Lubec is a town in Washington County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,359 at the 2010 census. Lubec is the easternmost town in the contiguous United States and is the closest continental location to Africa in the United States. The town is home to Quoddy Head State Park.
History
Located on a peninsula overlooking an excellent ice-free harbor, the town was first settled about 1775. Originally part of Eastport, it was set off and incorporated on June 21, 1811, and named for Lübeck, Germany. Following the War of 1812, Lubec was the site of considerable smuggling trade in gypsum, although principal industries remained agriculture and fisheries. By 1859, there was a tannery, three gristmills and nine sawmills; by 1886, there were also two shipyards, three boatbuilders and three sailmakers. From 1897 to 1898, the town was the site of a swindle in the sale of stock in the Electrolytic Marine Salts Company, the brainchild of Reverend Prescott Jernegan and Charles Fisher of Martha's Vineyard. Jernegan claimed to have developed a method of using "accumulators" to get gold from sea water, and bought an old grist mill to turn it into a factory. The scheme attracted an abundance of investors, who were all too eager to funnel money into the company after being promised astronomical returns. In the summer of 1898, work was suspended without explanation at the factory. Jernegan and Smith vanished, and the fraud was gleefully exposed by newspapers across New England. Lubec reached its population peak in the 1910s and 20s, hovering a little above 3,300 during this era. Since then, the population has generally been in a gradual but steady decline, and currently sits at a little over 1,300.
Lubec has a humid continental climate with mild summers and cold winters. Generally speaking, it's cold for its coastline position at 44 degrees latitude, but milder in winter than nearby Machias due to moderate warming by the adjacent waters of the Atlantic.
Demographics
As of 2000 the median income for a household in the town was $20,565, and the median income for a family was $26,098. Males had a median income of $25,170 versus $19,375 for females. The per capita income for the town was $13,081. About 20.3% of families and 28.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 49.6% of those under age 18 and 20.6% of those age 65 or over.
As of the census of 2010, there were 1,359 people, 682 households, and 356 families residing in the town. The population density was. There were 1,147 housing units at an average density of. The racial makeup of the town saw 97.7% White, 0.1% African American, 0.2% Native American, 0.3% Asian, 0.3% from other races, and 1.4% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.0% of the population. There were 682 households of which 16.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.4% were married couples living together, 8.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.1% had a male householder with no wife present, and 47.8% were non-families. Of all households 41.9% were made up of individuals and 20.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.94 and the average family size was 2.58. The median age in the town was 54 years. 14.1% of residents were under the age of 18; 4.3% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 16.4% were from 25 to 44; 36.9% were from 45 to 64; and 28.3% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 48.4% male and 51.6% female.
Hopley Yeaton, ship captain, considered the "Father of the US Coast Guard"
Hazel Marion Eaton, daredevil, shallow diver, long distance swimmer, hoop roller, motordome thrill racer - one of the "mile a minute girls". Close friend of Beatrice Houdini.
