ABOUT THE TOWN OF UNION


Location

Early history

The Union area was used by Wawenock native Americans of the Abenaki nation for hunting, fishing and gathering berries and other vegetable food. They maintained no permanent settlement but there is evidence of campsites and burial sites. The native Americans of this area and the white settlers had relations which were mostly cordial and cooperative, but cautious and wary on both sides.
The first white settlers arrived in September or October of 1772. With the names Anderson, Malcolm and Crawford, they were of natives of Scotland and called their bachelor logging camp "Sterlingtown" after the Scottish town of Stirling. In the spring of 1774 Dr. John Taylor of Lunenburg, Massachusetts entered into negotiations with the heirs of the Waldo patent on purchasing the entire gore of unappropriated land belonging to the patent. Accompanied by John and Phineas Butler, he landed near the mouth of the Crawford river on Monday July 18, 1774. Taylor's deed to the land was executed on November 17, 1774. The Butlers and Benjamin Packard continued to work the land until the arrival in 1776 of the first family of settlers, that of Philip Robbins. Philip's son David and his wife arrived in May and were followed in the fall by Philip and his wife and family, including an unmarried daughter named Mima. Philip and his sons built a small cabin on the shore of Seven Tree Pond into which his family crowded for the first winter. The foundation of the cabin can still be seen today. These beginnings and the early days of many settler-farmers are vividly recounted by author Ben Ames Williams in his 1940 historical novel Come Spring. The plantation of Sterlingtown was incorporated on October 20, 1786 by the name of UNION, so called because of the "uncommon harmony" among its people.

Union Common

The earliest record of the Common appears in Sibley's History of Union where it was noted that on April 5, 1790 a vote was passed denying boars and rams the liberty of going on the Common, but permitting hogs to roam at large. In May 1801 the town voted to accept from David Gilmore a donation of the land which now forms Union Common, and also approved clearing out the stumps and stone to make it fit for drilling the militia. The deed was eventually recorded on June 15, 1809. The enterprising Gilmore had just built the Cobb Tavern on the Common's north side to attract travelers on the stagecoach route to Searsmont, and wanted to redirect the business center of town, at that time in South Union, to the Common. His strategy was successful and the Union Common is one of the oldest public common in the state. Its stately elms have long gone but the Common is still a beautiful place with mature maples and birches, a flower planter made from an old water trough, and a map of historical sites mentioned in Come Spring. A young sugar maple, one of many recent plantings, is dedicated to the memory of Ben Ames Williams, author of Come Spring. There are benches for the public, a bandstand built in 1897, a war memorial and of course a fine Civil War memorial made from local granite with its pensive statue of a young Union soldier. A time capsule from the town's Bicentennial celebration is buried on the Common. Surrounded by commercial structures and fine homes, the Common is a favorite venue for outdoor public events such as Founder's Day, band concerts, the library book sale, and the annual Christmas tree lighting. The Union Common was registered on the National Register of Historic Places on November 7, 2007.

Industry

Modern Union is primarily an agricultural community, with dairy and blueberry farming predominating, a casket factory and a pottery, service-related businesses, and some tourism. Past industries have included quarrying and shipping limestone, and growing and shipping apples, as well as making the barrels used to ship them. Small manufacturing businesses included the making of furniture, carriages, parlor organs, granite monuments and a grist mill.

Museum

Union is home to the Matthews Museum of Maine Heritage, located at Union Fairground and open during July 1 through Labor Day. This little-known museum has been called the finest collection of agricultural artifacts outside the Smithsonian.

Pictures of Union

Aerial Views of Union

Aerial views of Union taken by the USGS in 1996. Provided on the WEB by Timeserver.com. The left view is an overview of the town. The right image is a blow up of the area around the common.

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