Hebron is situated on the south-eastern border of Oxford
County. Buckfield bounds it on the north, Oxford on the south, Paris on the west, and Turner and Minot, in Androscoggin
County, on the east. The form of the town is that of an irregular triangle, with its base toward the north, having
its two sides about 7 and 3/4 miles in length, and its base about 5½ miles. The surface of the town is generally
hilly. Three bear the names, Greenwood Hill, Ben Burrow's Hill and Streaked Mountain,- the last being the highest.
It is situated in the north-west corner of the town, and is a large and rather smooth elevation rising to a height
of nearly 1,600 feet above the plain. Its surface shows a large proportion of solid rock, covered in such a way
by soil and shrubbery as to cause the appearance from which it gains its name. The numerous ledges are generally
a coarse granite, and the soil has a good sprinkling of stones. Some of the hills are rocky and precipitous, while
good farms are found on the declivities of others. All the usual farm crops are cultivated, but that of hay has
probably a larger value than any other The principal body of water is Matthews Pond, on the south-west border of
the town; which has a length of one mile, and a width of about one-fourth of a mile. The chief streams are Bog
Brook and the Middle Branch. The small water-power of the town mainly furnished by the outlet of Matthews Pond.
The Rumford Falls and Buckfield Railroad runs through the town.
The territory constituting the town of Hebron was granted by Massachusetts to Alexander Shepard, Jr., of Newton,
Mass., in March, 1777, in return for a chart of a coast survey in which Mr. Shepard had assisted. The survey was
said to have been made by an Englishman, and completed just at the time when the colonies began to pay English
demands in a currency less acceptable than cash; and he abruptly quitted America, but left his chart behind him.
Subsequently Shepard extended his claim over the neighboring isolated tracts, until it embraced above 36,000 acres.
He with Dr. Goddard and John Greenwood were subsequently influential settlers of the region. The first settler
was probably John Caldwell of Ipswich, and the first resident family that of Capt. David Buckman, in 1778. In 1780
and the year following, came among others, Messrs. Barrows, Bumpas, Benson, Cushman, Weston, Keen, Richmond, and
Thayer The original name of the plantation was Shepardstown, from the proprietor, though the early settlers called
it Bog Brook Plantation. The incorporation under the present good old Hebrew name was granted March 6, 1792. It
then extended some 15 miles, from Norway to Turner, and being inconvenient for voters, in 1829 the south-westerly
part was set off to form Oxford. Among the settlers who have rendered good service to the town should be mentioned
Deacon William Barrows, who gave his efforts in aid of many good works, and was mainly influential in the founding
of Hebron Academy This institution was incorporated Feb. 10, 1804; and has been and still remains a flourishing
and useful school. This town is the birth-place of Albion K. Parris, governor of the State from 1832 to 1837, and
others who have proved valuable men in their various callings. Hebron sent 65 men to do battle for the Union, of
whom 16 were lost. The town has one citizen near his hundredth year.
The Baptists and Free Baptists have neat and commodious churchedifices here. There are seven public schoolhouses
in Hebron, valued at $2,400. The valuation of estates in 1870 was $222,180. In 1880 it was $189,113. The population
in 1870 was 744. In 1880 it was 601.