Town of Industry
Industry is a town in Franklin County, Maine, United States. The population was 929 at the 2010 census. The town has a total area of 30.98 square miles (80.24 km2), of which, 29.75 square miles (77.05 km2) of it is land and 1.23 square miles (3.19 km2) is water. The 2010 census.
This picturesque town of 21,000 acres with a 2,000-acre pond is situated in the heart of Franklin County. Its land area is protected by the New Vineyard Mountains, nurtured by shady woods abundant with maples and pines, fed by the pure spring-fed waters of Clearwater Pond and majestically decorated by the beautiful 75-foot Rainbow Cascade, by the bold Bannock and Boardman Mountains and the gloriously colored array of wildflowers that blanket its nearby meadows. The Town of Industry was declared legally incorporated on June 20, 1803, and its citizens called their first formal meeting as a town on October 20, 1803.
County
Franklin County (set off from Lincoln County to Kennebec County in 1799, to Somerset County in 1809, to Franklin County in 1838)
Organized
1799 as Industry Plantation, together with the "River Settlement" ( now Mercer)
Incorporated
1803
Previous Designations
The southerly part of the town lies in the Plymouth Claim (Kennebec Purchase); Back Settlement
In 1800, residents were enumerated in "Plymouth Gore adjoining Sandy River"
Boundary Changes
That part of New Vineyard called New Vineyard Gore was annexed in 1815: additional land from that town was annexed in 1844
Part of New Sharon was annexed in 1813, a few lost in Starks from the Lowell Strip in 1822, and part of Anson in 1823
The western part of the New Vineyard Gore was set off to Farmington in 1850
Land was set of to New Sharon in 1852
Villages, Locations and Settlements
Allens Mills (Allen's Mills), Goodrich Corner, West Industry (later North Industry, a former post office), West Mills (West's Mills)
A History of the Town of Industry
A History of the Town of Industry, Franklin County, Maine. From the earliest settlement in 1787 down to the present time, embracing the cession of New Sharon, New Vineyard, Anson and Stark.
In Two Parts,
Including the history and genealogy of many of the leading families of the Town. Written by: William Collins Hatch
A History of the Town of Industry
may be viewed by clicking here
Thompson's Bridge
Thompson's Bridge is a historic stone bridge in rural Franklin County, Maine. Built c. 1808, it is one of a very small number of surviving stone lintel bridges in the state, a type that were once quite common. It carries a local dirt road across Josiah Creek in the Allen's Mills section of Industry, and is located near (and possibly on) the border with neighboring Somerset County.[2] The bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.[1]
The bridge abutments consist of local fieldstone arranged in dry laid courses. The main span consists of large granite slabs laid across the narrow opening between the abutments. A layer of earth is built above these slabs, supporting the dirt roadway, which is about 10 feet (3.0 m) wide. The southern abutment has extensive wingwalls, giving that structure a total width of about 20 feet (6.1 m).[2]
The road which the bridge carries was probably laid out in 1808, during the early period of Industry's settlement. John Thompson had a house and established a grist mill nearby in 1805. The area had been abandoned by the late 19th century, and the roadway south of the bridge is unmaintained and in deteriorated condition. In a 1924 survey, the state identified more than 100 of this type of bridge; as of 1987, only three were known to survive in relatively unaltered condition. The bridge is also one of the town of Industry's oldest structures; its oldest surviving building has an estimated construction date of 1820