Population as of 2010 (US Census): 719, Population as of 2000 (US Census): 701
Zip code: 04941, Longitude: 69 degrees 18 minutes West
Latitude: 44 degrees 31 minutes North
Time Zone: 4 (Eastern)
Telephone Area Code: 207
Main Local Telephone Exchange: 382
Local Calling Area Exhanges: 382, 437, 342, 568, 589, 722, 948, 993 )
School District: RSU 3
2015 Property Tax: $18.35 per thousand.
Phone Service: Fairpoint Communications for 382 and 993, Unity Phone Company for 437
Electric Service: Central Maine Power
Internet Provider: Fairpoint Communications
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Freedom was settled in 1794 by the Revolutionary War veteran Stephen Smith. The plantation was named Smithton in honor of the first homesteader but was then changed to Beaver Hill and finally Freedom when the town became incorporated during the last war with Great Britain in 1813.
Like many towns in Waldo County, Freedom once had many sawmills
and gristmills. The town's early residents were proud of their town, its
businesses, and, in particular, its wooden sidewalks. The wooden sidewalks have
long since been removed, but some of the old mills and buildings in town are
still standing as proof of the town's commitment to preserve the past.
An
old dam at the site of one mill in town continues to hold back Sandy Pond, which
contains perch, pickerel, and bass. In South Freedom many residents can point to
the spot where Smith built the town's first framed house and sawmill and even
give directions to Smith's grave site, which was restored a few years ago.*
One of Freedom's greatest achievements was the locally constructed Freedom
Academy which served generations of students from 1836 until 1957 when fire
destroyed it for the second time. In the early to mid eighties Freedom was also
the home of Strawberry Fields School, a counterculture revival of the old
one-room schoolhouse.
The Dirigo Grange, its building once a cheese factory, continues to be active. In 1976 to commemorate Maine's bicentennial year from its date of settlement, Freedom residents put together a more complete history of the town. The booklet that they published also includes an anecdote about a rebel mob in Freedom during the Civil War. To obtain a copy of the Freedom's "Historical Scrapbook" send $12 (includes postage and handling) and your name and mailing address to: Viola Greeley, 12 Greeley Road, Freedom ME 04941. In 2013 Freedom celebrates the bicentennial of its incorporation as the town we now know as Freedom, Maine. For more information about today's efforts to preserve the legacy of the town of Freedom see the Freedom Community Historical Society site.