Lincoln County, Maine

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Lincoln County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maine. As of the 2020 census, the population was 35,237.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Its seat is Wiscasset.<ref name="GR6">Template:Cite web</ref> The county was founded in 1760 by the Massachusetts General Court from a portion of York County, Massachusetts and named after the English city Lincoln,<ref name="DETMoM">Template:Cite journal</ref> the birthplace of Massachusetts Bay Provincial Governor Thomas Pownall.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

At its founding, Lincoln County accounted for three-fifths of the state's land, and stretched east to Nova Scotia. Thirteen counties were cut out of this land including Sagadahoc County to the west and a portion of Kennebec County to the north.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The county flag is a traditional New England flag, adopted in 1977.<ref>The Flag of New England Page Template:Webarchive</ref>

Geography

File:Boothbay Harbor, summer morning at low tide.jpg

Boothbay Harbor

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of Template:Convert, of which Template:Convert is land and Template:Convert (35%) is water.<ref name="GR1">Template:Cite web</ref> It is the third-smallest county in Maine by area.

Adjacent counties

Kennebec County — north
Waldo County — northeast
Knox County — east
Sagadahoc County — west

Demographics

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2000 census

As of the 2000 census, there were 14,158 households, and 9,542 families living in the county. The population density was Template:Convert. There were 20,849 housing units at an average density of Template:Convert. The racial makeup of the county was 98.46% White, 0.17% Black or African American, 0.26% Native American, 0.37% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.10% from other races, and 0.61% from two or more races. 0.46% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 25.3% were of English, 15.4% United States or American, 11.2% Irish, 9.0% German and 7.3% French ancestry. Most of those claiming to be of "American" ancestry are actually of English descent, but have family that has been in the country for so long, in many cases since the early seventeenth century that they choose to identify simply as "American".<ref>Sharing the Dream: White Males in a Multicultural America By Dominic J. Pulera.</ref><ref>Reynolds Farley, 'The New Census Question about Ancestry: What Did It Tell Us?', Demography, Vol. 28, No. 3 (August 1991), pp. 414, 421.</ref><ref>Stanley Lieberson and Lawrence Santi, 'The Use of Nativity Data to Estimate Ethnic Characteristics and Patterns', Social Science Research, Vol. 14, No. 1 (1985), pp. 44–6.</ref><ref>Stanley Lieberson and Mary C. Waters, 'Ethnic Groups in Flux: The Changing Ethnic Responses of American Whites', Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 487, No. 79 (September 1986), pp. 82–86.</ref><ref>Mary C. Waters, Ethnic Options: Choosing Identities in America (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990), p. 36.</ref> 97.7% spoke English and 1.0% French as their first language.

There were 14,158 households, out of which 28.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.10% were married couples living together, 7.70% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.60% were non-families. 26.70% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.82.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 22.70% under the age of 18, 5.50% from 18 to 24, 25.60% from 25 to 44, 28.10% from 45 to 64, and 18.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 95.10 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.00 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $38,686, and the median income for a family was $45,427. Males had a median income of $31,209 versus $23,161 for females. The per capita income for the county was $20,760. About 6.60% of families and 10.10% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.80% of those under age 18 and 9.50% of those age 65 or over.

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 34,457 people, 15,149 households, and 9,749 families living in the county.<ref name="census-dp1">Template:Cite web</ref> The population density was Template:Convert. There were 23,493 housing units at an average density of Template:Convert.<ref name="census-density">Template:Cite web</ref> The racial makeup of the county was 97.6% white, 0.5% Asian, 0.3% American Indian, 0.3% black or African American, 0.1% from other races, and 1.1% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 0.8% of the population.<ref name="census-dp1"/> In terms of ancestry, 30.4% were English, 17.7% were Irish, 13.4% were German, 8.6% were Scottish, and 8.5% were American.<ref name="census-dp2">Template:Cite web</ref>

Of the 15,149 households, 24.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.6% were married couples living together, 8.8% had a female householder with no husband present, 35.6% were non-families, and 28.9% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.24 and the average family size was 2.72. The median age was 48.1 years.<ref name="census-dp1"/>

The median income for a household in the county was $47,678 and the median income for a family was $58,028. Males had a median income of $40,816 versus $31,473 for females. The per capita income for the county was $28,003. About 7.7% of families and 10.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.2% of those under age 18 and 9.9% of those age 65 or over.<ref name="census-dp3">Template:Cite web</ref>

Politics

Lincoln County was formerly a Republican stronghold, but it became more competitive in the 1990s and since the 2000 election, when George W. Bush carried it by a narrow plurality, it has swung more decisively into the Democratic column. Barack Obama easily won the county in 2008, the best performance by a Democrat since the 1964 national landslide election, and he carried it again by a decent margin in 2012. In 2016, Republican Donald Trump lost the county by only about 2 points, but it has again trended more Democratic in each subsequent election. Lincoln was one of only two counties in Maine to shift leftward between the 2020 and 2024 elections.<ref>https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/</ref>

Voter registration

Voter registration and party enrollment as of March 2024<ref name="Maine SOS">Template:Cite web</ref>
Template:Party color cell	Democratic	9,713	Template:Percentage
Template:Party color cell	Republican	8,558	Template:Percentage
Template:Party color cell	Unenrolled	7,912	Template:Percentage
Template:Party color cell	Green Independent	1,098	Template:Percentage
Template:Party color cell	No Labels	394	Template:Percentage
Template:Party color cell	Libertarian	90	Template:Percentage
Total		27,765	Template:Percentage

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Communities

File:Damariscotta River sunset - 20070722 07981.JPG

The Damariscotta River near the Whaleback Shell Midden State Historic Site

Towns

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Plantations

Monhegan

Unorganized Territories

Census-designated places

Transportation

U.S. Route 1 passes through the county in a northeast–southwest fashion. North-south Maine state routes, notably Maine 27, Maine 129, Maine 130 and Maine 32 travel north to the interior of the county and south to the peninsulas by the coast.

Until 1958, the Maine Central Railroad ran passenger trains from Portland, along the Rockland Branch from Brunswick to Rockland to the east, three trains a day on days besides Sunday and fewer trains on Sunday. Stations consisted of Wiscasset, Newcastle, Damariscotta Mills, Nobleboro, Winslow Mills and Waldoboro. In Portland's Union Station, these trains made connections to trains to Boston, New York City, Bangor and the Canadian Maritimes.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> In the final months, service diminished to one daily except Sunday trip in each direction, until finally discontinuing on April 4, 1959.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

From 2003 to 2015, the Maine Eastern Railroad offered seasonal excursion service to Rockland, Maine which connected to Amtrak's Downeaster at Brunswick. In October 2017, the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority announced plans to extend one weekend Downeaster round trip to Rockland between Memorial Day and Labor Day beginning in 2018. Intermediate stops would be made at Bath, Wiscasset, and Newcastle.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> As part of preparation, Amtrak, along with the Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority, Maine Department of Transportation and the Central Maine and & Quebec Railroad, made a test run of a train on August 14.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

References

External links

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