Despite the large number of tourists who visit the Old Town City, few people actually know what the neighborhood is like. Its population is just over 8,000 and has a history dating back to the Abenaki Indians. Old Town also boasts a paper mill and a large Indian community. The Penobscot River flows through the town, intersecting with Pushaw Stream north of Marsh Island.
In 1891, the town was incorporated and became a town. By 1840, it was a small settlement where logs were driven down the Penobscot River and sawn into lumber. In the 1860s, Old Town had become the nation's largest producer of sawn lumber. The city shares a protected forest with the University of Maine. The area is surrounded by a series of rivers.