THE BEST SMALL TOWN IN MAINE

I have never been specific about where I live.   Actually I live about three miles from the best small town in Maine.   I have to take a few minutes to brag about it.  

After I retired from the Military my wife and I moved from Brunswick, Maine into an 1832 farm house at the end of a mile-long logging road in one of the most remote areas of Franklin County.  We had no electricity, sewerage and had to carried water from the stream behind the house.   We lived there for four years while we attended the University of Maine at Farmington, some sixteen miles away.    This was one of the best decisions and best time of our lives. 

About sixteen years ago we moved back.

Our town has not change greatly from the early days – the same buildings now house our local stores. 

 

 Our main celebration is Chester Greenwood day – he is the Farmington resident that invented the ear muffs.

 Farmington is clean, and retains the atmosphere of an earlier New England village.   We have great local stores, small eateries and a multiplex theater where my wife can see movies for four dollars each and a medium popcorn and two small cokes cost five dollars.  We are within twenty miles of a major ski resort, a thousand miles of snowmobile trails connects just behind my house and a pristine river runs through our town with a swimming beach, trout fishing, kayak and canoeing.   

We have town amenities and yet occasionally moose and deer walk through our yard.    

Farmington is a clean and vibrant little village, and the heart of the town in the university.  

 From the mid eighteen hundreds Farmington has been primarily a teacher’s college and as a result the female population has always outnumbered the males.   Perhaps this is why the college is such a healthy, happy and productive place.   There have never been any problems from the Farmington students.   The most controversial incident was the year when some of the young women decided to go topless around town.     This drove our local religious nut case crazy, but other than that it was uneventful

 The full time community loves the college students and the students are a vibrant part of our community.   Our local movie multiplex offers university students $2.50 admission every Wednesday night.   Many of our students work in the local stores and restaurants and volunteer at a number of schools and community organizations in the area.

The University of Maine at Farmington has been designated one of the best small colleges in the United States for ten years running.   If you have children or grandchildren looking for a safe and productive place to attend college, you could do worse than check into our university.  And if you are looking for a great place to retire and don’t mind four seasons, come on up.

The Ol'Buzzard