Bethel, ME

Bethel is the main village in the Town of Bethel, set south of the Androscoggin River where U.S. 2, Maine 5, and Maine 26 come together. European settlement began in 1774, and the older town plan grew out of a West Parish and the Middle Interval village that became the center of local travel. The river valley opens toward the White Mountains and western Maine, while the village streets carry routes toward Rumford, Fryeburg, and South Paris. Bethel is the kind of Maine place where the highway, river, and mountain roads all meet in one compact village, with the bigger landscape always close beyond the last storefront.