See How Much Ellsworth’s Population Has Grown Over The Years

Does it seem like the so-called "crossroads of Downeast Maine" is crowded to you?

While Ellsworth is the biggest city in the state when it comes to land, measuring in at almost 93 square miles, its current population of 8,399 residents ranks it #34, right behind Cumberland and just before Buxton.

The population has grown in Ellsworth over the years, and who could blame anyone for wanting to live here. There's plenty of places to eat, shop, and work - especially with the new Jackson Laboratory facility now open and flourishing. There's also plenty of recreational opportunities nearby with Acadia National Park just a hop, skip, and a jump away.

Get our free mobile app

But there have been good times in the past as well.

The Town of Ellsworth was incorporated back in 1800 and at that time only 227 people live there. It took 69 years to become incorporated as a city in 1869, and at that time around 5,200 residents lived there and worked at 13 shipbuilding operations and 9 sawmills along the Union River.

The area was flourishing. Believe it or not, there was also a variety of factories that made metal pails within the city limits.

But shipbuilding and the ships that transported the things that were produced in the city slowly started to disappear, and by 1920 Ellsworth's population dipped down to a little over 3,000.

The Great Fire that occurred back in 1933 that destroyed much of Ellsworth's downtown business district may have been a setback, but over the years the City has certainly risen from the ashes and now Main Street is as vibrant as it has ever been.

Here's a look at how the population in Ellsworth has grown over the past 221 years.