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49-557: Arthur R. Gould purchased a Presque Isle sawmill in 1889. He began to investigate log driving on the Aroostook River as the supply of local logs was exhausted. He needed a railroad to move logs from the river to his sawmill; and recognized the possibility of using the river's water power to generate electricity. The railroad was founded in 1902 and the Maine Railroad Commission granted it approval to operate on 1 July of

98-648: A Republican United States senator from Maine . Prior to being elected to the Senate, he had stated that he was in favor of maintaining the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution which banned the manufacture, sale, or transportation of alcohol. However, once in office, he became nationally known for writing in favor of the legalization of wine and beer. Born in Corinth, Maine , he attended

147-455: A few loads of road salt and farm machinery contributed additional income. The railroad served Skyway Industrial Airpark occupants on the former Presque Isle Air Force Base after the base closed in 1961, including International Paper Company and Indian Head Plywood Company. In July 1945, the electrification was ended, and the AVR bought two GE 44-ton switchers numbered 10 and 11. Switcher number 12

196-435: A total area of 6,828 square miles (17,680 km ), of which 6,671 square miles (17,280 km ) is land and 156 square miles (400 km ) (2.3%) is water. Aroostook County is Maine's largest county by area, about the size of Connecticut and Rhode Island combined. The county high point is Peaked Mountain, elevation 2,230 feet (680 m), whose western slopes are in the north east corner of Piscataquis County. Although

245-683: Is interred at Bangor's Mount Pleasant Cemetery alongside his wife. The special election to replace Senator Fernald occurred near the height of the Ku Klux Klan 's influence in Maine politics. Klan infiltration of the Democratic Party split Maine Republicans, with Klansmen finding their champion in Maine Governor Owen Brewster , and their chief opponents in former Governor Percival P. Baxter and Senator Frederick Hale . Gould, whose wife

294-518: Is larger than three of the smaller U.S. states. It is Maine's northernmost county; the state's northernmost village, Estcourt Station , is also the northernmost community in the New England region and in the contiguous United States east of the Great Lakes . Aroostook County is known for its potato cultivation, and it is an emerging hub for wind power . Historically, Acadian culture and heritage

343-575: Is well-represented in the county. In the Saint John Valley (northern Aroostook county), which borders Madawaska County, New Brunswick , many of the residents are bilingual in English and Acadian French . Elsewhere in Maine, New England French is the predominant form of French spoken. As well, the original inhabitants of the area, the Wolastoqiyik still remain in their country ( Wolastokuk ) as

392-677: The Canada–United States border , co-hosted by Aroostook County and a number of neighboring counties in Canada ( Témiscouata in Quebec, and Victoria , Madawaska and Restigouche in New Brunswick). Organizers planned a Tintamarre that was held in the town of Madawaska, Maine, as well as a giant tug of war across the Saint John River . According to the U.S. Census Bureau , the county has

441-676: The Gulf of Maine following the French and Indian Wars , these occupants of the border region retreated up the large rivers into the interior, joined by Acadians escaping the Acadian Expulsion . Most Acadians and Wolastoqewiyik found refuge in Canada's Madawaska county , but several communities stayed in what would become the United States, including the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians , also known as

490-727: The Houlton Band of Metaksonekiyak Wolastoqewiyik . Aroostook County forms the entirety of the Presque Isle media market, according to Nielsen Media Research . The name Aroostook comes from the Wolastokwey (or Maliseet ) word Woolahstook , referring to the Saint John River or " Wolastoq ", which means "beautiful river". Named for the Wolastoq River , Aroostook's bounds fall completely within Maliseet Country, natively called Wolastokuk . Confederated with neighboring nations like

539-566: The Metaksonekiyak Wolastoqewiyik . Although the survivors might have preferred to remain independent, surrounding governments dividing their refuge, considering Aroostook County as the west bank of the Saint John River drainage basin upstream of Canada. Under United States control, the area was initially dominated by lumber manufacturing interests, although agriculture became important as population increased. Transportation along

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588-706: The Mi'kmaq and Abenaki , the Wolastoqiyik (or Maliseet) Nation and their country comprised and still comprises one part of the Wabanaki Confederacy . This confederation covering several countries across Dawnland (what is now New England and the Canadian Maritimes ) came together and confederated during the European and British colonization of the Americas . The sparsely populated North Maine Woods , roughly defined as

637-487: The census of 2000, there were 73,938 people, 30,356 households, and 20,429 families residing in the county. The population density was 11 people per square mile (4.2 people/km ). There were 38,719 housing units at an average density of 6 per square mile (2.3/km ). The racial makeup of the county was 96.80% White , 0.38% Black or African American, 1.36% Native American, 0.47% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.17% from other races, and 0.80% from two or more races. 0.60% of

686-515: The 1926 election, Gould's opponent accused him of having bribed the Premier of the Canadian province of New Brunswick in 1918 in order to secure concessions for the Saint John Valley and Quebec Railway , of which Gould was the major investor. Gould did not deny that a bribe of $ 100,000 was paid, but he claimed this was done by his associates without his knowledge, and that an additional $ 50,000 asked for by

735-515: The Maine Medical Marijuana Act. In 2012, it voted 67% against a measure to legalize same-sex marriage in Maine . As of the 2010 United States Census , there were 71,870 people, 30,961 households, and 19,578 families residing in the county. The population density was 10.8 inhabitants per square mile (4.2/km ). There were 39,529 housing units at an average density of 5.9 per square mile (2.3/km ). The racial makeup of

784-461: The Premier was refused, leading to the collapse of the railway. Gould claimed that bribery was standard practice in New Brunswick for American companies, and he was more a victim than perpetrator in this instance. The bribery charges led to a resolution by Democratic Senator Thomas J. Walsh of Montana that would have prevented Gould from being seated in the Senate, but this was defeated and Gould

833-645: The Republican Senate nomination in 1928, and lost, signaling the eclipse of Grand Dragon DeForest H. Perkins and the Klan as a force in Maine politics. Gould was no friend of the Klan, but he shared with them antipathy toward immigrants, especially French-Canadians. While in the Senate, he joined the Senate Committee on Immigration and proposed a bill that would have set a quota on immigration from Canada, thus reducing Maine's French Canadian population. However,

882-525: The Saint John River, and early rail connections into New Brunswick, created strong business ties with Canada, until the county was connected to the United States rail network by the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad in 1894. Aroostook County residents retain an independent cultural identity established during their history of isolation on the border frontier. Aroostook County was formed, in 1839, from parts of Penobscot and Washington counties. Between 1843 and 1844,

931-537: The Senate was a Democrat, Senator Joseph E. Ransdell of Louisiana . Arthur R. Gould was a resident of Presque Isle for nearly 60 years. In 1955 the city hospital had outgrown its facilities and new construction was planned on a 30-acre (12 ha) farm on the "outskirts" of town. Fundraising began the following year, and was accelerated with the Ford Foundation grant of $ 27,500. Gould's only surviving child, Marie Gould Wildes and her husband W. H. Wildes, surprised

980-486: The airfield were as much as eight or ten carloads per day; and the railroad began carrying passengers in a highway bus to avoid passenger schedule conflicts with expedited military freight shipments. Freight was interchanged with the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad at Washburn, and with the Canadian Pacific at Washburn Junction, near Presque Isle. Inbound heating oil and coal were important car loadings in later years; and

1029-438: The bulk of the rest of early freight traffic, including hay, fertilizer, grain, flour and starch, as well as logs and lumber for Gould's sawmill. During its early years, the railroad made about $ 60,000 a year from freight traffic, about twice the amount made from passenger service. Passenger travel declined through the 1920s and 1930s. Military freight traffic became significant with the onset of World War II . Military shipments to

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1078-457: The committee with a donation of $ 100,000. The hospital was promptly named the Arthur R. Gould Memorial Hospital . Aroostook County, Maine Aroostook County ( / ə ˈ r uː s t ə k , - ˈ r ʊ s -/ ə- ROOSS -tək, -⁠ RUUSS - ; French : Comté d'Aroostook ) is a county in the U.S. state of Maine along the Canada–United States border . As of the 2020 census ,

1127-551: The common schools and East Corinth Academy . He moved first to Bangor, Maine , where he opened a candy factory and met Mary Frances Donovan, who became his wife. They moved to Presque Isle, Maine , in 1887, where he engaged in the lumber business and built power plants and an electric railroad. He was president of the Aroostook Valley Railroad from 1902 to 1946. Gould served in the Maine Senate from 1921 to 1922, and

1176-491: The company for a price of $ 225 a share. Passenger service to New Sweden was discontinued in the late 1930s. With the onset of World War II , Presque Isle's airport was converted to a military base for ferrying aircraft to Europe; and the railroad built a 2.5 miles (4.0 km) branch line to handle fuel and equipment shipments to the airfield. The railroad's traffic consisted largely of potatoes. Five thousand carloads were carried in an average year. Other farming products made up

1225-497: The county gained more land from Penobscot County, and further exchanged land with Piscataquis County . In 1889, Aroostook gained a small amount of Penobscot land, subsequently giving it back in 1903, when Aroostook County took on its current form. Some of the territory in the county was part of the land dispute that led to the " Aroostook War ", a dispute which would be settled by the Webster–Ashburton Treaty . The county

1274-612: The county is more socially conservative than Maine's southern and coastal counties, it was won by the Democratic presidential candidate in the six elections from 1992 to 2012 before going for the Republican candidate in 2016 and 2020 . In the Maine Legislature , the county's delegation in 2013 included three Democrats and seven Republicans. In 2009 it voted 73% in favor of a referendum rejecting same-sex marriage and 54% against

1323-428: The county was 95.7% white, 1.7% Native American, 0.6% black or African American, 0.4% Asian, 0.2% from other races, and 1.4% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 0.9% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 27.2% were of French origin, 18.1% English , 17.4% Irish , 8.2% French Canadian (counted separately from French), 8.1% American , and 5.2% of German heritage. In 2010, 18.0% of

1372-558: The headwaters of the Saint John , Penobscot and Kennebec Rivers , was populated during the colonial era by refugees fleeing oppressive governments. Native Americans , particularly Dawnlanders , (retreating from hostile European colonists, and smugglers trading with them, and between English Massachusetts and French Acadia ) lived in small communities along the Atlantic coast on the disputed border between those colonies. As England dominated

1421-400: The largest fuel storage capacity, at 9,200,000 US gallons (35,000,000 L), and the largest weapons storage capacity, at 4700 tonnes NEW , of any SAC base. The 42d Bombardment Wing at Loring operated Boeing B-52 Stratofortress bombers until the 1991 Base Realignment and Closure Commission recommended closure and the base closed in 1994. The 2014 Acadian World Congress was held along

1470-492: The line briefly in 1978 in an attempt to retire the aging 44-ton switchers, but was too heavy for the 70-pound rail. During the 1970s, the railroad's potato traffic, its major revenue source, dropped, due to Interstate 95 's extension to Houlton, Maine , as well as bad crops during this time and the Penn Central Railroad 's unreliability in handling potatoes shipped by rail in southern New England. Canadian Pacific sold

1519-523: The measure was defeated. Although the US was experiencing Prohibition in the 1920s, and Maine had the nation's oldest prohibition law, and the Republican Party was the main proponent of prohibition, Gould did not believe in it and both made and consumed alcohol at home. He created a minor scandal in 1929 when a testimonial he had written in 1927, revealing that he fermented fruit juice for personal consumption,

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1568-432: The population reported speaking French at home; other than speakers of English, there were no other significant linguistic groups. Of the 30,961 households, 25.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.6% were married couples living together, 9.4% had a female householder with no husband present, 36.8% were non-families, and 30.8% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size

1617-549: The population was 67,105. The county seat is Houlton , with offices in Caribou and Fort Kent . Known in Maine as " The County ", it is the largest county in Maine by total area, the second- largest in the United States east of the Mississippi River by total area (behind St. Louis County, Minnesota ), and the 31st-largest county in the entire contiguous U.S. With over 6,800 square miles (18,000 km ) of land; it

1666-507: The population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 22.6% were of French, 15.4% United States or American, 14.6% English , 14.3% French Canadian and 10.2% Irish ancestry. There were 30,356 households, out of which 28.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.60% were married couples living together, 8.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.70% were non-families. 27.60% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.10% had someone living alone who

1715-536: The power of the Republican Klan faction. In an unprecedented outcome, Gould carried every city and county in the state. The Chairman of the Republican State Committee hailed Gould's victory as demonstrating that "the sinister influence of an oath-bound organization no longer threatens the welfare of Maine". The issue would be played out one more time, however, when Gov. Brewster challenged Sen. Hale for

1764-464: The railroad ended operations in 1996. Arthur R. Gould Arthur Robinson Gould (March 16, 1857 – July 24, 1946) was an American industrialist involved in lumber, railroads, hydroelectricity, and other large scale industry in Aroostook County, Maine and the neighboring Canadian province of New Brunswick from the 1880s until his death in 1946. From 1926 to 1931, he served as

1813-461: The railroad in 1980 to an investment group seeking the regulatory advantages of a home railroad for their fleet of leased boxcars . The line north of Washburn was abandoned in 1983. An April 1987 flood destroyed two Canadian Pacific bridges, causing the AVR to lose its connection with the CP at Washburn Junction. Fewer than 1000 cars were handled on the surviving 10 miles (16 km) of trackage in 1989, and

1862-434: The same year. Its survey of the planned route was approved the next year, but not until 20 June 1910 was construction completed and the safety certificate approved. The AVR's official opening was on 1 July 1910; at the time it operated 10.8 miles (17.4 km) of track between Presque Isle and Washburn, Maine . In 1911, 11.3 miles (18.2 km) of track was added, extending the line's terminus to New Sweden and in 1912 track

1911-468: Was 2.26 and the average family size was 2.79. The median age was 45.3 years. The median income for a household in the county was $ 36,574 and the median income for a family was $ 47,114. Males had a median income of $ 37,222 versus $ 28,244 for females. The per capita income for the county was $ 20,251. About 10.6% of families and 15.4% of the population were below the poverty line , including 20.4% of those under age 18 and 11.7% of those age 65 or over. As of

1960-442: Was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 2.86. In the county, 22.60% of the population was under the age of 18, 7.90% was from 18 to 24, 26.30% from 25 to 44, 26.20% from 45 to 64, and 17.00% was 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 95.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.70 males. The median income for

2009-442: Was Catholic, ran on an anti-Klan platform after receiving the Republican nomination for Senator, which caused Gov. Brewster to take the unprecedented step of denouncing his own party's candidate in the general election. The Maine special election was of national importance because the U.S. Senate was evenly split along party lines (47 to 47). Maine Democrats, however, deserted their party in droves to vote for Gould, in order to break

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2058-582: Was also part of a route on the Underground Railroad , and was one of the last stops before entering Canada. Slaves would meet and hide just outside Aroostook or in deserted areas. Friends Quaker Church near Fort Fairfield was often a final stop. Much of Aroostook County's economy was dominated by military spending through the Cold War . Limestone Army Air Field was built in Limestone, Maine , in 1947. It

2107-510: Was elected on September 13, 1926, as a Republican to the U.S. Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Bert M. Fernald and served from November 30, 1926, to March 3, 1931. He was not a candidate for renomination in 1930. During his time in office he served as chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Immigration for the 71st Congress . He was blind for approximately six years prior to his death at his home in Presque Isle in 1946. He

2156-538: Was extended to Caribou, a further 7.13 miles (11.47 km). The line was electrified for the early part of the railroad's history. Gould considered extending the railroad to Lac-Frontière, Quebec through additional sources of timber and electricity, but after the World Wars this plan was dropped. In 1932, the Canadian Pacific Railway acquired a controlling interest in the railroad by buying Gould's share of

2205-449: Was later added in 1949. On 7 August 1945, passenger service on the line was ended. Aside from the three switchers, the railroad operated a caboose , maintenance-of-way flatcar number 101, and converted steeplecab snowplow number 53 through the later years. The flatcar was painted black with white lettering, while the other rolling stock was painted dark blue with yellow lettering and striping. Canadian Pacific MLW S-3 number 6500 worked on

2254-572: Was made public. Gould had written that "I come from a prohibition state and am supposed to be a prohibitionist, but I am about as loyal to the prohibition element as some Southern Democrats are to the Democratic Party". Maine's temperance proponents declared they'd work to unseat Gould, but he stated soon after that he wouldn't run for a second term, while denying the prohibitionist threat entered into his decision. In making that announcement Gould referred to prohibition as "this rotten farce". During

2303-564: Was particularly suspicious of the Midwest and West for wanting to wrest too much power from the Eastern states, and from New England in particular. However, he also derided his own political skills, saying "the fact of the matter is that I'm not cut out for politics, I want to get back to my railroad and the pine forests of Maine." His favorite politician was Calvin Coolidge and one of his best friends in

2352-743: Was renamed Loring Air Force Base (AFB) in 1953 as the home of the Strategic Air Command (SAC) 42d Bombardment Wing operating Convair B-36 Peacemaker bombers. Aroostook County was chosen due to its strategic location as the closest point in the Continental United States to the Middle East and Europe including the Soviet Union west of the Ural Mountains . Loring AFB could accommodate one hundred of these large bombers; and had both

2401-553: Was sworn in. A Senate sub-committee was formed to investigate the charge, however, and Gould was exonerated. Gould was noted for speaking his mind plainly and frankly. In a 1929 newspaper interview, he described Sen. George W. Norris of Nebraska as a "bitter, sour old man with not a good word for anybody" and said Sen. Thomas J. Walsh of Montana "hasn't got a kindly thought in his system". Both men were well-known progressives, and such statements perhaps reveal Gould's instinctive conservatism as much as their clashing temperaments. Gould

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