Editing Strong, Maine (section)

==History==

[[Image:Hotel Strong, Strong, ME.jpg|thumb|left|The Hotel Strong in 1905]]
The plantation was called Township No. 3, First Range North of Plymouth Claim, West of Kennebec River (or T3 R1 NPC WKR), then successively known as Middletown and Readstown. It was first settled in 1784 by William Read from [[Nobleboro, Maine|Nobleboro]]. Readstown was incorporated on January 31, 1801, and named for [[Caleb Strong]], a [[Founding Father of the United States]] and [[governor of Massachusetts]].<ref name="epodunk">{{cite web | url=http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=2367 | title=STRONG COMMUNITY PROFILE | publisher=www.epodunk.com | access-date=2007-04-21}}</ref> The [[Maine Republican Party]] was founded here on August 7, 1854.<ref name="MAGDE">{{cite book |last= Maine League of Historical Societies and Museums |editor=Doris A. Isaacson |title=Maine: A Guide 'Down East' |year=1970 |publisher=Courier-Gazette, Inc. |location=Rockland, Me | pages = 389 }}</ref>

Set on a hilly intervale above a big bend in the [[Sandy River (Kennebec River)|Sandy River]], the area provided fertile soil for [[agriculture]]. Farmers grew [[hay]], [[wheat]], [[Maize|corn]], [[oats]] and [[potato]]es. The northeast branch of the Sandy River provided [[water power]] for [[water mill|mills]], helping make Strong prosperous. By 1859, when the population was 1,008, it had [[sawmill]]s, a [[gristmill]], a [[fulling mill]], a [[carding]] machine, a [[starch]] factory and a [[Tanning (leather)|tannery]].<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| pages = [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_OcoMAAAAYAAJ/page/n356 318]–319| url = https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_OcoMAAAAYAAJ| quote = coolidge mansfield history description new england 1859.  }}</ref>

The [[narrow gauge]] [[Sandy River Railroad]] connected [[Farmington, Maine|Farmington]] and [[Phillips, Maine|Phillips]] in 1879. By 1886, town industries included a [[boot]] and [[shoemaking|shoe]] factory, [[machine shop]]s, Maine's first [[cheese]] factory,<ref name="cheese">{{cite book |editor=Z. A. Gilbert |title=Report of the Secretary of the Maine Board of Agriculture for 1882 |year=1883 |publisher=Sprague & Son |location=Augusta, Me | pages = 172 }}</ref> a [[clothespin]] manufacturer, a maker of [[caning (furniture)|cane]] seat chair bottoms, and an [[wood wool|excelsior]] factory. It was noted as "one of the prettiest villages in the county."<ref>[http://history.rays-place.com/me/strong-me.htm George J. Varney, ''History of Strong, Maine'', Boston, Massachusetts 1886]</ref>

Strong was called "Toothpick Capital of the World"<ref name="Toothpick">{{cite web | url=http://ludb.clui.org/ex/i/ME3145/ | title=Toothpick Capital of the World | publisher=The Center For Land Use Interpretation | access-date=2007-04-21}}</ref> due to the productivity of the Strong Wood Products Incorporated plant, which once manufactured 20 million [[toothpick]]s per day.<ref name="Toothpick"/>

<gallery>
Image:StrongME ForsterMemorialHall.jpg|Forster Memorial Hall (town offices and library)
Image:Saw mill, Strong, Maine, from Robert N. Dennis collection of stereoscopic views.jpg|Sawmill {{circa|1870s}}
Image:Sweatland Flat, Strong, Maine, from Robert N. Dennis collection of stereoscopic views.jpg|Sweatland Flat
Image:Strong Wood Turning Company, Strong, ME.jpg|Wood Turning Co. {{circa|1920}}
</gallery>