Levant, Maine
| Levant, Maine | |
|---|---|
| Town | |
 Levant, Maine
|
|
| Coordinates: 44°52′35″N 68°59′14″W / 44.87639°N 68.98722°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Maine |
| County | Penobscot |
| Area | |
| • Total | 30.07 sq mi (77.88 km2) |
| • Land | 30.06 sq mi (77.86 km2) |
| • Water | 0.01 sq mi (0.03 km2) |
| Elevation | 295 ft (90 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 2,851 |
| • Estimate (2012) | 2,903 |
| • Density | 94.8/sq mi (36.6/km2) |
| Time zone | Eastern (EST) (UTC-5) |
| • Summer (DST) | EDT (UTC-4) |
| ZIP code | 04456 |
| Area code(s) | 207 |
| FIPS code | 23-38705 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0582553 |
| Website | townoflevant |
Levant is a town in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. The population was 2,851 at the 2010 census.
Originally called "Kenduskeag Plantation", the town was founded in 1802 by Maj. Moses Hodsden who built three houses, a sawmill, a grist-mill, a store, and a blacksmith shop in what is now the village of Kenduskeag. At the time, these were likely the only framed buildings between Bangor and the Kennebec River. In 1813 the plantation became a town, and was given the name Levant, which is that part of the Middle East which borders the Mediterranean.
In 1852, the village of Kenduskeag broke away from the rest of Levant and took part of the neighboring town of Glenburn to form the present town of Kenduskeag. Prior to the break the town had 1,841 inhabitants.
In early 1824, Levant Congregational minister John Bovee Dods claimed that he was visited by a spirit, and his house subsequently became the site of poltergeist activity. Perhaps a hundred curious people were said to have visited and witnessed these events. Dods became a Universalist in 1826, and moved to nearby Union, though he continued to preach in Levant. He later moved to Massachusetts and became an early psychologist, publishing The Philosophy of Electrical Psychology in 1850, and lecturing widely. In 1856 he converted to spiritualism, and became a leading figure in that religion in New York City.
One of the last tarring and feathering episodes in Maine took place in Levant in 1899, the victim being an evangelical minister named George W. Higgins of the Disciples of the Holy Ghost, whose headquarters was the Shiloh Temple in Durham, Maine, and whose spiritual leader was Frank Sandford. Higgins had made about 15 converts in Levant, and encouraged them to turn over all their property to Sandford and go to live in the Durham temple. After one member had committed suicide and Higgins had told another to whip a small child because he was possessed by a demon, two selectmen ordered him to leave town. When he refused, a mob seized him, covered him with hot tar and feathers, and rode him on a rail a number of miles to the town line, some following behind in carriages. An area in town where many "Higginsites" lived was known as "Higginsville" as late as the 1930s.
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