Formed February 15, 1816 (9th county)
Penobscot County (152,202), Bangor (31,740)
A red brick and masonry 1903 Classical Revival building is on Hammond Street at Court Street. Hammond Street is United States Highway 2 in the city. There was an 1833 courthouse also in Bangor, the only county seat. A Judicial Center was added in 2009. Wilfred E. Mansur provided the designs. There are augmenting courthouses in Lincoln, Millinocket, and Newport. The county is named for the river which is named for the Native American tribe. The county seat is named for a religious hymn. Penobscot County was the birthplace of 10 Maine Governors, Joshua L. Chamberlain, Frederick W. Plaisted, William T. Haines, Frederic H. Parkhurst, R. Owen Brewster, Lewis O. Barrows, Robert N. Haskell, James B. Longley, Sr., John R. McKernan, Jr., and John E. Baldacci. The county was established on February 15, 1816 from Hancock County as the 9th county.
Penobscot Couty government consists of an administrator, a sheriff, a treasurer, and a coroner (executive). It has 3 Commissioners (legislative.) Six District Court Judges, Three Superior Court Judges, One Probate Court Judge and a court clerk serve Penobscot County (judicial.) Penobscot County is in northeast Maine. Portland, Maine is southwest of the county. The county center is 42.7 miles North-Northeast of Bangor nearer Lincoln. The county is surrounded clockwise by Aroostook, Washington, Hancock, Waldo, Somerset, and Piscataquis counties.
The area of the county is 3556 square miles. It is 4 out of 16 in the state. It ranks 3 out of 16 in population in the state. It has a density of 42.8 persons per square mile making it 8 out of 16 in the state. Penobscot County has 32.1% of its population in its incorporated areas. Interstate Highway 95 enters from the northeast, Aroostook County, and exits to the west, Somerset County. United States Highway 1 Alternate comes in from the Waldo County, southwest, and goes into Hancock County, southeast. United States Highway 2 parallels Interstate Highway 95 through the county from Aroostook to Somerset counties. United States Highway 202 originates in the county and heads southwest into Waldo County. The county is shaped like a cowboy boot. Bangor is in the extreme southwest part of the county. Bangor is the county seat and the largest city. It is 20.9% of the county population. The county is pronounced PUH-NOB-SKOT. This county is in the Bangor Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Bangor
Brewer
Old Town
