Washington, Maine Facts for Kids

Washington, officially the Town of Washington, is a town in Knox County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,590 at the 2020 United States Census.

History
Geography
Demographics
- 2010 census
Education
Notable people
See also

History

Washington, Maine was first settled in 1797. It was settled by the Nelson family. At that time it was known as Putnam named after General Israel Putnam, a war hero. It was officially changed to Washington in 1825. One early item of interest in Washington's history was the "paint mine". There was a large deposit of red and yellow ocher found in a cave, which may have been used by people who lived here three to five thousand years ago and who used large quantities of ocher, normally red, to cover both the bodies of the dead and the burial artifacts. Archaeologists refer to these people as "Red Paint People". The red panel at the hoist of the Official Town Flag refers to these people.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 39.20 square miles (101.53 km²), of which, 38.04 square miles (98.52 km²) of it is land and 1.16 square miles (3.00 km²) is water.

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.	%±
1790	620	—
1830	1,135	—
1840	1,600	41.0%
1850	1,756	9.8%
1860	1,662	−5.4%
1870	1,276	−23.2%
1880	1,249	−2.1%
1890	1,230	−1.5%
1900	1,019	−17.2%
1910	814	−20.1%
1920	660	−18.9%
1930	615	−6.8%
1940	689	12.0%
1950	722	4.8%
1960	636	−11.9%
1970	723	13.7%
1980	954	32.0%
1990	1,185	24.2%
2000	1,345	13.5%
2010	1,527	13.5%
2020	1,590	4.1%
U.S. Decennial Census

2010 census

As of the census of 2010, there were 1,527 people, 614 households, and 427 families living in the town. The population density was 40.1 inhabitants per square mile (15.5/km²). There were 797 housing units at an average density of 21.0 per square mile (8.1/km²). The ethnic makeup of the town was 96.9% White, 0.4% African American, 0.6% Native American, 0.1% Asian, 0.1% from other races, and 1.9% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.4% of the population.

There were 614 households, of which 28.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.0% were married couples living together, 7.0% had a female householder with no husband present, 6.5% had a male householder with no wife present, and 30.5% were non-families. 23.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 2.83.

The median age in the town was 43.9 years. 20.4% of residents were under the age of 18; 6.5% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 24.3% were from 25 to 44; 33.3% were from 45 to 64; and 15.5% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 51.9% male and 48.1% female.

Education

Regional School Unit 40 operates public schools. Prescott Memorial School is in Washington.

Medomak Valley Middle School and Medomak Valley High School are in nearby Waldoboro.

Gibbs Library is in Washington.

Notable people

Alonzo Bowman, Medal of Honor recipient
Elmer McCurdy, an outlaw born in the town on Thursday, January 1, 1880, whose body was displayed many times between 1911, when he died in a shootout with police officers, up until 1976
Clyde Sukeforth, Major League Baseball catcher, coach, scout, and manager, was born in Washington
Frances Hodges White, children's author
John Christie, skiing author
David Spahr, mushroom and foraging author

Washington, Maine facts for kids

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