Gazetteer of the State of Maine With Numerous Illustrations, by Geo. J. Varney

BOSTON: PUBLISHED BY B. B. RUSSELL, 57 CORNHILL. 1882. Public domain image from

162    GAZETTEER    OF    MAINE.

Caratunk Plantation lies on the eastern bank of Ken- *
ebec River, 40 miles north of Skowhegan, on the stage-road to Canada.

This township is nearly one-third larger than its neighbors. The sur-
face is quite uneven. A range of highlands runs along the river,

Movie Mountain occupies the central part of the township, and Pleas-
ant Pond Mountain stands in the northern part. West of it lies the
sheet of water from which it is named, having an area of 3 square
miles. The Baker Ponds lie in the eastern part of the town, the
Heald Ponds in the south, and in the south-west are the Bog Ponds.

The principal settlements are on Pleasant Pond Stream, and along the
road to the Forks, between the highlands and the river. The planta-
tion has three lumber-mills, and a small axe and cant-dog factory.

There are four public schoolhouses, and the school property has a
value of $1,000. The first settlement w^ras in 1810 ; the organization
in 1840. The population in 1870 was 214. In the census of 1880 the
figures were massed in the returns with those of Carrying Place,

Pleasant Ridge, the Forks and Moxie Plantations, making in the
aggregate 981.

Caribou is situated in the north-eastern part of Aroostook
County, at the junction of the Madawaska with the Aroostook River.

It comprises two contiguous townships ; the northern one having for-
merly been Forestville Plantation, while the southern comprised Lyn-
don on the west, and the Eaton Grant, lying in the north-eastern bend
of the Aroostook. The principal hills, and these not large enough to
have a name upon the map, are a little south-east of the middle of the
town, enclosed in a bend of the Aroostook. Limestone is the prevail-
ing rock. The soil is a dark loam, yielding excellent crops of wheat,
oats and potatoes. Maple, birch, cedar and spruce form the hulk of
the forest trees. The Aroostook River passes up through the southern
half to the centre of the town, then turning to the south-east, passes
out on the eastern side. Caribou Stream enters from the west, dis-
charging into the Aroostook at Caribou Village, near the center of
the town. The Little Madawaska River comes down through the
northern part of the town, forming a junction with the Aroostook
near the eastern line. Otter Brook flows in from the north-west be-
tween the two other streams ; while near the southern line of the
town Hardwood Creek comes into the Aroostook from the west. There
are several other streams of considerable size, forming a remarkable
confluence of water-courses, several of which afford some available
water-power. There are mills on the Little Madawaska near the
middle of the town, on the eastern side, and on Otter Brook, near its    ;<

junction with the Aroostook; but the large number are on_# Caribou    ^

Stream, at Caribou Village. There are here saw, planing, carpentry,    ^

shingle and grist mills, and a starch-factory, four of which are run by
steam-power. Boots and shoes and harnesses are the principal other
manufactures. This town is the terminus of the New Brunswick
Railway from Frederickton and Woodstock, N. B., and of stage-lines
to Van Buren, New Sweden, and Fort Fairfield. It was incorporated
April 5, 1859.

There are meetings of the Baptists, Methodists, Congregationalists,
Umversalists and Episcopalians, some of which societies have houses of
worship. There is a high-school at the village a part of the year.