Sebec Village Sign

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Sebec, Piscataquis County, Maine
Compiled from History of the Piscataquis County, by Amasa Loring, c1880

Sebec originally referred to as Number Four, Seventh Range the eastern of the Bowdoin College Township consisted of 22,228 acres, was lotted by Moses Hodsdon in 1802.

In May 1803, the Treasurer of the College deeded 16,000 acres to Richard Pike, 75 cents per acre. In 1804, Pike sold one-sixteenth of the lots to Benjamin Wyatt, soon after David and Charles Coffin, Mary Pike, and Phillip Combs bought equal shares.

Mill Privileges and Mills: The outlet of Sebec Lake included an 18-foot fall. Here the first mills in the county were built, and around it Sebec Village was clustered. In 1804, Samuel Kimball, Mark Trafton, and others here built a dam, put up a mill and the first framed building raised in the county. Roger Chase built the gearing and put a saw and gristmill in operation, in which the first boards were sawed and the first grain ground in the county.

In 1805 one-eighth of the mill, dam, and land connected was sold to Moses Greenleaf, who intended to settle in the Williamsburg Township. An account of Stephen Snow of Milo, assured that the gristmill was running in 1806.

Gazebo in Sebec Community Park

Some of the first settlers were Ezekiel Chase, who first cleared land then brought his family, was a Revolutionary War Soldier. He loved to roam the forest wilderness, and was a hunter. His lot, cleared in 1802 was on the bank of the river near what was later Sebec Depot. In 1803, he raised crops and hay, built a log cabin then brought his family. During the trip up the river they met up with Benjamin Sargent on his way to Milo. In 1814, Charles Vaughan Chase was born in Sebec. Abel Chase, a brother, settled in town.

Sebec, the oldest incorporated town in the county, was incorporated March 12, 1812. In 1870 the population was 964, and the town was valuation was $190,407.00.

For more on the history of Sebec, visit the Sebec Historical Society.