Prepared with information from: Maine County Commissioners Association and
Eastern Maine Development Corporation
April 7, 1999
County government is Maine's oldest form of government, pre-dating statehood and even the Declaration of Independence. Maine has 16 counties.
The county is the only form of regional government whose officials are directly elected by the voters. There has always been a role for county government, providing democratic institutions which operate at the regional level between municipalities and the state.
This briefly describes the many functions of county government today.
County Commissioners
The voters in each of Maine's 16 counties elect three commissioners (York County elects five) to four-year terms to oversee the operation of county government. Each commissioner serves a separate district within the county. Commissioners, as the counties' chief elected officials, are ultimately responsible for the fiscal operation and policy decisions affecting county government. Additional duties include municipal tax abatement appeals and hearings on maintenance of town roads. They also serve, in effect, as the municipal officials in Maine's many unorganized territories.
Law Enforcement and Civil Process
Maine's 16 elected county sheriff departments are responsible for the majority of criminal investigations in the state. In 1994, sheriffs' departments investigated 72% of all non-homicide criminal cases in Maine. Sheriffs' departments also handle a large share of rural highway patrol. In the years 1995, 1996 and 1997 county patrol officers handled an average of 18% of Maine's highway traffic accidents. Counties' share of rural patrolling has stayed the same, even while public funding has declined. County sheriff's departments are also responsible for serving all civil lawsuit complaints and related documents throughout the state.
Corrections
Maine's 15 county jails are responsible for persons arrested by municipal, county and state law enforcement officials, and who require detention prior to trial. In addition, most adults sentenced to nine months or less serve their time in a county jail. County jails accounted for 38% of all prisoner-days in fiscal year 1998. The average daily inmate population at county jails was 994 compared with 1,591 in the state's correctional facilities. Approximately half of the county jail inmates were there awaiting trial or sentencing.
Municipal Dispatch Services
Several counties provide dispatching services to fire, police and rescue departments in the surrounding municipalities. This coordinated approach gives smaller communities full-time, professional dispatch services they could not afford individually.
Solid Waste Management
Several of Maine's counties are helping to take the lead in solid waste management. Lincoln County is not in its 20th year of operating a recycling program. Franklin, Oxford, Penobscot and Piscataquis Counties have formed regional solid waste planning commissions consisting of both public and private entities. By working through their county governments, local officials can develop a regional approach to the solid waste program.
Economic Development
Several county governments assist regional economic development efforts through funding of programs. Franklin County employs its own Economic Development Director who promotes the county to prospective employers. Waldo and Washington Counties help fund and oversee Job Opportunity Zones created by the Legislature.
Airports
Hancock, Knox and Oxford Counties own and maintain county airports. Aroostook, Somerset and Washington Counties provide financial assistance to airports in their areas.
Risk Management Pool
In 1989, seven counties formed a self-funded risk management pool to provide property and liability coverage at reduced cost and guaranteed availability. The fund contracts with a claims adjuster, an excess insurance broker and an administrator to provide professional management of its program. In its first year of operation, the Pool saved taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars in insurance premiums. Currently, 15 counties belong to the pool.
Registry of Deeds
All real estate deeds and related documents are filed in the Registry of Deeds in each county. In addition to collecting filing fees, the elected Registrars of Deeds collect the Real Estate Transfer Tax which totaled over $13 million in 1997. By state law, counties are allowed to keep only 10% of these funds. In 1997, approximately $11,700,000 was turned over to the state from county Registries.
County Treasurers
Each county has an elected Treasurer who maintains the county's financial records. The Treasurer is also responsible for investment of tax revenues.
Unorganized Territories
Much of Maine's land area is located outside of any organized municipality. The residents of these unorganized territories require the same services as residents of incorporated municipalities. County government provides these residents with services, including road and bridge maintenance, solid waste disposal and public safety while the state provides for education.
District and Superior Courtrooms
Much of the state's District and Superior courtroom space is provided by county government. Superior Court space is provided at no charge to the state. This space has a rental value of approximately $1.5 million compared to equivalent space on the private rental market.
District Attorney
County government provides extensive support for each of Maine's elected District Attorneys. This support includes office facilities, staff, equipment and witness fees.
Registry of Probate
The Probate Court system is under the jurisdiction of Maine's counties. The Probate Court handles all estates, as well as guardianship, conservatorship, changes of name, adoptions and other legal matters. Both the Probate Judge and the Registrar of Probate are elected positions in each county.
Emergency Management Agency
Each county operates an Emergency Management Agency which is responsible for the coordination of municipal and county-wide efforts in times of natural and man-made disasters. Each county EMA must develop and maintain plans for coping with disasters, such as toxic chemical spills. Approximately half the cost of the EMA office is reimbursed by the federal government. County government pays the other half.
Hancock County was incorporated June 25, 1789, names for Governor Hancock of Massachusetts. At that time the territory which is now the State of Maine still belonged to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts; it was not until 1820 that Maine became a state. At the time of Hancock County's incorporation, it was enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives that the existing Lincoln County be divided into two new counties, Lincoln and Hancock. This was mainly for convenience, as the original Lincoln County was a great expanse and distance was a factor. Also, the fact that there were already eight towns organized within the proposed boundaries of Hancock County, most of them contiguous, made the organization of a new county feasible. A portion was taken from Hancock County in 1816 to form Penobscot County and in 1827 to form Waldo County.
Today Hancock County consists of fifteen unorganized townships, thirty-six towns and one city, Ellsworth, which is the county seat. The first courthouse built in Ellsworth was located on Bridge Hill and was used as a town house from 1834 to 1837. In 1838, when Ellsworth became the county seat, this building was given to the County at a Special Election. The second courthouse, on State Street, was dedicated by Justice John Peters on April 12, 1886 and used until 1930, when it was destroyed by fire. The present courthouse was rebuilt on the same site in 1931. The county jail built beside the courthouse in 1886 is no longer used as a jail, but houses the Ellsworth Historical Society. A new jail was built in 1979 and attaches onto the courthouse. In March, 2000, a new addition to the jail was opened.
Industry in Hancock County has always consisted primarily of lumbering, shipbuilding and fishing. There were few farmers prior to the 19th Century, as the coastal geography was not well suited to farming; that came later. The economy of today is also enhanced by tourism and retail trade.
The County's shoreline has always been its greatest asset, as noted by the fact that all of its large towns are located on the shoreline. The seaboard is of greater extent there than that of any other county in Maine, extending from Marsh Bay in Bucksport to Joys Bay in Gouldsboro. The County also boasts 1,542 islands.
The County's westernmost regions are bounded by Penobscot and Blue Hill Bays. Bucksport, which is located at the mouth of the Penobscot River, dominates this area. Bucksport is named after Jonathan Buck, who first settled here in 1764, built a sawmill and sloop, and began shipping lumber to Boston and other southern ports. The Penobscot River also provides shipping access to Bangor. Many ships have been built in this town, including the famous "Roosevelt" which carried Admiral Perry to the North Pole in 1911. Bucksport is also the home of Champion Paper Company, which draws workers from several neighboring towns.
Due to its strategic location, Bucksport was virtually destroyed by the British during the Revolutionary War and had to be rebuilt. In preparation of another possible war with the British, in 1846 the Federal Government began to build Fort Knox to protect inland Maine and provide control of the Penobscot River. However, the dispute was settled and the fort was never completed. Today it is a State Park, offering magnificent views of the river and the ships traveling back and forth.
A few miles doweast of Bucksport is the community of Orland. Orland's Toddy Pond provides year-round recreation such as camping, fishing, boating, swimming, ice fishing and snowmobiling.
South of Orland lies Penobscot, the County's oldest town and the only one of Indian origin. In 1840 residents of Penobscot unearthed buried treasure, possibly of pirate origin.
Castine, further south, is a village of great historical significance. Formerly part of Penobscot, it was the county seat until 1838. Though highly unusual, Castine was claimed by four nations (Holland, France, England, and America) during various periods. During the Revolutionary Was most of America's Naval Fleet was destroyed there, its worst defeat until Pearl Harbor. Today, more than 100 historic sites and buildings in Castine carry descriptive plaques.
Brooksville offers one of Maine's most spectacular views from Caterpillar Hill. Penobscot Bay, Blue Hill Bay and Walkers Pond, with Camden Hills beyond numerous islands, comprise the incredible scene.
South of Brooksville lies Sedgwick, with its historic Sedgwick Baptist Church and impressive Greek Revival structure high on a hill and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Deer Isle is connected to the mainland with a great suspension bridge. Maine's second largest island, Deer Isle is made up of two towns; Deer Isle and Stonington. The earliest permanent settlers arrived by boat around 1755. After great suffering during the Revolutionary War, when the British occupied Castine, Deer Isle became second only to Gloucester, Massachusetts as a mackerel fishing port. After the Civil War, the emphasis was placed on lobstering and seining for herring. At that time canneries began their operations with sardines, which are still being processed there. Deer Isle is also recognized for having the world's finest granite; it was used in the Kennedy Memorial.
Swan's Island, reached by ferry from Bass Harbor, has an active summer colony and one of Maine's finest lighthouses on Hockamock Head. Here, also, is an ancient Indian burial ground.
Back on the mainland, Brooklin protrudes into Blue Hill Bay. From Naskeag Point visitors can see three bays: Penobscot, Blue Hill, and Jericho.
Further north is Blue Hill, home of the annual Blue Hill Fair and picturesque, old New England village; and Surry, once a busy fishing, farming, lumbering village, now a quiet hamlet.
Hancock County's second major area, bounded by Blue Hill Bay and Frenchman's Bay, is more affluent than the others. Of the County's five largest communities, four (Ellsworth, Bar Harbor, Southwest Harbor, and Mount Desert) are here. The economy is diverse, led by commercial services, tourism, scientific research, boat building, and blueberry processing.
Ellsworth, the county seat and the county's only city, geographically is New England's largest city; its area covers around 92 square miles. It was settled in 1763 by pioneer Benjamin Milliken, along with his family and company of men. When the town was incorporated on February 2, 1800 it was named in honor of Oliver Ellsworth, Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court and Massachussetts delegate to the National Convention for adoption of the Constitution of the United States.
Today, retail shops make up an important part of Ellsworth's economy. With three shopping centers and plans for a fourth in progress, Ellsworth is the primary commercial center for much of Down East Maine. The canning industry is also represented here, with Maine blueberries and apples processed for consumption all over the country.
Ellsworth has an excellent school system, which is shared by some of the neighboring towns. A new high school was built in 1996. The city's library has been recently expanded to better serve a wide range of people. The Hancock County Auditorium for Performing Artists offers frequent live and filmed programs, and the historic Black Mansion Museum and Stanwood Homestead may be toured. The area's plentiful lakes and ponds provide year-round activities such as fishing, boating, hunting, cross-country skiing and snowmobiling.
To the south lies Trenton, gateway to Mount Desert Island and Acadia National Park; also home to the County's airport and Bar Harbor Golf Course. Trenton was incorporated and named in 1789 in honor of the battle George Washington and his troops fought in Trenton, New Jersey in 1776. Centuries before the white man's intrusion, and prior to the French and Indian wars, the Indians came here and enjoyed it as the first "tourists" and summer visitors.
A bridge leading from Trenton onto Mount Desert Island provides access to Bar Harbor, the major island commercial center. Located here are the headquarters of Acadia National Park, the Bluenose Ferry Terminal, a great number of overnight accommodations, and Jackson Laboratory (the nation's largest center for the study of mammalian genetics).
Acadia, in 1919, became the first national park east of the Rockies and the only park consisting wholly of freely donated land (approximately 6,000 acres at that time). Today Acadia occupies at least 41,645 acres and protects Cadillac Mountain, the highest point on the U.S. East Coast (with an elevation of 1,530 feet). On the western side of the island is the largest lake on any island in the world, Long Pond, with an area of 928 acres.
South of Bar Harbor, Mount Desert caters to summer residents of considerable means. It is home port to the largest yacht fleet north of Marblehead, Massachusetts.
The other towns located on Mount Desert Island are Southwest Harbor and Tremont. Southwest Harbor has major boat building and repairing facilities and a full complement of commercial services. The Oceanarium is located there, where native ocean life can be observed live and even "touched" in a special tank. Southwest Harbor is nationally known for its variety of birds, and as been known as the "Warbler Capitol" of the U.S. Tremont, the least developed section of the island, bases its economy on fishing.
Back on the mainland, Lamoine hugs the head of Frenchman's Bay. Its popular State Park is noted for its great variety of native plant life and its saltwater beach is available to the public.
The County's third peninsula, bounded by Frenchman's and Gouldsboro Bays, for many marks the real beginning of Down East Maine. Maine's fearful eastern coast, noted for high tides and thick fog, starts here.
Further north, Hancock is a pleasant resort community. The earliest settlers here were Grand Banks Fishermen, sea captains and ship builders. During the winter of 1945 Hancock made headlines when two German spies landed by submarine and came ashore at Hancock Point under cover of darkness. Local children discovered footprints coming from the water into newly fallen snow and told their parents, who reported this to the authorities. The spies were quickly apprehended.
Southeast of Hancock are Sullivan and Sorrento. Sullivan was once an important boat building and granite producing center, and, for a short period, enjoyed a silver mining boom. Sorrento has been holding sailboat regattas since 1882.
Gouldsboro and Winter Harbor share the Gouldsboro Peninsula, with Gouldsboro covering about three-quarters of the land. During the late 1700's, proprietors and settlers were drawn to this area by the wealth of its forest resources and the ease with which lumber could be shipped from the sheltered harbors. At the peninsula's end, Schoodic Peninsula (the mainland portion of Acadia National Park) has rare Arctic flora and continuous roaring surf. Settled in the early 1800's, the Town of Winter Harbor remains much today as it was then, with fishing still the major industry. With an average depth of 42 feet, Winter Harbor has never been known to freeze.
Franklin seems like an inland town, but actually can be reached by good-sized vessels through the narrows separating Frenchman's Bay and Hog Bay. In the early 1800's Franklin produced more railroad ties than any other town in the country. During the 1880's Franklin had nine lumber mills, two grist mills, a tannery, and three granite quarries. Emerald green granite quarried there was used in White House balustrades.
Inland Hancock County is made up of 10 towns and 15 townships. One of these towns, Dedham, offers some of Maine's most spectacular scenery. Sometimes called the "Switzerland of America," it is situated beside Phillips Lake amid beautiful mountains. Also inland, Amherst and Aurora are lumbering towns on Route 9, the famed "Airline Route" that runs through miles of wilderness between Bangor and Calais.
On June 25, 1789 Hancock County, named for the Governor of Massachusetts, was incorporated. During its development this area has had a remarkable attraction for people, including the Indians who were the first to be drawn to Hancock County 6,000 years ago. They summered on the coast, enjoying quite an easy life. Clams and lobsters abounded, theirs for the picking off rocky beaches. Near several coastal communities, shell heaps left by these earliest inhabitants can still be seen.
Vikings, most scholars agree, were the first European visitors. Around 1000 A.D., they cruised the North American coast, from Newfoundland to Rhode Island. Admittedly, records are sketchy, but indications are Leif Ericson's brother, Thorvald, died on Mount Desert Island with an Indian arrow in his back. Norse sagas include Thorvald's idyllic description of a beautiful, fertile place, apparently the area surrounding MDI's Flying Mountain.
For the next five centuries, traffic was light. In 1524, Verrazzano recorded Mount Desert Island's existence, and a year later the Portuguese, Estaban Gomes, cruised by. At some unknown time, secretive fishermen discovered Hancock's great fishery. In 1604, when Champlain explored Penobscot Bay, he met fishermen who claimed to have made 46 trips to Maine.
It was but nine years later, in 1613, that the first permanent settlement was attempted. Jesuits under Father Pierre Biard established a mission on Mount Desert Island. Like many who were to follow, Fr. Biard described the region in ecstatic terms. After a couple of months, however, a British captain named Argall destroyed the mission. It marked the first skirmish in the series of engagements historians would call the French and Indian Wars.
Despite the initial setback, French influence dominated for the next 150 years. Today, Mount Desert Island and Louisiana are the only places in the United States where land titles trace back to the French crown. The French treated the Indians kindly, and were rewarded when it came time to discourage English settlement.
From Castine, Baron de St. Castin dispatched war parties up and down the coast. The Indians, who came to realize they were struggling for racial survival, staged vicious attacks. Hancock County - indeed, the entire Maine coast - wasn't safe until the 1763 Peace of Paris granted Tengland undisputed control.
After this, settlement proceeded rapidly. Land was cheap, game abundant, timber plentiful, and additional livelihood could be taken from the sea. A particular breed of settler was attracted; he was tough, independent, taciturn, thrifty - the legendary Down East Yankee. He knew a good thing when he saw it, and came to Hancock County in great numbers.
All he wanted was the opportunity to turn a livelihood from his nearly self-sufficient saltwater farm. But historic upheavals such as the American Revolution and, later, the War of 1812 jeopardized his enterprise. During both wars, the British occupied territory that today comprises Hancock County.
Patience, however, is a virtue of the Down East Yankee. In time, British forces were withdrawn, and the time came for the hard job of developing his raw, beautiful land. Eventually, he was able to seek more than bare subsistence. He could build a ship, and, in that ship, he could haul lumber, fish, granite, even ice to distant markets.
Hancock County flourished. In the early 1800's Franklin produced more railroad ties than any other town in the country. Ellsworth was the world's second largest lumber port.
A century ago, a host of Hancock County communities had produced good-sized ships. Sullivan alone had four major boatyards, and several small ones. "David Wasson," New England's first three-masted schooner, was built at West Brooksville; "Roosevelt," Robert Peary's Arctic expedition vessel, was built on Verona Island.
In the 1800's South Deer Isle was a major East Coast mackerel shipping port. About this time, silver mining made Sullivan a boom town. Over in Sargentville, men worked the world's largest natural ice plant. Ice cut from Walker's Pond, 120,000 tons of it, awaited shipment to major U.S. cities, South America, even India.
Mount Desert Island and Deer Isle exported hundreds of tons of fine pink granite.
One after another, these enterprises declined. Steam replaced sail, mackerel stopped running, silver proved low-grade. Electrical refrigeration wrecked the ice business; reinforced concrete, the granite trade. Hancock County would have been in real trouble had it not been for a most remarkable visitor.
Thomas Cole first came to Mount Desert Island in 1844. Founder of the Hudson River School of Painting, Cole, sensing he had exhausted the potential of the Hudson River Valley, was seeking fresh inspiration. On Mount Desert Island, he found what he was looking for. Cole, like so many others, was captured by Hancock County's magnetic aura.
Unlike many others, however, Cole had a host of influential friends. He described Hancock County in such glowing terms they came to see for themselves. Before long, a sprightly group of doctors, educators, lawyers, and financiers were regular summer residents. College presidents Charles W. Eliot of Harvard and Seth Low of Columbia; the Episcopal Bishop of Albany, William Croswell Doane; and Joseph H. Curtis, an eminent landscape architect, were among the first to come.
Later, the colony swelled to include families associated with financial and industrial power. Vanderbilts, Morgans, Biddles, Rockefellers, and Fords built fabulous summer "cottages." By the 1890's Bar Harbor's social status was rivaled only by Newport, Rhode Island and Saratoga, New York.
Although Mount Desert Island had the best known summer colony, several other Hancock County towns began attracting wealthy summer folks, and still do. Brooklin, Deer Isle, Blue Hill, Castine, Gouldsboro, Hancock, Sorrento, and Winter Harbor are but a few county towns with populations that inflate a lot come June.
- 1622 Maine lands were granted by royal charter to Sir Ferdinando Gorges and John Mason.
- 1641 Gorgeana (now York) became the first charted English city in what is now the United States.
- 1677 Massachusetts bought Maine from the heirs of Ferdinando Gorges.
- 1763 The Treaty of Paris ended French efforts to gain control of Maine.
- 1775 The first naval battle of the Revolutionary War took place off the Maine coast.
- 1820 Maine became the 23rd state on March 15th. It entered the union as a free state (without slaves), as part of the Missouri Compromise.
- 1842 Maine's northern boundary with Canada was fixed by treaty (The Webster-Ashburton Treaty), settling a long dispute.
- 1851 Maine became the first state to outlaw the sale of alcoholic beverages.
- 1911 Maine adopted a direct-primary voting law.
- 1969 Maine adopted personal and corporate Income Taxes.
- 1787 Penobscot was incorporated and became the first shire town of Hancock County, with the courthouse, stocks and jail located on Castine's Town Common (part of Penobscot at that time).
- 1796 Castine was incorporated as a separate town February 13, 1796 (becoming shire town of the county until 1838, when Ellsworth became the County Seat).
- 1789 Lincoln County was divided, forming Lincoln and Hancock Counties.
- 1800 Hancock County became part of the Maine Territory (prior to that it was part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts).
- 1816 Penobscot County was formed from a portion of Hancock County.
- 1827 Waldo County was formed from a portion of Hancock County.
- 1838 Ellsworth became the county seat and the courts were moved from Castine to a townhouse on Bridge Hill.
- 1869 Ellsworth was incorporated as a city.
- 1886 The courthouse on State Street was built and used until 1930 when it was destroyed by fire. Also in 1886 the first jail on State Street was built beside the courthouse and the Registry building was built on Court Street. (The jail was built as a residence for the Hancock County Sheriff, and the county jail was in the cellar).
- 1930 The original courthouse on State Street was destroyed by a March fire. During the fire, the belfry tower crashed to the basement causing the death of two firemen from Ellsworth. The building appeared to be completely gutted, but some records kept in the file rooms of the Registry of Deeds and Registry of Probate were hardly damaged. The law library was completely destroyed. In 1931 the existing courthouse was rebuilt on the same site.
- 1933 Fire caused extensive damage to Ellsworth; sweeping south along High Street, it leveled the heart of the downtown business district.
- 1962 The airport in Trenton was deeded to Hancock County.
Population (1994) 48,837
Population (1990 census) 46,948
Click here for population breakdown.
County Seat: Ellsworth ( pop. 1994) 6,254
No. of Towns (1990) 37
Land Area (sq. miles) 1,589
Hancock County contains 1,890 square miles of which 1,537 are land and 353 inland waters. There are 1,532 islands in the county; the largest being Mount Desert Island, which covers 67,325 acres. The county's highest mountain, Cadillac Mountain, is also the highest point on the East Coast, with an elevation of 1,530 feet.
|
 |
