Dog Boarding & Daycare Near Hampden, Maine

Hampden calls itself "the Community of Choice in Central Maine," and with 7,709 residents at the 2020 census it's one of the larger suburban towns on the Penobscot River estuary west of Bangor. The town covers almost 39 square miles, and the Souadabscook Stream winds through it on its way to the river.

Local gathering spots include Colford's Beach on the river, the Lura Hoit Memorial Pool, Harmony Hall, and the Edythe Dyer Community Library. Hermon Pond, one of the water bodies shared with neighboring Hermon, sits along Hampden's western edge as well.

It's a commuter town first — Interstate 95 and Routes 1A, 9, 9 Business and 202 all run through it — which makes the drive to either kennel a predictable, mostly highway trip rather than a maze of back roads. At roughly 203 residents per square mile (7,709 people across 37.94 square miles of land), Hampden is denser than Eddington or Glenburn but far less built-up than Brewer or Veazie.

That highway access is a big part of why Hampden works well as a commuter town: it's an easy, mostly uninterrupted run up I-95 or Route 1A into Bangor for work, school or an appointment at either kennel.

The town's full footprint — 38.84 square miles total, of which 37.94 is land — makes it larger by area than Eddington or Glenburn, even though Hampden's population is also denser than either of those two towns.

Hampden's history goes back further than its commuter-town reputation suggests: the town was the site of the 1814 Battle of Hampden during the War of 1812, when American militia tried and failed to defend the frigate USS Adams from a British naval force on the Penobscot River.