Monmouth in 1849 following the level lands abutting the lakes, the center of population shifted to Monmouth Center. As the population grew, settlements at the north, east and south parts of town were established. BUSINESSES AND INDUSTRIES: At the Center, early businesses included Daniel Witherell's and John Hawes' blacksmith shops, Captain Judkins' tavern, Captain Judkins' tannery, General Chandler's potash factory, Ard Macomber's tannery and bark mill, and John Welch, Jr.'s brickyard. Among the businesses at the Center have been a moccasin shop, clothing factory, blanket mill, makers of dowels, barrels, packing cases, and stencils, and a corn shop, all since gone. Businesses likewise developed around the water-power in the north and east parts of the town. Joseph Chandler opened a store at the East in 1807 and about the same time in the North village. Lumber was the earliest industry in the East and in all parts of the town where water-power permitted, lumber and grist mills flourished. The South Monmouth business community began in 1834 with the opening of John Meader's store. Monmouth's Matthew Blossom took a contract to carry mail between Portland and Augusta in 1795, and before the middle of the nineteenth century all four sections of the Monmouth community supported post offices. The Monmouth Mutual Fire Insurance Company was incorporated at the Center and sold insurance throughout the state for many years. A fulling mill went into operation at North Monmouth in 1808, and in 1829 a woolen mill was established there four years after the damming of Wilson Pond. This community boasted such diverse operations as a peg factory, a horse-power factory, tape weaving, heel-iron factory, brickyard, starch factory, grist mill, axe and shovel factory, among others. The first cheese factory, in Monmouth was established in 1881, burned in 1889, it was rebuilt. of cheese and 1400 lbs. of butter a week in 1891. The Monmouth Packing Co., established prior to 1892, provided a market for local agricultural products through preservation and shipping techniques. The industrial community of North Monmouth was virtually wiped out by the disastrous fire of of 1841, and a similar disaster occurred in the Center with the fire of 1888. From the turn of the century, Monmouth's population dropped and the community's ability to attract and maintain employment opportunities waned as well. Within the past three few decades the population has again grown to nearly the level of the 1890 census and a resurgence of job opportunities in the community has meant more job opportunity for local people. Presently Tex Tech Industries, Inc., is North Monmouth's largest employer. Another recent addition to the Monmouth manufacturing interests is A-O-S, Inc., designers and manufacturers of air-supported fabric structures, located on the Prescott Hill Road. AGRICULTURE: The Monmouth Farmers' and Mechanics' Club was organized in the winter of 1871-72, and sponsored town fairs for a number of years. A trotting park was built in 1871 in Monmouth. The Cochnewagan Agricultural Society was formed at a meeting at the Grange Hall, August 31, 1907, and held its first Monmouth Fair that year at the newly acquired Cumston Park, a bequest to the town by Dr. Charles M. Cumston. The eighty-fifth fair was held in 1995, there having been no fairs held during periods of World Wars One and Two. Highmoor Farm was one of the leading horse-breeding farms in the county prior to the turn of the century. It was established by Rev. James R. Day, chancellor of Syracuse University. Today Highmoor Farm conducts extensive research into apple development and other agricultural crops as the State Experimental Farm. Isaac Downing, of East Monmouth, owned "Glengarry," noted for a time of 2.27 which placed him in the listing of each horse bred in Kennebec County that had a record time of 2.30 or better to the close of the season of 1891. The Woolworth Farm at East Monmouth for many years raised and raced fine horses. Clemeadow Farm, currently operated by the third and fourth generation Smiths, on South Main Street, is the community's leading milk producer. Monmouth's apple industry can be traced to 1795 when Isaac Smith settled here from Middleborough, Mass., and started a nursery with some of the hardiest and best fruit. Smith is credited with originating the variety Smith's Favorite. In 1876, one of six leading nurseries, A. Smith and son, Monmouth, cultivated 3,000 trees. In 1892, among the largest orchards and most intelligent, progressive fruit growers in the county were D. Marston, Monmouth, 1,200 trees; Rev. R. Day, Monmouth, 2,600 trees; George W. Waugh. Monmouth, 1,200 trees; George W. Fogg, Monmouth, 1,000 trees. The largest commercial orchard today is Chick Orchards. The J. Day farm is the present Highmoor State Experimental Farm mentioned above. CHURCHES: The first recorded series of religious meetings were held in 1783 and in 1787 a committee was formed to see about establishing a settled minister in the community. The evangelist, Jesse Lee, began his work in Maine in 1793 and the first Methodist class in Maine was held here in 1794. Presently the community is served by the East Monmouth United Methodist Church, North Monmouth Community Church, North Monmouth Pentecostal Assembly, St. Francis Xavier Church of Winthrop, South Monmouth Free Will Baptist Church, United Church of Monmouth, and Victory Baptist Church. ORGANIZATIONS: The Monmouth Grange was organized October 10, 1874, and occupied the hall on Main Street in the Center until recently. Monmouth Lodge, No. 110 A.F. & A.M., was chartered by the Grand Lodge of Maine May 21, 1861. Its first meetings were held over the chapel of the Christian Church in North Monmouth. In 1882 the lodge removed to Monmouth Center and met in the Grange Hall until quarters were completed in the upper story of that building. The lodge later moved to the former Congregational Church building just south of the Center, where it continues to prosper. Among the other community organizations are the PTC Club, for parents of elementary school students; Lions Club, the Monmouth Museum and the Monmouth Historical Society. SUMMER THEATER: Cumston Hall, gift to the town in 1900 from Dr. Charles M. Cumston, contains a magnificent theater which has been home to the Savoyards of Gilbert and Sullivan fame in the 1950's and presently houses the Theater at Monmouth repertory company. Birth Records
Cemeteries
Census Info
Death Records
Fires
Fire Department
Marriages
Probate
Voting
Monmouth Museum
751 Main Street
Monmouth, Maine 04259
207-933-2287
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Located at the southern end of Kennebec County in lush agricultural land that has become noted for the production of high quality apples, the town of Monmouth encompasses an area of almost twenty-five square miles. Birth Records
Cemeteries
Census Info
Death Records
Fires
Fire Department
Marriages
Probate
Voting
Monmouth Museum
751 Main Street
Monmouth, Maine 04259
207-933-2287
