Bingham, Maine | |
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Town | |
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Location within the state of Maine | |
Coordinates: 45°03′00″N 69°52′58″W / 45.05000°N 69.88278°WCoordinates: 45°03′00″N 69°52′58″W / 45.05000°N 69.88278°W | |
Country | United States |
State | Maine |
County | Somerset |
Settled | 1785 |
Incorporated | February 6, 1812 |
Area | |
• Total | 35.32 sq mi (91.48 km2) |
• Land | 34.91 sq mi (90.42 km2) |
• Water | 0.41 sq mi (1.06 km2) 1.16% |
Elevation | 728 ft (222 m) |
Population (2010) | |
• Total | 922 |
• Estimate (2012) | 908 |
• Density | 26.4/sq mi (10.2/km2) |
Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
• Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
ZIP code | 04920 |
Area code(s) | 207 |
FIPS code | 23-05000 |
GNIS feature ID | 0582354 |
Bingham is a town in Somerset County, Maine, in the United States. The population was 922 at the 2010 census. Bingham is a historic town located beside the Kennebec River.
The primary settlement in town, where over 86% of the population resides, is defined as the Bingham census-designated place.
First settled in 1785, the town is named after William Bingham, a Philadelphia banker and politician who at one time owned two million acres (8,000 km²) of land in Maine known as the Bingham Purchase. The community was incorporated on February 6, 1812. By 1859, when the population was 752, Bingham had two water powered sawmills and two gristmills. It is located on the Old Canada Road (U. S. Route 201), which between 1820 until 1860 served as the primary link between Lower Canada and Maine. Bingham became an important Maine Central Railroad loading point for pulpwood floated down the Kennebec River to Wyman Dam until environmental regulations curtailed log driving in the 1970s.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 35.32 square miles (91.48 km2), of which 34.91 square miles (90.42 km2) is land and 0.41 square miles (1.06 km2) is water. Bingham is drained by Jackson Brook and the Kennebec River.
The town is traversed by U. S. Route 201 and Maine State Route 16. It is bordered by the towns of Moscow to the north, Brighton Plantation to the east, and Solon to the south.