Lincoln County, Maine

County in Maine, United States

Not to be confused with Lincoln, Maine.

County in Maine

Lincoln County

County

Lincoln County Courthouse

Flag

Location within the U.S. state of Maine

Maine's location within the U.S.

Coordinates: 44°00′49″N 69°32′31″W﻿ / ﻿44.013474°N 69.541817°W﻿ / 44.013474; -69.541817
Country|  United States
State|  Maine
Founded| 1760; 265 years ago (1760)
Named after| Lincoln, England
Seat| Wiscasset
Largest town| Waldoboro
Area

• Total

| 700 sq mi (2,000 km2)
• Land| 456 sq mi (1,180 km2)
• Water| 244 sq mi (630 km2)  35%
Population

(2020)

• Total

| 35,237

• Estimate

(2023)

| 36,507
• Density| 50/sq mi (19/km2)
Time zone| UTC−5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)| UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional district| 1st
Website| lincolncountymaine.me

Lincoln County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maine. As of the 2020 census, the population was 35,237.[1] Its seat is Wiscasset.[2] 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,[3] the birthplace of Massachusetts Bay Provincial Governor Thomas Pownall.[4]

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.[5] The county flag is a traditional New England flag, adopted in 1977.[6]

## Geography

[edit]

Boothbay Harbor

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 700 square miles (1,800 km2), of which 456 square miles (1,180 km2) is land and 244 square miles (630 km2) (35%) is water.[7] It is the third-smallest county in Maine by area.

### Adjacent counties

[edit]

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

## Demographics

[edit]

Historical population Census| Pop.| Note| %±

|
|
|

1790| 29,733| | —
1800| 30,225| | 1.7%
1810| 42,992| | 42.2%
1820| 53,189| | 23.7%
1830| 57,192| | 7.5%
1840| 63,517| | 11.1%
1850| 74,875| | 17.9%
1860| 27,860| | −62.8%
1870| 25,597| | −8.1%
1880| 24,821| | −3.0%
1890| 21,996| | −11.4%
1900| 19,669| | −10.6%
1910| 18,216| | −7.4%
1920| 15,976| | −12.3%
1930| 15,498| | −3.0%
1940| 16,294| | 5.1%
1950| 18,004| | 10.5%
1960| 18,497| | 2.7%
1970| 20,537| | 11.0%
1980| 25,691| | 25.1%
1990| 30,357| | 18.2%
2000| 33,616| | 10.7%
2010| 34,457| | 2.5%
2020| 35,237| | 2.3%
2023 (est.)| 36,507| [8]| 3.6%
U.S. Decennial Census[9]
1790–1960[10] 1900–1990[11]
1990–2000[12] 2010–2016[13] 2018[14]

### 2000 census

[edit]

As of the 2000 census, there were 14,158 households, and 9,542 families living in the county. The population density was 74 people per square mile (29 people/km2). There were 20,849 housing units at an average density of 46 per square mile (18/km2). 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".[15][16][17][18][19] 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

[edit]

As of the 2010 United States census, there were 34,457 people, 15,149 households, and 9,749 families living in the county.[20] The population density was 75.6 inhabitants per square mile (29.2/km2). There were 23,493 housing units at an average density of 51.5 units per square mile (19.9 units/km2).[21] 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.[20] 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.[22]

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.[20]

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.[23]

## Politics

[edit]

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.[24]

### Voter registration

[edit]

Voter registration and party enrollment as of March 2024[25]

| Democratic | 9,713  | 34.98%
| Republican | 8,558  | 30.82%
| Unenrolled  | 7,912  | 28.5%
| Green Independent | 1,098  | 3.95%
| No Labels | 394  | 1.42%
| Libertarian | 90  | 0.32%
Total  | 27,765  | 100%

United States presidential election results for Lincoln County, Maine[26] Year  | Republican | Democratic | Third party(ies)

|
|
|

No.  | % | No.  | % | No.  | %
2024 | 10,409  | 43.37%  | 13,110  | 54.62% | 484  | 2.02%
2020 | 10,256  | 43.47%  | 12,684  | 53.76% | 654  | 2.77%
2016 | 9,727  | 45.24%  | 10,241  | 47.63% | 1,535  | 7.14%
2012 | 8,899  | 42.87%  | 11,315  | 54.51% | 543  | 2.62%
2008 | 9,287  | 43.03%  | 11,886  | 55.07% | 411  | 1.90%
2004 | 10,370  | 46.83%  | 11,351  | 51.26% | 421  | 1.90%
2000 | 9,457  | 48.08% | 8,634  | 43.89%  | 1,580  | 8.03%
1996 | 6,372  | 35.06%  | 8,130  | 44.74% | 3,671  | 20.20%
1992 | 6,405  | 33.65%  | 6,714  | 35.27% | 5,917  | 31.08%
1988 | 9,837  | 61.79% | 5,939  | 37.31%  | 144  | 0.90%
1984 | 10,312  | 67.68% | 4,869  | 31.96%  | 55  | 0.36%
1980 | 7,434  | 52.14% | 4,776  | 33.49%  | 2,049  | 14.37%
1976 | 7,554  | 59.03% | 4,818  | 37.65%  | 425  | 3.32%
1972 | 7,580  | 72.28% | 2,903  | 27.68%  | 4  | 0.04%
1968 | 5,659  | 61.11% | 3,380  | 36.50%  | 222  | 2.40%
1964 | 3,984  | 43.81%  | 5,099  | 56.07% | 11  | 0.12%
1960 | 7,562  | 76.39% | 2,337  | 23.61%  | 0  | 0.00%
1956 | 7,191  | 86.07% | 1,164  | 13.93%  | 0  | 0.00%
1952 | 6,766  | 83.80% | 1,299  | 16.09%  | 9  | 0.11%
1948 | 4,743  | 80.47% | 1,095  | 18.58%  | 56  | 0.95%
1944 | 4,919  | 69.97% | 2,102  | 29.90%  | 9  | 0.13%
1940 | 5,244  | 68.42% | 2,415  | 31.51%  | 5  | 0.07%
1936 | 5,252  | 72.62% | 1,850  | 25.58%  | 130  | 1.80%
1932 | 4,666  | 63.84% | 2,602  | 35.60%  | 41  | 0.56%
1928 | 4,470  | 78.85% | 1,181  | 20.83%  | 18  | 0.32%
1924 | 3,311  | 77.36% | 878  | 20.51%  | 91  | 2.13%
1920 | 3,668  | 73.61% | 1,256  | 25.21%  | 59  | 1.18%
1916 | 1,781  | 49.97% | 1,718  | 48.20%  | 65  | 1.82%
1912 | 457  | 12.28%  | 1,633  | 43.89% | 1,631  | 43.83%
1908 | 1,693  | 56.43% | 1,196  | 39.87%  | 111  | 3.70%

## Communities

[edit]

The Damariscotta River near the Whaleback Shell Midden State Historic Site

### Towns

[edit]

* Alna
* Boothbay
* Boothbay Harbor
* Bremen
* Bristol
* Damariscotta
* Dresden
* Edgecomb
* Jefferson
* Newcastle
* Nobleboro
* Somerville
* South Bristol
* Southport
* Waldoboro
* Westport Island
* Whitefield
* Wiscasset

### Plantations

[edit]

* Monhegan

### Unorganized Territories

[edit]

* Hibberts Gore
* Louds Island

### Census-designated places

[edit]

* Boothbay Harbor
* Damariscotta
* Newcastle
* Waldoboro
* Wiscasset

## Transportation

[edit]

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.[27] In the final months, service diminished to one daily except Sunday trip in each direction, until finally discontinuing on April 4, 1959.[28]

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.[29] 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.[30]

## Education

[edit]

K-12 school districts include:[31]

* Boothbay-Boothbay Harbor Community School District
* Bristol School District
* Edgecomb School District
* Jefferson School District
* Monhegan Plantation School District
* Nobleboro School District
* South Bristol School District
* Southport School District
* Wiscasset Public Schools
* Regional School Unit 02
* Regional School Unit 12
* School Administrative District 40

Secondary school districts include:[31]

* Bremen School District
* Damariscotta School District
* Newcastle School District

Elementary school districts include:[31]

* Great Salt Bay Community School District

There are also areas referred to by the U.S. Census Bureau as the "Lincoln Unorganized Territory" and the "Louds Island Unorganized Territory".[31] Unorganized territory is not in any municipality.[32] The Maine Department of Education takes responsibility for coordinating school assignments in the unorganized territory.[33]

## See also

[edit]

* National Register of Historic Places listings in Lincoln County, Maine

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Census - Geography Profile: Lincoln County, Maine". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved November 21, 2021.
2. ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
3. ^ "north by east". Down East: The Magazine of Maine: 19. June 2008.
4. ^ "Lincoln County Maine". lincolncountymaine. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
5. ^ "Lincoln County information". Archived from the original on September 26, 2009. Retrieved February 11, 2010.
6. ^ The Flag of New England Page Archived April 1, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
7. ^ "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. August 22, 2012. Archived from the original on September 9, 2014. Retrieved September 7, 2014.
8. ^ "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Counties: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2023". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved April 3, 2024.
9. ^ "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved September 7, 2014.
10. ^ "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. Retrieved September 7, 2014.
11. ^ "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved September 7, 2014.
12. ^ "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 27, 2010. Retrieved September 7, 2014.
13. ^ "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved August 19, 2013.
14. ^ "QuickFacts. Lincoln County, Maine". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved July 26, 2019.
15. ^ Sharing the Dream: White Males in a Multicultural America By Dominic J. Pulera.
16. ^ Reynolds Farley, 'The New Census Question about Ancestry: What Did It Tell Us?', Demography, Vol. 28, No. 3 (August 1991), pp. 414, 421.
17. ^ 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.
18. ^ 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.
19. ^ Mary C. Waters, Ethnic Options: Choosing Identities in America (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990), p. 36.
20. ^ a b c "DP-1 Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics: 2010 Demographic Profile Data". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
21. ^ "Population, Housing Units, Area, and Density: 2010 - County". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
22. ^ "DP02 Selected Social Characteristics in the United States – 2006-2010 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
23. ^ "DP03 Selected Economic Characteristics – 2006-2010 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on February 13, 2020. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
24. ^ https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/
25. ^ Bureau of Corporations, Elections & Commissions. "Registered & Enrolled Voters Statewide" (PDF). Maine SOS. Retrieved April 9, 2024.
26. ^ Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
27. ^ "Maine Central Railroad, Table 3". Official Guide of the Railways. 91 (3). National Railway Publication Company. August 1958.
28. ^ "Maine Central Railroad, Table 3". Official Guide of the Railways. 91 (11). National Railway Publication Company. April 1959.
29. ^ Abbate, Lauren (October 24, 2017). "Rail group eyes Amtrak service to Rockland by summer 2018". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved October 25, 2017.
30. ^ Betts, Stephen (August 15, 2019). "Train backers ride rails to Rockland". Courier-Gazette. Knox County VillageSoup. Archived from the original on July 25, 2021.
31. ^ a b c d Geography Division (January 14, 2021). 2020 CENSUS - SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP: Lincoln County, ME (PDF) (Map). U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved July 15, 2025. \- Text list
32. ^ "Education In Unorganized Territory (EUT)". Maine Department of Education. Retrieved August 12, 2024.
33. ^ "Education in the Unorganized Territory - Find Your School". Maine Department of Education. Retrieved July 15, 2025.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lincoln County, Maine.

* Official Website of Lincoln County
* Maine Genealogy: Lincoln County, Maine
* Lincoln County Television, a Public, Educational and Government access television station serving 10 towns in Lincoln County
* Wiscasset Newspaper, serving the Lincoln County Seat and its Route 1 neighbors since 1970
* Boothbay Register, serving Boothbay, Boothbay Harbor, Edgecomb and Southport since 1876

Places adjacent to Lincoln County, Maine

|  | Kennebec County | Waldo County

|
|

|  |
Sagadahoc County |

Lincoln County, Maine

| Knox County
|  |
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Municipalities and communities of Lincoln County, Maine, United States

County seat: Wiscasset

Towns|

* Alna
* Boothbay
* Boothbay Harbor
* Bremen
* Bristol
* Damariscotta
* Dresden
* Edgecomb
* Jefferson
* Newcastle
* Nobleboro
* Somerville
* South Bristol
* Southport
* Waldoboro
* Westport Island
* Whitefield
* Wiscasset

Lincoln County map

Plantation|

* Monhegan

Unorganized territories|

* Hibberts Gore
* Louds Island

CDPs|

* Boothbay Harbor
* Damariscotta
* Newcastle
* Waldoboro
* Wiscasset

Other
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44°00′N 69°32′W﻿ / ﻿44.00°N 69.53°W﻿ / 44.00; -69.53
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