Dixfield

UMaine Alert

Posted: April 19, 2024 - 1:32 PM

At approximately 9:24 a.m. on Friday, April 19, a University of Maine graduate student was struck by a university vehicle on Long Road at the University of Maine campus in Orono. The student reports that they are at a local hospital with minor injuries.

Emergency services, including the Orono Fire Department, University Volunteer Ambulance Corps, University of Maine Police Department, Orono Police Department and Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene.

The university vehicle involved in the incident was a Chevrolet Express van. It was being operated by a university employee.

Counseling services and support are available for students, faculty or staff who may have been affected. The Counseling Center can be reached at 207-581-1392 and the Dean of Students Office can be reached at 207-581-1406.

The scene has been cleared and Long Road is now accessible. An investigation is being conducted by the University of Maine Police Department with assistance from the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office Crash Reconstruction Unit. Any witnesses to the incident are encouraged to contact Lt. Noel Santiago at noel.santiago@maine.edu.

Welcome to Dixfield!

According to Maine an Encyclopedia, Dixfield was “incorporated on June 21, 1803 from a portion of the Holman Grant. Dr. Elijah Dix, a substantial landowner in the area, bought the town (and Dixmont) which bears his name. He allegedly promised to establish a library if the town were named after him. Afterwards, he sent a set of old medical books and some dictionaries, to the consternation of the towns people.”

The town once thrived on the water power provided by the Androscoggin and Webb Rivers, and this legacy continues at the large Irving Forest Products sawmill in downtown Dixfield. The population is about 2250 (2020 CEnsus).

Fun Facts

The local legend of Bullrock has it that a moose walking past Bull Rock, a ledge near downtown Dixfield, was so struck by the beauty of the view that it stumbled and fell from the ledge. A statue commemorating the legend stands at Dixfield’s village green.
“Inventor Leonard Norcross was a resident of the town in the early 19th century. According to Isaacson, “In 1834 Leonard Norcross invented and patented a type of ‘diving armor’ that utilized Goodyear’s invention of India rubber cloth. Old newspaper articles say the Norcross diving outfits were used in raising the Russian fleet sunk off Sebastopol in the Crimean War and in cleaning gunboats in Civil War times.”
Dixfield had one of the recommended “travel homes” in the post World War II guide “The Negro Travelers’ Green Book.” In this case, it was the Marigold Motel on U.S. Route 2, approximately 10 miles east of Rumford, that served African Americans when many others did not.” (Maine an Encyclopedia)

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