Town of Dexter

Dexter is a town in Penobscot County, incorporated on June 17, 1816 from township T4 R5 NWP. Surveyed in 1772, the township remained unsettled until 1800 when the hardy pioneer Ebeneezer Small arrived, planted a crop, cobbled together a shelter, and brought his wife the following year.

Samuel Dexter, for whom the town was named, never saw it. He had served as Secretary of War, Treasury and State in various U.S. cabinets.

A woolen mill was erected in 1835, starting an industry that lasted for over 150 years. Recent closings of manufacturing firms have contributed to the decline in population in the 1990-2000 decade.

The town is the birthplace in 1888 of congressman and U.S. Senator Ralph Owen Brewster.

From Maine: An Encyclopedia (www.themaineencyclopedia.com)