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is a town in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. The population was 3,890 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Bangor, Maine Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is located at (45.0242, -69.2899), beside Lake Wassookeag at the intersection of Routes 7 and 23.
Dexter was settled beginning in 1801 by Ebenezer Small, David Smith, and others from New Hampshire, and was originally called "Elkinstown". When incorporated as a town in 1816, it named itself after Samuel Dexter, who was then running for governor of Massachusetts (which Maine was a territory of). The town of Brooks, Maine in nearby Waldo County, was incorporated the same year and named for the opposing candidate, John Brooks. Brooks won the election. The town of Dexter, however, achieved the greater prosperity.
The town grew because of its location on the East Branch of the Sebasticook River, which provided excellent water power for mills. In 1818, Jonathan Farrar constructed a grist mill at the falls. The
today uses the building which replaced it in 1854 as part of its museum complex. The stream would also power 5 woolen mills, the oldest and largest of which was established by Amos and Jeremiah Abbott in 1836.
, which closed in 1975, was the only textile mill in the United States to be owned by one family for such a long period.
, designed by John Morrison. At its top is the community's largest clock, named "Nancy" after the architect's wife. The tallest building in town is the Unitarian Universalist Church. It is also Dexter's oldest house of worship, built in 1826, but given a new steeple and vestibule by Boston architect Thomas W. Silloway in 1869. Five buildings in Dexter are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, including the
by Boston architect J. William Beal;
by Bangor architect George W. Orff; and ''Zion's Hill
In 1848 the town was visited by a tornado which tore large trees out by their roots and destroyed even the strongest buildings.