Casco, Maine
Nathaniel Hawthorne's Boyhood Home
Casco, Maine Location within the state of Maine
Coordinates: 43°57′9″N 70°30′50″W / 43.9525, -70.51389
Country	United States
State	Maine
County	Cumberland
Incorporated	1841
Area
- Total	36.4 sq mi (94.4 km²)
- Land	31.3 sq mi (81.0 km²)
- Water	5.2 sq mi (13.4 km²)
Elevation	545 ft (166 m)
Population (2000)
- Total	3,469
- Density	110.9/sq mi (42.8/km²)
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code	04015
Area code(s)	207
FIPS code	23-11125
GNIS feature ID	0582395

Casco is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. The population was 3,469 at the 2000 census. Casco includes the villages of Casco, South Casco and Webb's Miills. Located beside Sebago Lake, the town is site of Sebago Lake State Park, Camp Arcadia (a summer camp for girls), Camp Cedar (a summer camp for boys) and Camp Laurel South.

Casco is part of the Portland–South Portland–Biddeford, Maine Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

On January 30, 1767, Raymondtown Plantation was granted by the Massachusetts General Court to Captain William Raymond of Beverly, Massachusetts and his company of soldiers for their service with Sir William Phipps in the 1690 Battle of Quebec. It replaced a 1735 grant called Beverly-Canada (now Weare, New Hampshire) which was ruled invalid in 1741 because of a prior claim by the heirs of John Mason. In 1803, Raymondtown Plantation was incorporated as Raymond. The town of Naples was created with land taken in 1838, the same year the western half of Raymond petitioned the legislature to be set off as a township because of its geographical separation behind Rattlesnake Mountain. The petition failed, but 3 years later another was accepted. On March 18, 1841, Casco was incorporated as a town, the last and smallest in Cumberland County.

Farmers found the surface of the town uneven, its hard and rocky soil "tolerably productive." Outlets of ponds, however, provided Casco with good sites for water powered mills. The town had 4 sawmills, 4 gristmills, a shook mill, a barrel stave mill, 4 shingle factories, a carriage factory and a tannery. In 1832, the Cumberland and Oxford Canal made Sebago Lake a direct trade route to Portland. Steamboat travel commenced on the waterways in the 1840s, carrying tourists and freight. In 1938, Sebago Lake State Park was established, one of the state's 5 original state parks.

Notable residents

• Nathaniel Hawthorne, writer
• Tony Montanaro, mime artist

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 36.4 square miles (94.4 km²), of which, 31.3 square miles (81.0 km²) of it is land and 5.2 square miles (13.4 km²) of it (14.16%) is water. Casco is drained by the Crooked River and Songo River.

The town is crossed by U.S. Route 302 and state routes 11, 85 and 121. It borders the towns of Raymond to the southeast, Naples and Otisfield to the northwest, and Poland to the northeast.

Demographics

Steamer Longfellow on the Songo River in 1912

As of the census^[1] of 2000, there were 3,469 people, 1,327 households, and 958 families residing in the town. The population density was 110.9 people per square mile (42.8/km²). There were 1,958 housing units at an average density of 62.6/sq mi (24.2/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 97.95% White, 0.29% African American, 0.37% Native American, 0.52% Asian, 0.12% from other races, and 0.75% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.52% of the population.

There were 1,327 households out of which 34.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.3% were married couples living together, 10.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.8% were non-families. 20.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.58 and the average family size was 2.96.

Sebago Lake in c. 1915

In the town the population was spread out with 25.2% under the age of 18, 6.5% from 18 to 24, 32.1% from 25 to 44, 24.7% from 45 to 64, and 11.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 97.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.3 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $41,629, and the median income for a family was $49,500. Males had a median income of $31,679 versus $25,306 for females. The per capita income for the town was $19,306. About 5.3% of families and 8.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.5% of those under age 18 and 9.8% of those age 65 or over.

Sites of interest

• Friends' Schoolhouse Museum, Raymond-Casco Historical Society
• Hawthorne House, Hawthorne Community Association
• Sebago Lake State Park

References

• A. J. Coolidge & J. B. Mansfield, A History and Description of New England, 1859, H. O. Houghton & Co., publisher, Cambridge, Massachusetts
• History of Raymond, Maine (1886)
• History of Raymondtown Plantation (Ernest Knight)

External links

• Town of Casco, Maine
• Casco Public Library
• Camp Arcadia, Camp for Girls
• Sebago Lake State Park

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Coordinates: 44°00′24″N, 70°31′22″W