[NEW SHAR-uhn] is a town in Franklin County, settled in 1782 and incorporated on June 20, 1794 from Unity Plantation.

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It swapped land with Industry (1813, 1852) and annexed land from Mercer in 1841.

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The town, just east of Farmington, has been growing consistently in population over the past four decades.

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New Sharon village straddles the Sandy River, which winds through from Farmington on its way to Starks and then Norridgewock where it enters the Kennebec River.

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The old steel bridge was built in 1916 and crossed the river at the end of the main street. It was the oldest of the Baltimore and Pennsylvania truss-style bridges in Maine until its demolition in 2014.

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The bridge, once on the Historic Register of Historic Places, was no longer used due to structural deterioration.

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In 1886, the Gazetteer of Maine waxed enthusiastic about New Sharon:

[The soil] is quite productive; and numerous small fortunes have been gathered from the products of New Sharon farms. [Referring to the post-Civil War rush westward] Much of this money has gone to develop new towns and States in the West.

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The village of New Sharon is one of the prettiest in the State. It is situated on both sides of the Sandy River, where a natural fall is increased by a dam, and the stream spanned by an expensive covered bridge. . . . There are operated in New Sharon three saw-mills, a grist mill, and chair, shoe, shovel-handle, carriage and clothing factories.

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In the 1880’s the town supported sixteen public schoolhouses on a population of just over 1,300, essentially it current size. The old village is now off the main highway near where Maine Routes 27 and 134 meet U.S. Route 2.