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- Allagash
- Amity
- Ashland
- Bancroft
- Benedicta
- Blaine
- Bridgewater
- Caribou
- Cary Plantation
- Castle Hill
- Caswell
- Chapman
- Crystal
- Cyr Plantation
- Danforth
- Dyer Brook
- E Plantation
- Eagle Lake
- Easton
- Fort Fairfield
- Fort Kent
- Frenchville
- Garfield Plantation
- Glenwood Plantation
- Grand Isle
- Hamlin
- Hammond Plantation
- Haynesville
- Hersey
- Hodgdon
- Houlton
- Island Falls
- Limestone
- Linneus
- Littleton
- Ludlow
- Macwahoc Plantation
- Madawaska
- Mapleton
- Mars Hill
- Masardis
- Merrill
- Monticello
- Moro Plantation
- Nashville Plantation
- New Canada
- New Limerick
- New Sweden
- Oakfield
- Orient
- Oxbow Plantation
- Perham
- Portage Lake
- Presque Isle
- Reed Plantation
- Sherman
- Smyrna
- Smyrna Mills
- St. Agatha
- St. Francis
- St. John Plantation
- Stacyville
- Stockholm
- Van Buren
- Wade
- Wallagrass Plantation
- Washburn
- Westfield
- Westmanland
- Weston
- Winterville Plantation
- Woodland
While Aroostook County troops fought with distinction in the Civil War and all subsequent conflicts, the area's strategic significance became most critical during the Cold War. As the point in the continental U.S. closest to Western Europe and Eastern Bloc nations, Aroostook emerged as an important staging area for military preparations. With the tempering of relations between the U.S. and former Cold War enemies, the value of the region's strategic position diminished.
Distinguished Aroostook County citizens have included eight speakers of the Maine House of Representatives (from Llewellyn Powers in 1895 to Speaker, John L. Martin); six presidents of the Maine Senate; four governors of Maine (most recently John H. Reed of Fort Fairfield, 1959-66); five members of the U.S. House of Representatives and one U.S. Senator (Arthur R. Gould, 1926-31; and Susan M.Collins (1996- ).
Size & Growth: Aroostook is Maine's largest county with a land area of 6,672 square miles. In fact, it is the largest county east of the Mississippi, larger than the states of Connecticut and Rhode Island combined. More than 88% of its area consists of heavily wooded land that supports the county's wood, paper, and lumber industries. The giant wilderness area of western Aroostook comprises roughly two-thirds of the county, and is owned in large part by the lumber and paper industry. Less than 8% of the land is actually cultivated farmland. However, Aroostook County's rich farmland is the source of 90% of Maine's potato crop and supplies other agricultural products, which together contribute significantly to the agricultural economy of the state.
From 1870 to 1960, the population of Aroostook County tripled from 29,606 to its peak of 106,064. In the thirty years from 1960 to 1990, the population declined by 18% to 86,936. Studies indicate that the County's population growth during the 1950's was due to the establishment of Loring Air Force Base, masking a pattern of out-migration that had already begun during that decade. Population projections prepared by the University of Southern Maine showed Aroostook County's population would fall to just over 79,000 in 1995, one year after Loring AFB closure. With reuse of the former base and business developments throughout the region, however, out-migration is expected to reverse for the first time in forty years. The County's population is projected to exceed 81,000 by the year 2000, and to near 89,000 by 2015.