Bucksport/Verona Island (Bangor, Jefferson: new home, construction, schools)

[mtnmama14]

My family and I are looking at a home in Verona Island this week and were hoping to get some background info on the island and Bucksport area before we head up. Besides that Route 1 traffic can be rough.
Hubs has work lined up in Bangor and I am a SAHM to a 9 and 5 year old until summer's end.
Does anyone have experience growing up or raising kids in the area?
Not having much luck finding recent threads on the topic.

Thanks so much.

[mainegrl2011]

Bucksport and Verona Island are picturesque. Nice riverside walkway in Bucksport. There is a Hannaford in Bucksport. ... convenient...several restaurants, ice cream spots and more. LIke many places in Maine, pretty quiet in winter, more lively in summer.

I searched the forum for Bucksport threads and saw one from 2007 and another from 2011. If anything, I think Bucksport has been trying to improve over the years.

At least one older city-data post mentions the paper mill. The paper mill is no longer a paper mill. When it closed, over 500 people lost their jobs. The mill has been repurposed.

https://www.newscentermaine.com/arti...6-b977b6d011c5

https://www.epa.gov/brownfields/r1-s...l-bucksport-me

https://www.ellsworthamerican.com/ma...ucksport-mill/

https://islandjournal.com/communitie...ort-life-mill/

https://www.chamberofcommerce.com/un...ine/bucksport/

[Northern Maine Land Man]

I lived on Verona island from 1973 to 1976. THere is one road that circles the island. On the west side it is called West Side Road. On the east side it is called East Side Road. The zip code is Bucksport and all school children go to Bucksport schools. I was there just a few months when they found out I was a college graduate and they asked me to serve on the town planning board. I didn't know what that was. I figured it was a group that helped the town plan stuff.

Nope. The new Maine Land Use Law had been voted in and that placed huge and unwanted burdens on towns. I read the new rule book. Holy cow! How had this happened in Maine? All property owners in the entire state had lost rights they had since the Maine Constitution was created. Thomas Jefferson had written much in the constitutions of the original 13 states, including Maine (which was a province of Massachusetts up until we achieved statehood in 1820.)

In 1973, the town received a letter from the census department asking if we wanted a demgraphic report on our town. It was free so we ordered it. When it came, it had much personal information on everyone in town. We tossed the report in the wood stove.

That's a half century old snapshot. I rode around the island last year and it has not changed much. THere are some very nice new homes and my old house half way down West Side Road is still there.

[BaltimoreBruiser]

I have only a limited knowledge from my visits, but I will agree that the area is extremely picturesque. I think Bucksport has all the main necessities you'll need, with a trip to Bangor when necessary for shopping. Bucksport/Verona Island would be my likely choice if I was working in Bangor.

I don't know anything about the schools or such, but I do know the town has fun Halloween traditions! Plenty of kid-centric activities in Bucksport during the week. And Fort Knox right across the river has an annual Fright at the Fort event. I highly recommend it! A haunted house in an old fort (creepy stone tunnels and corridors!). However, I will warn you that traffic gets backed up from the fort across the bridge, and then down route 1 for quite a ways during the nights Fright at the Fort is going on!