History Of Patten

The town was named for Amos Patten, a resident of Bangor, Maine, who about 1828 purchased Township No. 4, Range 6, as it was then designated, for its vast timber supply.[5][6] In 1829 Amos Patten hired Ira Fish and Eli Kellogg to survey the land.[6] The surveyors soon asked permission to establish their homes in Patten. The town was incorporated on April 16, 1841 and given its present name at that time.[7] By 1850 the population numbered 470, reaching 704 in 1870, and 716 residents in 1880.[7] The town's infrastructure gradually appeared. In March, 1841 the Congregational Church was organized.[8] Within a few years, citizens began agitating for local education. A bill to appoint Trustees of the Patten Academy passed the Maine legislature and was signed by the governor in 1847.[9] The Patten Academy opened its doors with 61 students in September, 1848, and educated its residents for more than a century.


Patten Academy in 1905
Two factors explain Patten's comparatively early development, and its position as the major town of the Penobscot panhandle and southwestern Aroostook in the nineteenth century. First, it is the first town beyond the Mount Katahdin range, giving it access to the upper East Branch and lower Allagash River basins, which were leading lumbering areas. Its close proximity to several major rivers and streams allowed abundant water power but did not favor the development of large-scale industry, Small mills and workshops utilized its power during most of the town's history.

Second, it has the best agricultural land in the proximity of those basins. As a result, lumbering stimulated very early development of commerce and farming; and the town early gained the status as the distribution center and cultural nexus of all the towns west of Houlton and north of Lincoln. It is situated at the intersection of Maine Rte. 11 and Maine State Route 159.

The six buildings of the Bradford Farm (1840) in Patten are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and are now occupied by the Bradford House Bed & Breakfast Inn.