History
Lying on both the eastern line of Aroostook County and Maine, Easton so derives its name. It was incorporated in 1865. Previous to that date, it was called Fremont Plantation in honor of Major General John Charles Fremont, the pathfinder, and explorer. He was the standard-bearer of the young Republican Party of the nation in 1856 when the plantation assumed his name.
The beautiful St. John River flows for many miles parallel with, and only a few miles distant from, the eastern boundary of the County of Aroostook. Though lying upon the border, Easton was unsettled at the time of the boundary dispute, and its most ancient archives contain no account of the Aroostook War.
Easton was originally a Massachusetts township, but about 1854, like all the other towns in Maine still remaining in the hands of Massachusetts, it was purchased by the State of Maine. In 1855-56 it was lotted by Noah Barker into 160 acre lots and was opened by the state for settlement. The earliest settler of whom there is an authentic account is Mr. Henry Wilson who first came to Presque Isle and taught school there in a log house in about 1847.
There was at this time a logging road from Presque Isle across the present town in Easton to the St. John River, a road passable only for teams in the winter season. The early settlers paid for their land by grubbing out and building the road from Fort Fairfield to Blaine, which in 1856 had been run out but was only a spotted line in the woods. It was not passable for wagons until 1859.
By 1865, Easton boasted a population of approximately 400, and by Proclamation by the Maine Legislature was officially incorporated as the Town of Easton on February 24, 1865. The town valuation in 1865 was $39,495 and the first town meeting raised $968.53 to support schools, roads, and necessary town charges. Taxes could be paid in grain or cedar shingles, both being accepted as currency in Aroostook County at the time.
Today, agriculture and wood products remain the lifeblood of Easton. McCain Foods, Inc. and Huber Engineered Woods, LLC., all agricultural or resource-based industries, make up about 70 percent of the tax base today. Easton today is a vibrant community offering small-town living among some of the most scenic views in Aroostook. With its many miles of streams and snowmobile trails, it offers year-round recreation for its citizens.