Atkinson, Maine

Atkinson Township sprawls across nearly 39 square miles of Piscataquis County farmland and forest, a community that traces its roots to 1804 when the first settlers arrived to carve homesteads from the wilderness. The township was named for Judge Atkinson, a major landowner who believed in the area’s potential and even donated a small library to encourage the community’s intellectual development.

The Colcord brothers from Bangor arrived in 1807 and built the mills that would sustain the settlement, a grist mill to grind grain and a saw mill to process timber. These mills on Alder Stream represented the industrial heart of early Atkinson, converting the raw materials of the forest into products the growing community needed. The township was incorporated on February 12, 1819, joining the network of organized municipalities that were spreading across interior Maine.

For two centuries, Atkinson maintained its town government, holding annual meetings and electing selectmen like countless other Maine communities. But by the 21st century, the challenges facing small rural towns had become acute. With a population under 300 and a limited tax base, maintaining roads, providing services, and meeting state mandates grew increasingly burdensome.

In 2019, after multiple votes and careful deliberation, Atkinson residents chose to deorganize, surrendering their town status by a vote of 187 to 19. The township became part of Maine’s unorganized territory, with the county and state taking over services previously handled locally. It was a practical decision, not an abandonment of community, and the people who call Atkinson home continue to live much as they always have.

An unusual connection links Atkinson to the American West: Edward Bunker, born here in 1822, became a prominent Mormon pioneer. Bunker led wagon trains across the plains, served in the Mormon Battalion during the Mexican-American War, and eventually founded Bunkerville, Nevada, a community that still bears his name. It’s a reminder that even the smallest Maine townships sent their sons and daughters into the wider world.

Today Atkinson offers what it has always offered: rolling hills, quiet roads, good hunting and fishing, and the kind of rural character that has become rare even in Maine. The old mills are gone, but Alder Stream still flows through the township, and the land remains much as Judge Atkinson saw it when he first invested in this corner of Piscataquis County.