Population of Maine Jews : 1860 — 2019

Primary Sources for Totals for the State and Major Cities and Towns

population estimates from the annual American Jewish Year Book (various years); and

original census data for residents with East European lineage (hyperlinked entries) US Federal Census,
extracted by the Colby College Maine Jewish History Project
and independent researchers Cessie Jensen and Ben Kissen.

detailed footnotes are at the bottom of the table

1850/ 1860

1870

1880

1890

1900

1907/ 1908

1910

1919/ 1920

1927/ 1930

1940

1955

1965

1975

1985

1995

2005

2010

2015

2019

Maine : Totals

5,000

7,500

8,285

7,259 (1971) / 7,945 (1975)

9,350

7,500

10,315

13,900 (2011)

13,890

22,600 (l)

Aroostook County

152

140 (c)

(d)

120

Auburn

0 (1)

250

175 (y)

300 (a) / 480

433/ 300 (1918) (y)

825 / 480 (o, y) 362

375 (1936) (t) / 825 (1937) (y)

435 (u)

(b)

Augusta

45(1&s)/ 59(k)

100

215

140

140 (e)

Bangor

33 (1850)

80 (1876-78) (w)

700

1,000

981(o) / 1,500(p)

1,650

1,200

1,300

1,000

Bar Harbor

70 (pre-2001) (v) (

Bath

93 (y)

71/ 92(o) / 300(p,y)

180 / 180 (1937) (y)

100 / 150 (ca 1950) (y)

400 (2007) (s)

Belfast

20 (pre-2001) (v)

Biddeford

101

160

175 / 167(o) / 325(p,y) / 401

250 / 250 (1937) (y)

(g)

(h)

Biddeford-Saco

262

375

(h)

Brewer & South Brewer

Brunswick

50 / 34(o)/ 35(p) / 40

Bucksport

16 (1878-79) (w)

Calais

11 (1878-79) (w)(x)

137

135

20 (pre-2001) (v)

Fairfield

Fort Kent

Gardiner

70 (1918) (y) / 76

45(o)/ 120(p,q,y)

87 (y)

(i)

Hollowell

147(r,y)

Houlton

14 91878-79) (w)

Lewiston

21 / 65 (1878-79) (w,y)

100 (y))

244 / 275 (y)

369(o)/ 426 / 650(p,y) /

375 (1935) (t)/ 1,100 (y)

416 / 1400 (y) (u)

(b)

Lewiston-Auburn (Androscoggin County)

3 (1865) (n)

38 (n)

120 (n)

325 (n)

613 (n)

745 (n)

769 (n)

1,400

750 (j)

500

600 (2007) (s)

Millinocket

Old Orchard Beach

15(a)/ 27

Old Town

194

61(o)/ 64(p)

Orono

Oxford County (South Paris)

750 (s)

Pittsfield

120

Portland

185 (1876-78) (w)

1,600

2,500

2,686(o) / 3,650(p)

3,500

3,500 (j)

5,500 (j)

5,500

(h)

Presque Isle

20 (pre-2001)(v)

Randolph

22(o)(q)

Rockland

150 (y) / 102/ 160

100(p,y) / 102(o) / 101 / 103

90 (y)

100 (ca 1950) (y) / 150

180

300 (e&s)

Rumford Falls / Rumford

231 (y) / 38

176 (y) / 207

Saco

76(a&p) / 80

(g)

(h)

Sanford

2 (1878-79) (w)

(g)

(h)

Skowhegan

Southern Maine (exc Portland)

950

1,600 (k)

Southern Maine (inc Portland)

6,000 (g)

Stonington

Waterville

29 43 (1876-78) (w,y)

209

185

150(p,y) / 174(o) / 187

215 (y)

110 / 120 (1955) (y)

210

220

300

200

225 (e)

225 (s)

Rural Maine *

(c)

(d)

420

1,030

1,270

640

150

Notes
>

* state total minus estimates for towns and cities above (for 1955 includes the County)

(a) 1928/1929 estimate

(b) included in Lewiston-Auburn below

(c) 1928/ 1929 : "Places having 10 Jews or less : Ashland (Aroostock Co); Brownville & Brownville Junction (Piscatquis County); Eastport Fairfield; Lincoln; Madison; Newport (Penobscot Co), Oakfield (Aroostook Co); Pittsfield; Richmand (Sagadahoc Co)

(d) 1940 "Other Towns with less than 10 Jews : Ashland, Berwick, Brownville, Bucksport, Caribou, Chelsea, Dexter, Dover-Foxcroft, Eagle Lake, Eastport, Ellsworth, Enfield, Fairfield Fort Fairfield, Freeport, Guildord, Hallowell, Howland, Lincoln, Lisbon, Livermore Falls, Lubec, Mars Hill, Mechanic Falls, Milo, Newport, Norway, Oakland, Pittsfield, Searsport, Van Buren, Vinalhaven, Winslow "

(e) data last estimated : pre 1997

(f) data last confirmed - 1997- 2001

(g) included in Biddeford-Saco

(h) included in Southern Maine

(i) included in Augusta

(j) data from interviews in recent past year

(k) includes York, Cumberland, and Sagadahoc Counties

(l) 2019 Brandeis University, Steinhard Social Research Institute , American Jewish Population Project. The project provides two different estimates . 22,600 is the midpoint estimate for the 'total Jewish population'. 15,000 is the midpoint estimate for 'adults who identify their religion as Jewish' . see the website for more detailed explanation of the two estimates

(m) includes Winslow

(n) "Story of the Jews in Lewiston and Auburn", Israel Alpren and Hyman Bornstein, 1930

(o) David M Freidenreich,"Making It In Maine : Stories of Jewish Life in Small-Town America", Maine History 49:1 Winter 2015, Table 1

(p) Harry L Linsfield, "The Jewish Population of the United States, 1927", American Jewish Year Book 30 (1928):185 as cited by Freidenreich in Table 1

(q) Freidenreich notes "The exception is Randolph, located directly across the Kennebec River from Gardiner. The two towns shared a single synagogue (in Gardiner) in 1927, so Linfield's data for Gardiner probably includes the Jews of Randolph."

(r) Freidenreich notes "In addition to the towns listed below, Linfield reports that Hallowell was home to 147 Jews. This number is absurdly high (equal to 5.5% of the town's population). A review of census records found only six Jews. The only explanation I can offer for Linfield's data is that his informant estimated the total population of Jews in nearby Augusta, Gardiner and Randolph as well as Hallowell itself"

(s) Ira M Sheskin and Arnold Dashefsky, "United States Jewish Population 2016" in Dashefsky and Sheskin (editors) The American Jewish Year Book 2016, Vol 116 http://www.jewishdatabank.org/Studies/details.cfm?StudyID=802 viewed 20 April 2017

(t) 1935 Ambroson Bates Student paper, Lewiston Public Library

(t) 1935 Ambroson Bates Student paper, Lewiston Public Library

(u) Raymond Theodore Zelch, An analysis of the Jewish community of Lewiston-Auburn A thesis presented to the faculty of the Department of Sociology, Bates College, 1955
(v) Unpublished data from the American Jewish Year Book, 2016

(w) Statistics of the Jews of the United States, Union of American Hebrew Congregations, report by Wm. B Hachenburg, Sept 1880,
(x) 5 reported as Eastport and 6 reported as Pembroke

(y) Annex Table I, Lee Shai Weissbach in Jewish Life in Small Town America : A History , Yale University Press, 2008