Fort Kent, Maine
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Fort Kent is a town in Aroostook County, Maine, United States. The population was 4,233 at the 2000 census. U.S. Route 1 has its northern endpoint in Fort Kent. It bears the northernmost campus of the University of Maine System (the University of Maine at Fort Kent), an Olympic biathlete training center (which hosted a stop on the 2004 Biathlon World Cup tour), an annual CAN-AM dogsled race (CAN-AM Crown 250 [1]), and a national historic site (the Fort Kent Blockhouse, built in reaction to the "bloodless Aroostook War"). Principal industries include agriculture (potatoes) and textiles. MBNA has opened a call center in the town, which provides significant employment, although as of March 10, 2006, this center has shut down due to the merger of MBNA and Bank of America
The town is economically and culturally linked to the Canadian towns of Clair and Saint-François-de-Madawaska , both in Madawaska County, New Brunswick, right across the St. John River. Most children on the Canadian side attend school in French while their American counterparts attend school mainly in English. Despite this, many people [link] in Fort Kent have French as a first language (official statistics unavailable) and the language can be heard everywhere. However, the French spoken in Fort Kent and most of the St. John River Valley, is not mainstream French. There are many differences in it, and has thus been nicknamed "Valley French." Many residents also have American-Canadian dual citizenship (official statistics unavailable), as Fort Kent has the closest hospital for many Canadian residents.
Fort Kent hosts major dog sled and cross county skiing events in the winter, including being the venue for the U.S. Biathlon World Cup.
The town was brought to international attention in May of 2006 when six students filled the hallways with chickens and geese. Newspapers in Maine, Massachusetts, California, and even India carried the story, and it is rumored that the story will appear on the MTV show High School Stories, but nothing has been confirmed.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 143.4 km² (55.3 mi²). 140.3 km² (54.2 mi²) of it is land and 3.1 km² (1.2 mi²) of it (2.15%) is water.Demographics
As of the census2 of 2000, there were 4,233 people, 1,735 households, and 1,106 families residing in the town. The population density was 30.2/km² (78.2/mi²). There were 1,824 housing units at an average density of 13.0/km² (33.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 96.95% White, 0.38% Black or African American, 0.76% Native American, 0.87% Asian, 0.28% from other races, and 0.76% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.50% of the population.There were 1,735 households out of which 28.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.0% were married couples living together, 6.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.2% were non-families. 29.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 2.90.
In the town the population was spread out with 22.3% under the age of 18, 11.3% from 18 to 24, 26.9% from 25 to 44, 24.0% from 45 to 64, and 15.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 96.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.7 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $29,547, and the median income for a family was $41,616. Males had a median income of $35,325 versus $19,146 for females. The per capita income for the town was $16,403. About 9.5% of families and 14.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.7% of those under age 18 and 18.2% of those age 65 or over.
See also: Fort Kent (CDP), Maine
External links
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