Understanding Maine’s townships
A township is a minor civil division without an organized local government such as a plantation, town, or city. These areas form an important part of Maine’s Unorganized Territory.
Townships are administered directly by state government. Rather than maintaining a municipal government, they receive services through state and county arrangements funded in part by taxes levied within the territory.
How township names work
Townships may have familiar names or may be identified by township and range notation, such as T3 R4 WELS. In this system, T means township and R means range.
WELS means “West of the Easterly Line of the State.” That reference line runs north–south in Aroostook County, from the area of Hamlin toward Amity, and provides the basis for identifying townships to its west.
Reading an identification
Township numbers generally increase from south to north, while range numbers are counted westward from the easterly reference line. Some township designations use letters, and historic survey or purchase names may appear as abbreviations.
The southern end of the principal numbered sequence includes TB R11 WELS, north of Katahdin Iron Works Township in Piscataquis County. Other examples include TA R2 WELS, TC R2 WELS, and TD R2 WELS.
Survey and purchase abbreviations
Township identifiers preserve the language of historic land purchases, surveys, geographic divisions, and river-based reference areas.
| Code | Meaning |
|---|---|
| BKP | Bingham’s Kennebec Purchase |
| BPP | Bingham’s Penobscot Purchase |
| ED | Eastern Division |
| EKR | East of the Kennebec River |
| EPR | East of the Penobscot River |
| EUR | East of the Union River |
| IP | Indian Purchase |
| LS | Livermore Survey |
| MD | Middle Division |
| NBKP | North of Bingham’s Kennebec Purchase |
| NBPP | North of Bingham’s Penobscot Purchase |
| ND | Northern Division |
| NWP | North of Waldo Patent |
| OIP | Old Indian Purchase |
| SD | Southern Division |
| TS | Titcomb Survey |
| WELS | West of the Easterly Line of the State |
| WBKP | West of Bingham’s Kennebec Purchase |
| WKR | West of the Kennebec River |
Administration and services
When an organized municipality gives up its municipal status, it is commonly described as having “deorganized” and become part of the unorganized territory. The state then coordinates municipal-like responsibilities rather than a town government doing so locally.
Large forest holdings, public lands, conservation areas, and private properties require coordinated planning and oversight.
Road networks may include routes maintained for different seasons and levels of use.
Education, emergency assistance, roads, bridges, and taxation are arranged without a municipal administration.
The territory extends through much of inland and northern Maine across multiple counties.
State departments and regional authorities may provide education, timber and land management, forest-fire prevention and suppression, conservation, planning, emergency assistance, road and bridge work, and related services. The exact organization of these responsibilities can change, so historical statistics should be read in the context of their reporting year.