From Moorestown to Abbot
Abbot is a town in Piscataquis County, incorporated on January 31, 1827. The land was among several tracts granted to Bowdoin College in 1794.
The town’s name was associated with the college’s treasurer. Historical accounts note that an additional “t” once appeared in the family name, while the incorporated community became Abbot.
Early name: Before incorporation, the settlement was known as Moorestown.
Early population: The community had 45 residents by 1810 and more than 400 by 1830.
Settlement and water power
Abraham Moore was described in local tradition as the first settler. In 1805, he exchanged a farm in Norridgewock for 800 acres of undeveloped land. He planted a crop and built a log house in 1806, then moved his family there in 1807.
Moore built a sawmill on the Piscataquis River in the northwestern part of town. The community’s population reached nearly 800 in 1860, before beginning a long decline common to many rural Maine towns after the Civil War.
Railroad, mills, and village industry
By 1874, a railroad connection linked Abbot with Bangor and supported local economic activity. During the 1870s, the town had two railway stations, while two covered bridges crossed the Piscataquis River.
An 1881 gazetteer described Abbot Village as a local manufacturing center with lumber, excelsior, spool and grist mills, along with a furniture and pump factory and a brickyard. Additional lumber mills operated elsewhere in town.
Abbot Village
Abbot Village is the town’s principal concentration of settlement. It straddles Kingsbury Stream near its meeting with the Piscataquis River and sits at the junction of Maine Route 16 with Routes 6 and 15.
The historic Washington School served students until the 1950s. Later uses included a 4-H clubhouse and a town voting place. The building’s name referred to Martha Washington rather than George Washington.
Ponds and outdoor setting
Three modest ponds lie within the township. Piper Pond, in the northwest corner, is the largest at approximately 420 acres. It extends about two miles from north to south and has a reported maximum depth of 55 feet. Its fisheries have included brook trout and splake.
Greenleaf Pond covers about 27 acres east of Abbot Village. Hardwood forest surrounds much of its rocky and gravel shoreline. Fish recorded there include brook trout, yellow perch, and chain pickerel.
Drummond Pond is a much smaller fishing water near the village. Historical material described it as a child-friendly fishing location that received seasonal stocking.
Historical population
The record shows nineteenth-century growth followed by decline and later stabilization. The table preserves the census figures presented in the source material through 2010.
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1970 | 453 |
| 1980 | 576 |
| 1990 | 677 |
| 2000 | 630 |
| 2010 | 630 |
After the Civil War, migration toward western lands contributed to population loss. A rebound beginning in the 1960s appeared in the 1970 census, and later decades recorded a comparatively stable population.
