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Caribou is the second largest city in Aroostook County, Maine, United States. Its population was 8,189 at the 2010 census. [edit] History
Between 1838 and 1839, the undeclared Aroostook War flared between the United States and Canada, and the Battle of Caribou occurred in December 1838. The dispute over the international boundary delayed settlement of the area until after the signing of the Webster-Ashburton Treaty in 1842. With peace restored, European settlers arrived in large numbers in 1843. From Eaton Plantation and part of half-township H, Caribou was incorporated on April 5, 1859, as the town of Lyndon. In 1869, it annexed Eaton, Sheridan and Forestville plantations. On February 26 of that year its name was changed to Caribou, only to revert back to Lyndon on March 9. On February 8, 1877, Caribou was finally confirmed as the town's permanent name. Two enduring mysteries are the reason for the original name of Lyndon, and the reasons for the town's name being subsequently changed back and forth between Lyndon and Caribou. The small town grew throghout the late 19th century, and with the coming of the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad in the 1890s, agricultural exports exploded. This began a boom period which lasted well into the 1960s. Caribou became the largest potato shipping hub in the world, and had many related industries. Loring Air Force Base opened in the neighboring town of Limestone in the early 1950s, and this also provided a major boost to Caribou's growth. Caribou was incorporated as a city February 23, 1967. Its population began to slowly decline thereafter, a result of difficulties in its traditional potato industry. The closure of nearby Loring Air Force Base in the early 1990s also contributed to the decline in Caribou's population, as the city had served as the main service center for the base's 8,000 residents. In more recent years, Caribou's population has stabilized and grown slightly as the city successfully adapted to the base's closure and its economic impact. In September 1984, Caribou was the lift-off location of the first successful solo balloon crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by Colonel Joseph Kittinger. This flight is memorialized at the Rosie O'Grady Balloon of Peace Park one mile (1.6 km) south of the city on Main Street. This site includes a large replica of Kittinger's balloon. The Caribou Public Library is a Carnegie library. Designed in the Romanesque Revival Style by local architect Schuyler C. Page, it was built in 1911-1912 with a $10,000 grant from industrialist Andrew Carnegie. [edit] Research Tips
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