Editing Union, Maine (section)

==History==
Union was part of a tract of land called the [[Muscongus Patent]], a grant made March 2, 1629, by the [[Plymouth Council for New England|Plymouth Council]] to John Beauchamp and Thomas Leverett. About 1720, it was purchased by General [[Samuel Waldo]] of [[Boston]] and thereafter called the Waldo Patent. The first white settlers by the names of Anderson, Malcolm, and Crawford, arrived in 1772.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://unionhistoricalsociety.org/aboutunion.html#uhistory |title=About Union |website=unionhistoricalsociety.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150404102236/http://unionhistoricalsociety.org/aboutunion.html |archive-date=April 4, 2015}}</ref> The town was settled on July 19, 1774, and named Taylor Town after the original purchaser and settler, Dr. John Taylor from [[Lunenburg, Massachusetts]]. Dr. John Taylor purchased Union for £1,000. On May 3, 1786, it was organized as the Plantation of Sterlingtown, and on October 20, 1786, the town was incorporated and named Union. [[Washington, Maine|Washington]] was formed from a portion of Union in 1811.<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/n369 331]–332| url = https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_OcoMAAAAYAAJ| quote = A History and Description of New England Coolidge Mansfield. }}</ref>

Agriculture was the principal business, and on October 5, 1869, the North Knox Agricultural & Horticultural Society opened the first annual [[Union Fair]]. The town had mills operated by [[water power]] at the outlets of ponds. Factories at Union produced [[carriage]]s, [[cultivator]]s, [[leather]], [[wiktionary:harness|harness]], boots and shoes. South Union had a cabinet and musical instrument factory, an [[iron foundry]], a [[machine shop]] and a [[coffin]] factory. East Union had a [[lumbermill]], in addition to a chair and table factory.<ref>{{Citation
 | last = Varney
 | first = George J.
 | title = Gazetteer of the state of Maine. Union
 | place = Boston
 | publisher = Russell
 | year = 1886
 | url = http://history.rays-place.com/me/union-me.htm }}
</ref>

A [[war memorial]] was dedicated at the [[common land|common]] on July 4, 1888. When Union celebrated on July 19, 1974, the [[wikt:bicentennial|bicentennial]] of its settlement, a [[time capsule]] was buried near the statue, to be dug up July 19, 2024. The capsule contains a picture of children from around the town and "scores of current [[memorabilia]]." Union was the subject of the 1940 [[historical novel]], ''Come Spring'', by author [[Ben Ames Williams]].<ref>E. A. Matthews, ''Horse and Buggy Days: A Brief History of Union, Maine''</ref>

<gallery  widths="200" heights="135">
File:Falls, South Union, Maine, by G. S. Osgood.jpg|South Union falls {{circa|1880}}
File:Hotel at Union, Maine, by F. W. Cunningham.jpg|The Burton House {{circa|1880}}
File:Burton House & Stable, Union, ME.jpg|The Burton House in 1907
</gallery>