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

190    GAZETTEER    OF MAINE. .

Buren Plantation. The Hammond and Violette Brooks with their
branches, drain the northern and eastern parts, and Railway Brook,
running south into the Little Madawaska, forms a part of the western
boundary. The township is without high hills. The soil is a red loam,
yielding good crops oj wheat, oats, buckwheat and potatoes. The
forest-trees are those common in the region. The settlements are
principally upon the stage-line from Caribou to Van Buren in the
north-eastern part, near the Hammond Brook, upon which is the Cyr
saw-mill. The post-office is at Van Buren.

The plantation was named for the Cyr family, which is numerous
in the town. Cyr Plantation sent 25 men to the aid of the Union cause
in the war of the Rebellion, of whom 11 were lost. The Free
Baptists have recenly erected a neat church in the plantation. There
are four public schoolhouses, valued at $200. The valuation of estates
in 1880 was $28,066. The rate of taxation was 12 mills on the    dollar.

| ;    The population in 1870 was 856. In 1880 it was 558.

i

Dallas Plantation is situated near the centre of    Frank-

i    lin County. It is bounded on the west by Rangeley, and the    south-

! ■    ~    east corner touches the north-west corner of Madrid. It was formerly

|    townships No. 2 and No. 3, Range 1, and No. 2 and No. 3, Range 2,

;    west of the Bingham purchase. The present organization was enacted

in 1845. The most notable topographical feature of the township is a
|    number of peaks of the Saddleback range of mountains, one of which

I    is said to be 4,000 feet in height. Near the top of the mountain is Sad-

J    dleback Pond. There are also three or more ponds at the north-east

! s    corner of the township, and two on the western side, bearing tbe

! I    names of Gull and Little Gull ponds. There is but one public school-

| |    house at the preseut date. The population in 1870 is given in the

j |    Maine Register as 145. In the United States census of 1880 it was 159.

| j    Damariscotta is situated near the centre of Hancock

'    County, on the eastern side of a river of the same name. Nobleboro

_|    bounds it on the north, Bristol on the south, Bremen on tbe east, and

'    Newcastle on the west. The Damariscotta River separates it from the

last, and Biscay and Pemaquid Ponds, lying on the eastern line, divide
!    the town from Bremen. Muddy and Little Ponds are the principal

I.    sheets of water within the limits of the town, tbe first having an area

;    of about three-fourths of a square mile. Rocky Hill, about 150 feet in

height, is the chief eminence. The surface of the town is uneven ;

I    the principal rock is granite, the soil largely a clay loam, and fairly
productive. Hay is the chief crop.

'    The centre of business is Damariscotta Village, at tbe lower falls

^!    and head of navigation on tbe river. A free bridge of 175 feet in

length connects Damariscotta Village with Newcastle, near which is a
ji    station of the Knox and Lincoln Railroad, distant 18 miles from Bath.

|;    The manufactories consist of two saw-mills,—one run by steam-power—

|'    a match factory, several brickyards, a tannery, etc. The town-hall of

II    Damariscotta is a large and elegant building of brick of three stories,
containing in the second story an excellent hall. The town is thrifty,
and the houses in the village and the country are alike in excellent

|    repair. The inhabitants are largely a seafaring people. The river

I'    forms a good harbor; and its shores near the village usually present a