Maine Townships

United States Maine  Maine townships

'''Unorganized territory.  In Maine a township''' is an unorganized territory roughly the size of a town, but usually with a relatively smaller population.

'''Fewer records. ''' No town meetings are held, and no town meeting minutes are kept in townships. It would be unusual for a township to have its own record-keeping official. The township's county registrar of deeds should have the township's land records. Nearby towns in the county also may  keep a few historical facts about people who live in neighboring townships.

'''Changes in status. ''' Townships can decide to organize into a town government, or a plantation. Also, from time to time, towns may choose to become townships. If a former town has a declining population, and its citizens decide to discontinue as a town, they stop holding town meetings and the former town's records are usually transferred to a nearby functioning town.

'''Names. ' Some townships have names such as'' • Fletchers Landing, • Big W, or • Unity Township. Other townships are known more by their numbers such as • Township 4 R17 West of the Easterly Line of the State, • Township 37 Middle Division, or • Township 6 North of Weld.

'''Township groups. ' Some counties of Maine list their townships within larger geographic locations such as '' East Central Washington, North Oxford, or Seboomook Lake.

'''Other unorganized territories. ''' In addition to township, an unorganized territory of Maine may also be called a gore, grant, island, patent, purchase, strip, surplus, territory, or tract. Such territories are similar to a township in their government and record keeping characteristics.

'''Plantations. ''' Nevertheless, in Maine plantations are between towns and townships in their level of government organization. For examples of Maine plantations and their records, see Coplin, Matinicus Isle, or Monhegan.

'''Statistics. ''' Maine has