Piscataquis County
| Piscataquis County, Maine | |
|---|---|
 Location in the U.S. state of Maine |
|
 Maine's location in the U.S. |
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| Founded | March 23, 1838 |
| Named for | Abenaki word meaning "branch of the river" |
| Seat | Dover-Foxcroft |
| Largest town | Dover-Foxcroft |
| Area | |
| • Total | 4,378 sq mi (11,339 km2) |
| • Land | 3,961 sq mi (10,259 km2) |
| • Water | 417 sq mi (1,080 km2), 9.5% |
| Population | |
| • (2010) | 17,535 |
| • Density | 4.4/sq mi (2/km²) |
| Congressional district | 2nd |
| Time zone | Eastern: UTC-5/-4 |
| Website | www |
Piscataquis County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maine. As of the 2010 census, its population was 17,535, making it Maine's least-populous county. Its county seat is Dover-Foxcroft. The county was incorporated on 23 March 1838, taken from the western part of Penobscot County and the eastern part of Somerset County, and is named for an Abenaki word meaning "branch of the river" or "at the river branch."
It is located at the geographic center of Maine. Originally it extended north to the Canada–US border, but in 1844 its northern portion was annexed by Aroostook County. In land area, Piscataquis is one of the largest U.S. counties east of the Mississippi River. It is also one of two counties in the Northeast (and seven counties east of the Mississippi River) that meets Frederick Jackson Turner's requirements for "frontier" country – that is, having fewer than six inhabitants per square mile, the other being Hamilton County, New York.
Baxter State Park, a large wilderness preserve, is located in Piscataquis County.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 4,378 square miles (11,340 km2), of which 3,961 square miles (10,260 km2) is land and 417 square miles (1,080 km2) (9.5%) is water. It is the second-largest county in Maine by area. The largest lake in the county is Moosehead Lake at 120 square miles (310 km2). The highest natural point in the county and the state of Maine is Mount Katahdin at 5,271 feet (1,606 meters), while the geographic center is Greeley Landing in the Town of Dover-Foxcroft.
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