Editing Easton, Maine (section)

==History==
In 1851, the first known residence in the Easton wilderness was built by Henry Wilson, who had taught school in Presque Isle.<ref name="Wiggin 1922">{{cite book|last1=Wiggin|first1=Edward|title=History of Aroostook|date=1922|publisher=Star-Herald Press|location=Presque Isle, ME|pages=[https://archive.org/details/historyofaroosto00wigg/page/243 243]–249|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofaroosto00wigg}}</ref> When Solomon Bolster arrived in 1854, he joined Henry Wilson and Augustus Rackliffe, its sole residents.<ref name=Bolster>{{cite news|title=An Aroostook Pioneer Solomon Bolster|url=http://turner.advantage-preservation.com/document/independent-1903-03-05-page-2|access-date=August 22, 2014|work=The Independent|date=March 5, 1903|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140908202311/http://turner.advantage-preservation.com/document/independent-1903-03-05-page-2|archive-date=September 8, 2014}}</ref> In 1855–1856, Noah Barker partitioned the township into 142 lots of 160 acres in size, thereby determining its layout.<ref name="Wiggin 1922" /><ref name=Ploch>{{cite book|last1=Ploch|first1=Louis A|title=Easton--A Town on the Move|date=1988|publisher=University of Maine|location=Orono, ME|pages=44}}</ref> The state opened it for settlement and, on July 26, 1856, it was organized as the Fremont Plantation. A schoolhouse was built in 1858 and the first of several lumber mills was constructed in another year.<ref name="Wiggin 1922" /> By 1860, the population was 320.<ref name="Wiggin 1922" /> Growth of the population slowed during the Civil War, and the town of Easton was incorporated 1865.<ref name="Town of Easton">{{cite web|title=History|url=http://www.eastonme.com/pages/history|website=Town of Easton|access-date=September 8, 2014}}</ref> Economic growth was slow, evidenced by an 1862 record that taxes should be paid in grain or shingles.<ref name="Wiggin 1922" /> The first store was opened in 1863.<ref name="Wiggin 1922" /> A starch factory was built in 1877, and a steam shingle mill in 1879.<ref name="Wiggin 1922" /> Easton became "one of the greatest potato producing towns in the County".<ref name="Wiggin 1922" /> The 1880s saw the appearance of the Methodists, Free Will Baptists and the Odd Fellows.<ref name="Wiggin 1922" /> By 1880 the population was 835; by 1890, 978.<ref name="Wiggin 1922" />