Rumford, Maine and the Androscoggin River Valley: facts and links

Links Wikipedia article on Rumford Wikipedia article on Mexico, (Maine) Rumford town government site Mexico town government site Dixfield town government site River Valley Chamber of Commerce Rumford Hospital Black Mountain Ski Resort New Page Corporation Pan Am (Guilford) Railways The River Valley Reporter Mahoosuc Land Trust Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments Rumford historical website

Rumford, Maine is a town on the Androscoggin River in Oxford County in western Maine, located about 154 miles north of Boston, Mass., about 63 miles north of Portland, Maine and about 42 miles northeast of the Lewiston/Auburn cities in central Maine.  Founded in 1800, the town has, since 1893, been the site of a major paper mill, currently under the ownership of an investment group called New Page.  With a population counted at 6472 in the 2005 by the Census Bureau, (a decline of about 10 percent since 1990) the town consists of several villages lying in the Androscoggin Valley in the foothills of the White Mountains. The largest of these is Rumford Falls, named for the Pennacook Falls just west of town, where the Androscoggin drops 177 feet over exposed granite ledges.  These falls have provided hydropower both for the operation of the mill and for the region's general electricity grid.  The town was named for Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, whose portrait can be seen in the Rumford town hall. Rumford is part of a larger settled area along the Androscoggin, with the town of Mexico (pop. 2939)  located on the opposite bank of the River.  While under separate town governments, the two towns of Rumford and Mexico essentially comprise one single community, both commercially and socially.  Other nearby towns tied into the Rumford-Mexico area include Dixfield (pop. 2525), Peru (pop. 1537), Roxbury (pop. 385) and Andover (pop. 900), providing a regional population base of just under 15,000. The major road into Rumford and Mexico is Route 2, a state highway stretching from Vermont to Bangor, Maine, and variously two to four lanes along its distance.  State-measured traffic volume has been counted at frrom 10,000 to 12,000 vehicles per day along different sections of Rt. 2 in Rumford.  Other major state roads include Rt. 108, southwest to the Lewiston/Auburn area, and Rt. 17, north to the Rangeley Lakes area. A spur line of the company formerly known as Guilford Rail Systems and now known as Pan Am Railways, terminates at the New Page Mill with a possible public loading track site for other customers in Dixfield (see below.) The nearest access to the Maine Turnpike is in Auburn. Rumford is the site of an 85 bed hospital with 24 hour emergency care, and Mexico is the site of a branch of the University of Maine. The region around Rumford is a major winter vacation destination.  A small ski resort, Black Mountain, is located within Rumford, and Sunday River, to the west of Rumford in Newry, Maine, and Sugarloaf, to the north in the Rangeley Lakes area, are within an hour's drive.  It is also becoming a summer vacation destination, with a 20 mile stretch of the Androscoggin River west of Pennacook Falls suitable for kayaking, canoeing and swimming (but too shallow in places for safe use of motorized craft) and several hiking trails in Rumford and nearby towns, and several golf courses, including one in Mexico and a new world-class course nearby in Bethel, Maine. Google interactive satellite image of Rumford and Mexico, Maine   View Larger Map Railroad to Rumford?  PAN AM RAILWAYS, formerly Guilford, runs a track to the center of Rumford and the New Page paper mill. Company officials indicate they would be willing to work with smaller shippers, with a loading site probably in Dixfield.  Contact the company directly for more information. See http://www.guilfordrail.com for details.