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Old Town is a city in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. The population was 7,840 at the 2010 census. The city's developed area is chiefly located on relatively large Marsh Island, though its boundaries extend beyond that. The island is surrounded and defined by the Penobscot River to the east, and the Stillwater River to the west. ==History== Abenaki Indians called it ''Pannawambskek,'' meaning "where the ledges spread out," referring to rapids and drops in the river bed. The French established a Jesuit Catholic mission here in the 1680s. Nearly a century later after Great Britain took over French territory following its victory in the Seven Years' War, the area was settled by English pioneers in 1774. The name Old Town derives from "Indian Old Town", which was the English name for the largest Penobscot Indian village, now known as Indian Island. Located within the city limits but on its own island in the Penobscot River, the reservation is the current and historical home of the Penobscot Nation. In 1820, when the present city was set off from neighboring Orono (named for a Penobscot sachem), it was given the name Old Town because it contained the Penobscot village. Over time, the Penobscot village ceased to be called Old Town and the name migrated to the much newer American settlement across the river.〔 〕 Old Town may be best known for Old Town Canoe Co., a major manufacturer of canoes and kayaks, which has been based in the city for more than 100 years. The city's location along a series of rapids in the Penobscot River, near the head of tide just downstream in Bangor, made it an ideal location in the 1800s to marshal the water power for mills to process lumber from the millions of board feet of spruce and pine logs floated annually down the Penobscot.〔(Old Town's Rich Heritage ), Old Town website〕 Today many residents work for the University of Maine in Orono and the Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, the two largest employers in the area. Old Town is home to a former Georgia-Pacific paper mill, which is being redeveloped for adaptive reuse. The city of Old Town includes Treat-Webster Island, a.k.a. French Island, a predominantly residential neighborhood located on a small island in the middle of the Penobscot River. French Island is the intermediate land mass between Milford and Old Town; it is connected on either side by a bridge. File:Old Toll Bridge, Old Town, ME.jpg|Old toll bridge in 1907 File:Carnegie Library, Old Town, ME.jpg|Public Library in 1909 File:City Hall, Old Town, ME.jpg|City Hall in 1914 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Old Town, Maine」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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