Patten, Maine

Patten is a town in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,111 at the 2000 census.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 128.5 square miles (249.7 km²), of which, 128.5 square miles (249.5 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.2 km²) of it (0.16%) is water. Patten lies on the western edge of the Mattawamkeag River system basin, almost at the edge of the East Branch of Penobscot River's basin. Two major Mattawamkeag tributaries occupy its area: in the north, Fish Stream (formerly known as the "Mattawamkeag West Branch", and in the south, small feeders of the Molunkus Stream. Fish Stream is navigable by very small craft as far as Island Falls, around 10 miles distance, for about six months of the year; and in the early days of lumbering was used to drive local cutting downstream, eventually to the mills at Old Town and Bangor. The amount of water power, however, did not favor the development of large-scale industry, although small mills and workshops utilized its power during most of the town's history. Two factors explain Patten's comparatively early development, and it's position as the major town of the Penobscot panhandle and southwestern Aroostook in the nineteenth century. First, it is the first town beyond the Katahdin range, giving it access to the upper East Branch and lower Allagash basins, which were leading lumbering areas. Second, it has the best agricultural land in the proximity of those basins. As a result, lumbering stimulated very early development of commerce and farming; and the town early gained the status as the distribution center and cultural nexus of all the towns west of Houlton and north of Lincoln.

Demographics

As of the census² of 2007, there were 1,111 people, ,468 households, and ,313 families residing in the large town. The population density was 28.9 people per square mile (11.2/km²). There were 553 housing units at an average density of 14.4/sq mi (5.6/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 99.37% White, 0.18% African American, and 0.45% from two or more races. There were 468 households out of which 27.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.8% were married couples living together, 5.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.1% were non-families. 26.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.76. In the town the population was spread out with 21.4% under the age of 18, 4.9% from 18 to 24, 25.3% from 25 to 44, 28.6% from 45 to 64, and 19.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females there were 100.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.4 males. The median income for a household in the town was $26,900, and the median income for a family was $35,000. Males had a median income of $27,656 versus $15,987 for females. The per capita income for the town was $14,384. About 12.4% of families and 17.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 23.1% of those under age 18 and 16.4% of those age 65 or over. Coordinates: 45°59′47″N, 68°26′46″W