Kingfield, ME

Kingfield village sits where the West Branch joins the Carrabassett River in Franklin County, at the meeting point of Routes 16, 27, and 142. That location makes it the working crossroads for a large rural area: Route 27 carries travelers north toward Carrabassett Valley, while Route 16 runs south toward North Anson, Farmington, and the communities beyond. The village’s river position also shaped its earliest industries, beginning with a sawmill built to supply the growing settlement.

Families began settling here in the early 1800s, and the town took its name from William King, Maine’s first governor. Kingfield incorporated in 1816, when farms, orchards, and small mills were spreading along the river. Later businesses included a tannery, flour mill, carding mill, and rake factory, while the Stanley family became part of the town’s history through manufacturing, public service, and photography. Today the village remains the historic center of a mountain-region service town, with the river, old downtown, and northbound road all pointing toward the wider Carrabassett Valley.