Brief
History:
Androscoggin County (French:
Comte d Androscoggin) is a county in the
U.S. state of Maine. Its county seat
is Auburn and
its largest city is Lewiston. Demand
for a new county emerged when the
residents of the rapidly growing town of
Lewiston
complained of the long distance they
had to travel to reach Wiscasset, the
county seat of Lincoln County, in which
Lewiston
was originally located. It was also
an impractical circumstance as Lewiston's
neighbor, Auburn, was part of Cumberland
County. As the growing partnership
of the two towns emerged, the case for the
towns to be in the same county grew.
Different plans were discussed,
including Lewiston joining Cumberland
County. Eventually, the idea of a new
county came
to the table. The debate then became
over which town would be the center of the
new county. Bath, Brunswick, and Lewiston
each desired the distinction.
Lewiston eventually won the debate.
Androscoggin County was created in 1854
from towns
originally in Cumberland County,
Lincoln County, Kennebec County, and
Oxford County.
The next issue centered on where to
put the county seat, as both Lewiston and
Auburn desired to be named the county
seat. It
would eventually be put to a vote,
with both towns putting different offers
on the table, including ideas to cut the
costs of the
new county buildings for surrounding
towns. Auburn would eventually win a
convincing victory, with the towns on each
side
of the river voting for the town on
their side. As more people then lived to
the west of the Androscoggin River, Auburn
won
the vote.
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