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Community Information

 APPLETON
HOPE
UNION
WASHINGTON

Sunday January 19, 2003

Local & National News

Appleton is located in the northern hills of Knox county is the town of Appleton – first known as “McLain’s Mills” for lumber mills located on the St. George’s River.

 First settlements were on Appleton Ridge and along the Medomac and St. George’s River.  In 1846, a large section of Appleton was conferred from the town of Hope.  Remnants of the George River Canal can be seen near the village and North Appleton.

 In the 1890’s large apple orchards produced barrels of apples which were shipped to England.  Later, strawberries became the cash crop.  Today, acres of blueberries are produced.

 Two large cemeteries and several smaller ones interest family researchers.

Hope was originally settled in the 1780’s. In 1785, Charles Barrett’s land dealings with the Proprietors from Boston lead to the surveying of Hope into established lots.  Grist and lumber mills along the St. George’s River with associated tradecraft and farming make up the majority of work at that time.  Self-sufficiency was the rule. 

From the 1850’s on, the population in Hope declined along with its farms.  By the 1920’s, Hope’s lands had once again become woods with summer people building cottages along the lakeshores.  Since the 1970’s, Hope’s population has risen to a high of over 1,300 residents and is growing faster than any other town in Knox County. 

Volunteerism is alive in Hope with an established Volunteer Fire Department and the Hope Historical Society.  The Granges and especially the Hope Homemakers’ Extension, with 60 members, are very important volunteer organizations for the town and surrounding areas. The Hope Library next to the town hall with over 6,000 volumes and continuing to grow.

In 2000, the Hope Elementary school had 150 pupils and the South Hope Community Church, with grades K-12 had 37. There are award winning youth athletic teams with baseball fields and basketball courts at both the school and True Park.  Sportsmen will enjoy the trails maintained by the Hatchet Mountain Snowriders club and sporting activities at the Knox County Fish and Game’s Beaver Lodge.

Union was settled in 1774 as Taylortown and later called Sterlingtown until it’s incorporation in 1786, uniting the villages that lie north, east and south with the central settlement around the Common in a spirit of harmonious “Union”.

 Union’s town square provides a classic rural northern New England village setting with its small business encircling the town common.  Union is also the site of one of the oldest agricultural fairs in the state, home of the annual STATE OF MAINE BLUEBERRY FESTIVAL, held the third week in August at the Union Fair Grounds.

 Founder’s Day is celebrated in mid July with a pancake breakfast, Come Spring bus tours of the historical sites, and a Seven Tree Crossing contest.  In December, the townspeople gather for the lighting of thirty Christmas Trees with a carol sing and open house at the original Union Town House.

In 1811 the town of Washington was established, but then it was known as Putnam named after Isreal Putnam, who was a minuteman and leader during the Revolutionary War. 

In 1779 the first settlers were two English families, the Butterfields and the Nelsons.  They made their homes in the area of route 220 and route 17.

 On January 31st, 1883 the town received permission from the State of Maine to change the name from Putnam to Washington.

 In the early years the principal occupation in the area was agriculture, logging and mills for producing lumber.