Amity

About Amity, Maine

Amity, Maine is an incorporated town located in southeastern Aroostook County along the Canada–United States border, sitting at an elevation of 663 feet above sea level. The town was named after the 1794 Treaty of Amity, Commerce, and Navigation, also known as the Jay Treaty. According to the 2020 Decennial Census, the population of Amity was 253 people, up from 238 in 2010. Earlier census counts recorded 186 residents in 1990 and 199 in 2000. The town includes an estimated 136 households and 206 total housing units. U.S. Census Bureau data shows a median household income of $65,000 and an employment rate of 31.0%.

Local Government and Community Services

The municipal government of Amity is led by a three-person Board of Selectmen, an annual Town Meeting, and a Town Manager. The Select Board members are Patricia Miller (Chairman), A.J. Thorne, and Hollis Seaman, with regular meetings generally held on the first Tuesday of each month at 6:00 PM at the Town Office. Melissa Sherman serves as the Town Manager, Town Clerk, Treasurer, and Tax Collector. Other appointed local officials include Clarissa Porter as Code Enforcement Officer, A.J. Thorne as Animal Control Officer, Beth Moore as Registrar of Voters, and municipal fire wardens Eric Howell and Joseph Ledger.

The Amity Town Office has a mailing address of P.O. Box 488, Houlton, ME 04730, and the town is served by ZIP code 04471. Contact numbers for the office include telephone (207) 532-2485 and fax (207) 521-5234. Regular office hours are Tuesday from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm, Wednesday and Thursday from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm, and the last Saturday of the month from 9:00 am to 12:00 noon, closing on all state holidays. Amity holds its annual Town Meeting on the last Saturday in April at 9:00 AM. For the 2026 tax year, the town committed local property taxes at a mil rate of 19.6, an increase of 0.6 mils from 2025.

Law enforcement coverage in Amity is provided by the Aroostook County Sheriff's Office and the Maine State Police. Solid waste disposal is handled through a contract with the Northern Katahdin Valley Waste Disposal District on Dyer Brook Road in Dyer Brook, Maine. Acute emergency healthcare and hospital care are available at Houlton Regional Hospital in nearby Houlton. Residents access public library services through the Danforth Public Library in neighboring Danforth.

Education

Amity belongs to Maine School Administrative District No. 70 (MSAD 70), also known as Regional School Unit No. 70, based in Hodgdon. Public elementary students attend Mill Pond School in Hodgdon, which covers pre-kindergarten through grade 6 at 147 Hodgdon Mills Road. Middle and high school students attend Hodgdon Middle/High School at 175 Hodgdon Mills Road. Adult education is offered through RSU 29/MSAD 70 Houlton Hodgdon Adult & Community Education at 56 Military Street in Houlton.

Transportation

U.S. Route 1 serves as the primary north-south highway corridor passing straight through Amity. The town maintains 18.12 total miles of public road centerline, which consists of 6.72 miles of state highway and 11.4 miles of townways or seasonal roads. Public transit within Maine DOT Region 1 is provided by Aroostook Regional Transportation Systems, Inc. (ARTS), which offers scheduled public transit connecting Amity and neighboring towns to in-town Houlton on Wednesdays. Commercial air flights in the region operate out of Presque Isle International Airport.

Outdoor Recreation and Local Sites

Monument Brook runs along Amity's eastern boundary, serving as part of the international border between Maine and New Brunswick as well as the northern headwater source for the Chiputneticook Lakes. In Amity, coldwater streams including Monument Brook, Clark Brook, and Davis Brook provide habitat for native wild brook trout. The Woodie Wheaton Land Trust protects over 4,300 contiguous acres in Amity known as the Headwaters properties, conserving the American frontage of Monument Brook and feeder streams. In October 2023, the trust conserved 5 acres around Monument One, a 10-foot-tall obelisk erected in 1843 marking the border and the northernmost source of the St. Croix River system. Land conserved by the trust is open to the public for traditional outdoor recreation, such as fishing, hunting, bird watching, and snowmobiling.

Along U.S. Route 1, visitors will find Amity Baptist Church and an outdoor Veterans Memorial located directly across from the church. Other historic landmarks include the Philo Reed House in North Amity, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986, and the mid-19th-century Reed School on Calais Road in North Amity, added to the National Register in 2001. The Reed School is the sole survivor of the five schools that once operated in the town and served students until school consolidation in 1971. In mid-July, the community holds Amity Friendship Day on the grounds of the Town Office and Community Center complex.