Anson is a town in Somerset County, Maine. The population was 2,291 at the time of the 2020 census. It includes the villages of Anson and North Anson. History The land upon which Anson was founded was historically home to the Norridgewock Abenaki. It was first settled in 1772 as Plantation Number One in what would become Somerset County on March 1, 1809. General Benedict Arnold and his troops passed through Anson village in 1775 on their way up the Kennebec River to the ill-fated Battle of Quebec. The town was incorporated on March 1, 1798, as Anson, named after Lord George Anson. On March 20, 1845, North Anson was set off as a separate town, although on March 13, 1855, it reunited with Anson. With much rich alluvial soil, Anson became an agricultural town. Water power sites around the Carrabassett River helped North Anson develop into a small mill town. In 1859, it had two tanneries. It had two sawmills and three boot and shoe factories in 1886, when the town produced boots, shoes, leather, bricks, lumber, flour and wool rolls. By 1876, North Anson had become the northern terminus of the Somerset Railroad, which began at Oakland in 1872. As Madison grew into an industrial center with large paper mills, Anson became a residential district for its mill workers. As of June 14, 2007, the abandoned Pan Am Railways spur was reopened, and the first train ran the length of the line for the first time in twenty years. However, in 2013, the line was abandoned by Pan Am Railways. On November 30, 2021, it was announced that the State of Maine had acquired the former rail line for conversion into a multi-use rail trail, as part of a larger project to create a trail from Oakland to Embden. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which, of it is land and is water. Anson is drained by Mill Stream, Gilbert Brook, Lemon Stream, the Carrabassett River and the Kennebec River. The town is crossed by U. S. 201A and state routes 16, 43, 148 and 234. It borders the towns of Starks to the south, Industry and New Vineyard to the west, New Portland and Embden to the north, and (across the Kennebec River) Madison to the east. Climate This climatic region is typified by large seasonal