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Orrington, Maine
Orrington, Maine is located in Maine
Orrington, Maine
Orrington, Maine
Location in Maine
Country United States
State Maine
County Penobscot
Area
 • Total 27.33 sq mi (70.78 km2)
 • Land 24.99 sq mi (64.72 km2)
 • Water 2.34 sq mi (6.06 km2)
Elevation
118 ft (36 m)
Population
 (2020)
 • Total 3,812
 • Density 153/sq mi (58.9/km2)
Time zone UTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
 • Summer (DST) UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP code
04474
Area code(s) 207
FIPS code 23-55680
GNIS feature ID 0582652

Orrington is a town on the Penobscot River estuary in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. The population was 3,812 at the 2020 census.

History

Orrington was originally part of Condustiegg (or Kenduskeag) Plantation, which also included the present-day cities of Bangor and Brewer. Orrington was incorporated as a town in 1788 with its major village at Brewer, then called "New Worcester". Bangor incorporated three years later in 1791. Brewer broke away from Orrington in 1812 to form a separate town.

The name "Orrington" reportedly resulted from a spelling mistake. The settlers intended to name it "Orangetown" after Orangetown, Maryland, but it was written on the record-books in distant Massachusetts, of which Maine was then a territory, as "Orrington". "Orring" was a reasonable phonetic rendering of "orange" before the standardization of English spelling.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 27.33 square miles (70.78 km2), of which, 24.99 square miles (64.72 km2) of it is land and 2.34 square miles (6.06 km2) is water.

Demographics

Historical population
Census Pop.
1790 477
1800 786 64.8%
1810 1,341 70.6%
1820 1,029 −23.3%
1830 1,234 19.9%
1840 1,580 28.0%
1850 1,852 17.2%
1860 1,950 5.3%
1870 1,768 −9.3%
1880 1,529 −13.5%
1890 1,406 −8.0%
1900 1,266 −10.0%
1910 1,219 −3.7%
1920 1,174 −3.7%
1930 1,167 −0.6%
1940 1,517 30.0%
1950 1,895 24.9%
1960 2,539 34.0%
1970 2,702 6.4%
1980 3,244 20.1%
1990 3,309 2.0%
2000 3,526 6.6%
2010 3,733 5.9%
2020 3,812 2.1%
U.S. Decennial Census

2010 census

As of the census of 2010, there were 3,733 people, 1,478 households, and 1,068 families living in the town. The population density was 149.4 inhabitants per square mile (57.7/km2). There were 1,612 housing units at an average density of 64.5 per square mile (24.9/km2). The racial makeup of the town was 98.2% White, 0.2% African American, 0.4% Native American, 0.6% Asian, 0.2% from other races, and 0.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.9% of the population.

There were 1,478 households, of which 30.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.5% were married couples living together, 7.8% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.9% had a male householder with no wife present, and 27.7% were non-families. 20.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 2.91.

The median age in the town was 43.5 years. 21.9% of residents were under the age of 18; 6.8% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 23.7% were from 25 to 44; 34.1% were from 45 to 64; and 13.5% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 49.6% male and 50.4% female.

Education

Orrington is home to a Pre-Kindergarten through 8th grade school for its residents. Center Drive School, named after the road it is located on, has about 400 students. The mascot of Center Drive School is the Eagles.

Notable people

  • Ebenezer M. Chamberlain (1805–1861), US congressman from Indiana
  • Molly Kool, first female master mariner in North America
  • Benjamin Franklin Mudge (1817–1879), geologist, paleontologist
  • Enoch Mudge, first American-born Methodist minister, state congressman
  • Thomas H. Mudge, Methodist minister, professor of theology
  • Zachariah A. Mudge, Methodist clergyman, author
  • Edward A. Pierce, Wall St. banker, one of founders of Merrill, Lynch, Pierce, Fenner, and Smith, Inc., now Merrill Lynch
  • J. Sumner Rogers, founder of Michigan Military Academy

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Orrington para niños

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