Editing Casco, Maine (section)

==History==

On January 30, 1767, Raymondtown Plantation was granted by the [[Massachusetts General Court]] to Capt. William Raymond of [[Beverly, Massachusetts]], and his company of soldiers for their service with [[William Phips|Sir William Phipps]] in the 1690 [[Battle of Quebec (1690)|Battle of Quebec]]. It replaced a 1735 grant called Beverly-Canada (now [[Weare, New Hampshire]]) which was ruled invalid in 1741 because of a prior claim by the heirs of [[John Mason (governor)|John Mason]]. In 1803, Raymondtown Plantation was incorporated as [[Raymond, Maine|Raymond]]. The town of [[Naples, Maine|Naples]] was created with land taken in 1838, the same year the western half of Raymond petitioned the [[Maine State Legislature|legislature]] to be set off as a township because of its geographical separation behind Rattlesnake Mountain. The petition failed, but three years later another was accepted. On March 18, 1841, Casco was incorporated as a town.<ref name=Coolidge>{{Cite book  | last = Coolidge  | first = Austin J.|author2=John B. Mansfield  | title = A History and Description of New England| publisher = A.J. Coolidge  | year = 1859| location = Boston, Massachusetts| page = [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_OcoMAAAAYAAJ/page/n121 87]| url = https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_OcoMAAAAYAAJ| quote = coolidge mansfield history description new england 1859.  }}</ref>

{{US Census population
|1850= 1046
|1860= 1116
|1870= 998
|1880= 908
|1890= 844
|1900= 783
|1910= 688
|1920= 685
|1930= 713
|1940= 890
|1950= 881
|1960= 947
|1970= 1256
|1980= 2243
|1990= 3018
|2000= 3469
|2010= 3742
|2020= 3646
|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census<ref name="DecennialCensus">{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html |title=Census of Population and Housing |publisher=Census.gov |access-date=June 4, 2015 }}</ref>
}}

[[Farmer]]s found the surface of the town uneven, its hard and rocky soil "tolerably productive." Outlets of ponds, however, provided Casco with good sites for [[water power]]ed [[watermill|mills]]. The town had four [[sawmill]]s, four [[gristmill]]s, a shook mill, a [[barrel|barrel stave]] mill, four [[roof shingle|shingle]] factories, a [[carriage]] factory and a [[Tanning (leather)|tannery]]. In 1832, the [[Cumberland and Oxford Canal]] made [[Sebago Lake]] a direct trade route to [[Portland, Maine|Portland]]. [[Steamboat]] travel commenced on the waterways in the 1840s, carrying tourists and freight.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://history.rays-place.com/me/raymond-me.htm |title=George J. Varney, "History of Raymond, Maine" (1886) |access-date=April 7, 2008 |archive-date=July 13, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140713121730/http://history.rays-place.com/me/raymond-me.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>
In 1938, [[Sebago Lake State Park]] was established, one of the state's five original state parks.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~meraymon/history.htm|title=History of Raymond}}</ref>