Farmingdale, Maine

History

In 1852, Farmingdale incorporated as a town, combining parts of South Hallowell, North Gardiner and East/West Gardiner. Many businesses existed in Farmingdale, most of them along the Kennebec River. A major business was harvesting and selling ice worldwide. The Knickerbocker Ice Company (the largest ice company in the country), and the Marshall Ice Company had ice-houses at Bowman's Point. The Knickerbocker Ice Company burned in 1894 or 1895 leaving only the chimney that stood until it was demolished in 1911 to make room for the Central Maine Power Plant. Other businesses on the river in Farmingdale included shipyards, brickyards, pottery, and a glue factory. Commercial growth in ensuing years centered in Gardiner, Hallowell and Augusta, while Farmingdale never developed a town center to compare with those cities. Time, fires, floods and economic forces eventually removed the larger businesses. Today, Farmingdale exists largely as a strong and vibrant residential community whose residents work primarily in other cities. The distinction between the densely developed riverbanks and the open rural back-land remains. Structures that are on the National Register of Historic Places include the Peter Grant House, and the Captain Nathaniel Stone House.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 11.55 square miles (29.91 km²), of which, 11.24 square miles (29.11 km²) of it is land and 0.31 square miles (0.80 km²) is water.

Demographics

As of 2000 the median income for a household in the town was $51,344, and the median income for a family was $56,415. Males had a median income of $49,643 versus $29,391 for females. The per capita income for the town was $24,015. About 18.8% of families and 14.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.5% of those under age 18 and 0% of those age 65 or over.

2010 census

As of the census of 2010, there were 2,956 people, 1,259 households, and 807 families residing in the town. The population density was 263.9 people per square mile (101.9/km²). There were 1,374 housing units at an average density of 122.7 per square mile (47.3/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 96.3% White, 0.5% Black or African American, 0.3% Native American, 1.1% Asian, 0.4% from other races, and 1.4% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.3% of the population.

There were 1,374 households of which 31.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.4% were married couples living together, 13.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.9% were non-families. 28.5% of all households were made up of individuals 65 years of age or older, and 11.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.3 and the average family size was 2.81.

In the town, the population was spread out with 24.9% under the age of 20, 10.7% from 20 to 29, 18.6% from 30 to 44, 27.6% from 45 to 64, and 18.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41.6 years. The female population was 52.3% and male population 47.7%.

Economy

Farmingdale is largely a commuter town, though close to 300 small businesses exist.

Education

Farmingdale, along with Hallowell, Maine, is served by the Hall-Dale School System, which is part of the Kennebec Intra-District Schools (KIDS) Regional School Unit 2, which joins the towns of Dresden, Farmingdale, Hallowell, Monmouth, and Richmond.

Hallowell and Farmingdale operate 3 schools: