Welcome to Strong
Strong Historical Society
Strong has been known by several names over the years. Pierpole, a Native American living in the area when the white settlers arrived, referred to it as “middle town” on the Mussul Unsquit, his name for the Sandy River. The 1790 census record lists “Sandy River, Middle Twp.” Soon it became known as Readstown, for the settlement proprietor, William Read. Incorporated as a town in 1801, it was named Strong, for Gov. Caleb Strong of Massachusetts.
High School Yearbook 1923
Strong Historical Society
By the 1940s Strong was known as “The Largest Toothpick Center in the World,” due to the vision of Charles Forster, inventor of the machinery to mass-produce the wood toothpick.
Within these pages you will find a wealth of local knowledge and treasures passed down and preserved for future generations. Strong's history is as simple and complicated as its citizens. Here we attempt to capture some of the town's core stories before they are lost in time.
The Strong MCHP Team invites you to relive and revisit some of the stories that shaped this small community and its inhabitants in the western mountains of Maine.