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

BAILEYVILLE.    93

Aurora was one of the “ Lottery Townships,” and was organized as
Plantation No. 27 in 1822, and incorporated as a town in 1831.
Its name is from the mythological name for morning. Its first settlers
w^rere four brothers, Samuel, Benjamin, David and Roswell Silsby, who
took up their abode in the township in 1805. Aurora furnished 27
soldiers in the war for the Union, paying bounties to the amount of
$1,983. There are two public schoolhouses, one of which is of brick ;
both having the value of $600. The valuation of estates in 1870 w^ras
$32,052. In 1880, it is $41,953. The rate of taxation in the latter
year was 19 mills on the dollar. The population in 1870 was 212. In
the census of 1880, it was 218.

AVOll is a central town in the southern part of Franklin County
Phillips bounds it on the north, Strong on tbe east, Weld on tbe wests
and Temple on the south. The form of the town is nearly square?
having an angle toward theN.N.E. Across this northern part, nearly
from west to east, runs Sandy River. At the south-west corner of
the town, with its precipitous southern front in Temple, stands Mount
Blue, whose summit is 2,804 feet above the ocean. Near it, at the
north-west, is Little Blue Mountain. From Mount Blue a line of peaks
extend eastward, decreasing in height until it terminates in the steep
bluff of Stubb’s Mountain, forcing a right angle in the course of Sandy
River. Spruce Mountain is also in this line. South of Stubb’s is
Day’s Mountain, also on the border of the town. Temple Stream rises
on the southern slope of the range. Solitary eminences in other parts
of the town bear the names of Bald Hill, which rests on the north-
western, angle; Phillip’s Hill, south of the former; and Sylvester Hill,
E.S.E. of the last. By the side of Sylvester Hill is the principal pond
in the town. There is no considerable village, and the nearest post-
offices are those in Strong and Phillips, not far from the town border.
There are two saw mills in the town, manufacturing all kinds of house
timber, plank, boards, joists, clapboards and shingles.

Avon is 15 miles north-west of Farmington. The Narrow Gauge
railroad from the latter town to Phillips passes through Avon.

The surface of the town is very uneven in the southern part. The
principal forest trees are maple, white birch, poplar and spruce. The
principal crop for market is hay.

Avon was settled soon after the Revolution, the first settlers being
Captain Joshua Soule and Captain Perkins Allen. These were soon
followed by Moses Dudley, Ebenezer Thompson, Mark Whitten,
Thomas Humphrey, Charles Dwelley, and Samuel and Jesse Ingraham.
The town was incorporated in 1802. Avon has eleven public school
houses ; and the school property is valued at $2,200. The valuation of
estates in 1870 was $149,693. In 1880, it was $149,347. The rate of
taxation in the latter year was 5 mills on a dollar. The population in
1870 was 610. In 1880, it was 571.

Bagadlice, the early name of the peninsula and region about
Castine, in Hancock County.

Baileyville is situated midway of the eastern side of Wash-
ington county, on the west bank of the St. Croix river. It is bounded
on the south by Baring, west by Princeton, and east by New Bruns-