Maine was a part of the Massachusetts Commonwealth and Hancock County was much larger than it is today.

Dedham lies in Hancock County and was first known as Township 8, which included Otis. It is now bounded on the east by that town. On the west are Bucksport and Orland. On the north lies Brewer and Jarvis Gore, now Clifton, and on the south is Ellsworth.

It was named for a town in Massachusetts, and was first settled in 1810. It was incorporated under its present name by the Legislature of Maine, Feb.7, 1837, and signed by "Hannibal Hamlin, Speaker of the House". It is on the old stage route running from Bangor to Ellsworth, known at present as US Route 1A. Early settlers Native American history The Lake House, on this route, also known as "Lucerne Inn" was run by John L. Phillips in the early days and is the center of "Lucerne-in-Maine", the beauty spot of America. Because the old Massachusetts Colony at Dedham Village was known for years as "New Boston", the inhabitants were accused of "putting on airs".

Dedham has a mountain group with Bald Mt. the highest at 1261 feet above sea level. Here ten mountains are clustered, with their hill children all around. It has gained the name of "Switzerland of America". These mountains are mostly of porphyritic granite with black mica. They are mostly wooded except for "Old Bald". Lakes of exquisite beauty lie among these hills and mountains, some so close they mirror the tops of the mountains in their waters.

Brooks where decades of anglers have fished flow from these lakes. Fitts Pond, later called Phillips Lake, is the largest, having an area of three square miles and a circumference of twelve miles.

The first town meeting after the town was incorporated was held at the Mitchell school house, March 20, 1837. Those elected to town office were: moderator, William Saunders; town clerk, Elijah Deveraux; selectmen, assessors and overseers, Caleb Stockwell, Perley Haynes, John Burrill; treasurer, Melzar Brewster; constables, Dominicus Millikin, William Jellerson, John Burton; superintending school committee, William Jellerson, Frederick Frye, Elijah Deveraux; surveyors of lumber, Reuben Gragg, Frederick Frye, Daniel Burrill; fence viewers and field drivers, Frederick Frye, Perley Haynes, Josiah Burrill, Daniel Fields, George Blaisdell. Eight town meetings were held that first year. They were held in different places to accommodate residents in the several districts and because of the conditions of the roads and the mode of travel. In the last meeting a record of the census was given. It shows the "Heads of Families" - sixty-four in all, of that year.