Norridgewock

The Battle of Norridgewock was a raid on the Abenaki settlement of Norridgewock by a group of colonial militiamen from the New England Colonies. Occurring in contested lands on the edge of the American frontier, the raid resulted in a massacre of the Abenaki inhabitants of Norridgewock by the militiamen. The raid was undertaken to check Abenaki power in the region, limit Catholic proselytizing among the Abenaki (and thereby perceived French influence), and to allow the expansion of New England settlements into Abenaki territory and Acadia. New France defined this area as starting at the Kennebec River in southern Maine.: 27  Other motivations for the raid included the special £100 scalp bounty placed on Râle's head by the Massachusetts provincial assembly and the bounty on Abenaki scalps offered by the colony during the conflict. Captains Johnson Harmon, Jeremiah Moulton, and Richard Bourne (Brown) led a force of two hundred colonial New Englanders, which attacked the Abenaki village of Narantsouak, or Norridgewock, on the Kennebec River; the current town of Norridgewock, Maine developed near there. The village was led by, among others, the sachems Bomazeen and Welákwansit, known to the English as Mog. The village's Catholic mission was run by a French Jesuit priest, Father Sébastien Râle.Casualties, depending on the sources consulted, vary, but most accounts record about eighty Abenaki being killed. But both English and French accounts agree that the raid was a surprise nighttime attack on a civilian target, and they both also report that many of the dead were unarmed when they were killed, and those massacred included many women and children. As a result of the raid, New Englanders flooded into the lower Kennebec region, establishing settlements there in the wake of the war.

The Sandy River is a 73.3-mile-long (118.0 km) tributary of the Kennebec River in the U.S. state of Maine. The Sandy River originates in the Sandy River Ponds (44°53′37″N 70°32′26″W) at an elevation of 1,700 feet (520 m) in Sandy River Plantation. The river flows south to a confluence with Chandler Mill Stream in Maine Township E and then easterly to its confluence with Saddleback Stream in Madrid, and Orbeton Stream in Phillips. The river then flows southeasterly through the villages of Phillips and Strong. The river flows south from Strong to Farmington and flows northeasterly from Farmington Falls through New Sharon to discharge into the Kennebec River in Norridgewock a short distance south of the Madison town line. Maine State Route 4 follows the river from the Sandy River Ponds and bridges it at Strong along the way to Farmington, where it is again bridged. The river is bridged once more at Farmington by U.S. Route 2. Route 2 follows the river downstream to New Sharon where it makes the last bridged crossing of the river before its confluence with the Kennebec.

Madison is a census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Madison in Somerset County, Maine, United States. The population was 2,533 at the 2020 census.

The Madison Public Library is located at 12 Old Point Avenue in Madison, Maine. Built with funding support from Andrew Carnegie, it is one of the architecturally most unusual libraries in the state, with a distinctive octagonal tower and non-rectangular angled elements. It was designed by the local firm of Snow and Humphreys and completed in 1906. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

Madison (formerly Norridgewock) is a town in Somerset County, Maine, United States. The population was 4,726 at the 2020 census.

Maine School Administrative District 59 (MSAD 59) is an operating school district within Somerset County, Maine, covering the town of Madison.Starks pulled out after the 2011–12 school year they are now with Regional School Unit 9 Mt Blue Regional School District in Farmington, and Athens and Brighton Plantion pulled out after the 2012–13 school year they are now part of AOS 94 District located in the Dexter, Maine area. Madison (SAD 59) is currently proposing a Consolidation with SAD 74 in neighboring Anson, and SAD 53 located in the Pittsfield, Maine area. SAD 59 has proposed consolidations with both districts in different proposals voters rejected both. SAD 59 is also in the process of consolidating its school sports programs (Middle/Jr. High and High School) with SAD 74 and SAD 13 in the Bingham Area to save money, fuel and travel costs. Athens voted to leave District 59 in May 2013.

Anson is a census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Anson in Somerset County, Maine, United States. The population was 818 at the 2000 census.

Central Maine Airport of Norridgewock (IATA: OWK, ICAO: KOWK, FAA LID: OWK) is a public use airport in Somerset County, Maine, United States. It is owned by the Town of Norridgewock and is located four nautical miles (7.4 km) west of the central business district.

Lemon Stream is a 15.2-mile-long (24.5 km) tributary of the Sandy River, that rises in the New Vineyard mountain range in Franklin County, Maine, USA. Via the Sandy River, it is part of the Kennebec River watershed. The source of Lemon Stream is a spring located 1,460 feet (450 m) above sea level between Little Mountain and Caswell Mountain. It flows southeasterly across the northeast corner of Industry, enters Somerset County through the southwest corner of Anson, and then meets the larger Sandy River which forms the southern boundary of Starks. It is not to be confused with the deeply shadowed north-flowing brook in New Portland, Maine of the same name. Lemon Stream flows from upper level wetlands on the southeastward slopes of the New Vineyard mountains, drops over numerous falls into the fields of upper Lemon Stream valley, then moves south through the sugar maple woodlands into the lower Lemon Stream valley. Here it widens and slows behind a small hydroelectric dam in Starks. Below the dam it snakes further south through more woods and farmland until the shifting sands of its delta yields to the eastward flowing Sandy River.

Starks is a town in Somerset County, Maine, United States. The town was named after General John Stark of the Revolutionary War. The population was 593 at the 2020 census.

The Mercer Union Meetinghouse is a historic church in Mercer, Maine, USA. Built in 1829 for several different denominations to share, this church is a relatively early and rare example of transitional Federal-Gothic styling in the state, with its tower set partially over the entrance vestibule, another uncommon feature. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.

The Henry Knox Thatcher House is a historic house at Main and Elm Streets in Mercer, Maine. Built c. 1826, the building is a fine blend of late Federal and Greek Revival styling. It is most significant as the longtime home of Henry Knox Thatcher, an admiral in the United States Navy during the American Civil War. The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.