New Sweden, Maine
Location of New Sweden, Maine
Coordinates: 46°57′34″N 68°6′17″W / 46.95944, -68.10472
Country	United States
State	Maine
County	Aroostook
Area
- Total	34.7 sq mi (89.9 km²)
- Land	34.7 sq mi (89.9 km²)
- Water	0.0 sq mi (0.1 km²)
Elevation	636 ft (194 m)
Population (2000)
- Total	621
- Density	17.9/sq mi (6.9/km²)
Time zone	Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
- Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
ZIP code	04762
Area code(s)	207
FIPS code	23-49415
GNIS feature ID	0582625

New Sweden is a town in Aroostook County, Maine, United States. The population was 621 at the 2000 census. The town made national news headlines in 2003 when a man poisoned the coffee urn at the local Lutheran church, sickening 15 elderly parishioners and killing one.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 34.7 square miles (90.0 km²), of which, 34.7 square miles (89.9 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km²) of it (0.09%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census^[1] of 2000, there were 621 people, 247 households, and 179 families residing in the town. The population density was 17.9 people per square mile (6.9/km²). There were 319 housing units at an average density of 9.2/sq mi (3.5/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 95.17% White, 0.16% African American, 1.29% Native American, 0.48% Asian, 0.16% from other races, and 2.74% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.25% of the population. 33.4% were of Swedish, 16.9% French, 14.5% English, 9.6% Irish and 6.0% German ancestry according to Census 2000.

There were 247 households out of which 29.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.3% were married couples living together, 6.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.5% were non-families. 22.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.51 and the average family size was 2.94.

In the town the population was spread out with 22.5% under the age of 18, 5.2% from 18 to 24, 26.2% from 25 to 44, 31.1% from 45 to 64, and 15.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females there were 102.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.2 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $29,625, and the median income for a family was $42,563. Males had a median income of $30,625 versus $22,500 for females. The per capita income for the town was $14,534. About 10.4% of families and 14.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 24.4% of those under age 18 and 11.8% of those age 65 or over.

2003 poisoning

On April 27, 2003, 78-year-old Walter Morrill died of arsenic poisoning after drinking coffee at the Gustaf Adolph Lutheran Church in New Sweden, and 15 other, mostly elderly churchgoers became ill, three of them seriously. Five days later, church member Daniel Bondeson, 53, shot himself, leaving a suicide note in which he confessed to the poisoning.[1]

The crime was chronicled in Christine Ellen Young's 2005 true crime book A Bitter Brew: Faith, Power, and Poison in a Small New England Town which was also condensed in Readers Digest.

External links

• Town of New Sweden

Coordinates: 46°56′30″N, 68°07′14″W