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

NUMBER TWO PLANTATION.    403

powers bear the name of Steep Falls, having an aggregate fall of 56
feet in 15 rods. There are here two grain mills, a tannery, and fur-
niture, patent board box, shovel-handle, boot and shoe, clothing and
carriage factories, a stave and shook-mill, a planing-mill, a machine
shop, a cloth and carding-mill, harness and trunk-makers, etc. On
streams, in other quarters of the town, are three saw-mills. Noble
Corners, at the northern part of the town, shows quite a cluster of
houses. The nearest railroad station for most of the town is at South
Paris, scarcely a mile from Norway Village. The stage-line from South
Paris to Bridgton and Fryeburg runs through this town. The scenery
of Norway, varied with so many hills and ponds and intersected by
good roads is very agreeable to look upon, and easy of passage. The
village has several handsome residences, and its streets are ornamented
with shade trees. On the outskirts of the village, on the south are
the fair grounds. Norway Branch r.r. connects with the Grand Trunk.

Norway is composed of a tract of about 6,000 acres, purchased of
Massachusetts in 1787, and another of the same size granted to Mr.
Lee, and known as the Lee Grant, two other tracts known as Cum-
ming’s Gore and Kent Gore, and three tiers of lots taken from the
plantation of Waterford. The settlement came about in thiswise:
James Stinchfield, Jonas Stevens and some others, came to hunt about
the ponds, and finding such beautiful growths of wood and other in-
dications of a good soil, determined to settle here. Accordingly, in
1786, Stevens, his brother Joseph, Jeremiah and Amos Hobbs, and
George Lessley, came in, made clearings and built houses, and in due
^    time    brought    in their families. A Captain Rust had become a large

proprietor of land here, and performed many generous acts toward
the settlers, for which he was much beloved and esteemed, so that the
plantation adopted his name until its incorporation. This occurred
March 9, 1797; and the present name was then adbpted with the pur-
pose to honor the nation which dwelt in Norway, in Europe. Many
of the early settlers were soldiers in the Revolution, one of whom,
Phineas Whitney, served throughout the war, and was at the battle of
Bunker Hill, being one of the last to leave the field. In 1843 the entire
records of the town were destroyed by fire.

The Norway Savings Bank in Norway Village, at the beginning of
the fiscal year of 1880, held in deposits and accrued profits the sum of
$149,088.28. Norway National Bank has a capital of $100,000. The
newspapers are “The New Religion,” and the “Oxford County Ad-
vertiser.” They are spirited and able papers. As indicated, the former
is a paper with a theological purpose, and the views it advocates are
those held by the Universalist denomination.

The first church was formed in this town ahout 1802 ; and the Rev.
^    Noah    Cressey    was ordained Sept. 20, 1809. There are now a Univer-

salist and a Free Baptist church, two belonging to the Methodists and
two to the Congregationalists. There is a circulating library of nearly
700 volumes at the village. The Norway Liberal Institute is a flourish-
ing school of a high grade. The number of public schoolhouses is
seventeen, having, with appurtenances, a value of $6,000. The popu-
lation in 1870 was 1,954. In 1880 it was 2,519. The valuation of
estates in 1870 was $641,644. In 1880 it was $889,863.

Number Two Plantation (Grand Fails) lies on the