Town of China
History
China is an area of 54 square miles with four villages; China, South China, Weeks Mills and Branch Mills; and three major bodies of water; China Lake, Three Mile Pond and Branch Pond.
China Lake is 3832 acres with a maximum depth of 85 feet. You can fish for salmon, togue, small mouth bass and white perch.
Our government is by Town Meeting, Selectmen & Town Manager. At a yearly town meeting the people vote for 5 Selectmen from town and vote on articles of town business. The Selectmen appoint a Town Manager. One Selectmen is chosen as chairman of the five. The articles appropriate the money to be spent for the up coming year. The daily operation is under the Town Manager who reports to the Board of Selectmen on a regular basis. The Town Manager form was adopted in 1921.
The Town of China is in Kennebec County with a population of 3,713, according to the 1990 census.
We have three schools in China. China Primary School is for grades Kindergarten through 3, China Middle School is for grades 4 through 8 and Erskine Academy, a private high school, is grades 9 through 12.
History of the Town of China:
The land now occupied by the township of China was included in the part of America claimed by the British crown on the basis of voyages of discovery by such men as John Cabot and his son Sebastian, who explored the coasts of New England and Nova Scotia in 1497 and 1498.
In 1774 a family of Clarks from Nantucket settled where China is today, and called it Jones' Plantation. On February 3, 1796, Jones' Plantation was incorporated under the name of Harlem.
The Town of China was incorporated on June 5, 1818 from parts of the towns of Harlem, Fairfax (Albion), and Winslow.
The name of the new town was chosen by Japheth C. Washburn, then representative to the Massachusetts legislature. The name originally selected--for unknown reasons--was Bloomville, but the representative from Bloomfield, farther up the Kennebec near Skowhegan, objected, fearing that the similarity of names would create problems with mail delivery. So, Mr. Washburn chose instead the name China, which was the title of one of his favorite hymns and was not duplicated anywhere else in the United States.
Land features in the Town of China would be the three great ponds: China Lake, Three Mile Pond and Branch Pond. In South China there is the "Indian Heart Rock" also known as the "Sacred Heart". The heart was carved near the base of a boulder on the lake shore in South China. Legend has it that an Indian carved the heart into the stone out of the tribes religious devotions. The original shrine was a paper heart which was destroyed one night during a thunderous storm. Without their shrine the Indians were dissolute and depressed, so Kekiberba carved the heart into the stone to last through the ages.
The recreational activities in town include ice skating, ice fishing, boating, swimming, camping, fishing, water skiing, hiking, cross country skiing, trail riding, snowmobiling, hunting and bicycling.
Current famous people of China are John Winkin, who received 'Coach of the Year' and Linda Voss, China Elementary School Teacher, who received 'Maine's 1987 Teacher of the Year' award.
There are a few famous people from the past who were from China. Leroy S. Starrett invented a meat-chopper and started making tools in Athol, Massachusetts in 1877. The L.S. Starrett Tool Co. is now one of the leading producers of precision tools and gages. He patented about 100 inventions.
Charles Starrett was a movie actor. He played in silent Westerns as the "Durango Kid".
Herman Roessler is a nationally recognized painter. One pen drawing he did is titled the "Nativity -- Adoration of Jesus" which is at the museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts.
Town of China:
Soon to have a home page.