We Bet You’ve Never Visited the ‘Largest’ Town in Maine

Even though Maine is quite a rural state, especially in the northernmost areas, Maine does have a lot of municipalities.  A lot!

There are several hundred cities, towns, and plantations spread across the length of the state - from Kittery to Fort Kent!

Clearly, some of our towns and cities are more built up than others.  Portland, for example, is way more built up than Mars Hill.

If someone asked you what the largest town or city (in area) in the state is, you'd probably say Portland because of the population.  Obviously, the town with the largest population has got to be the biggest town in area, right?

Wrong!

Actually, the "largest" town in Maine is one of the municipalities with the SMALLEST population.

According to the US Census Bureau, the largest (in area) town in Maine is Allagash.  Honestly, I did not even realize that Allagash was a town.  I knew it was an area in Aroostook County, but I had no idea that it was an actual town.

Allagash as having a population of just under 240, according to citypopulation.de (which uses Census data, but those people are spread across 129 square miles.  By comparison, Portland has 68,000 people crammed into just under 22 square miles!

The red dotted outline shows you where the town is located.

The Town of Allagash is home to only a few businesses and it is quite a distance from any sizable American towns.  It is easier to cross into Canada than it is to make the trip from Allagash to the Maine town of Fort Kent.  It is about a 40-minute trip, one way, to Fort Kent.

Despite the fact the town is very very very remote, it is one of the best places to really get away from it all!  In fact, tens of thousands of people from all over the country venture to the area every year.  If you love really roughing it in the wilderness, there is no better place.