Native American for “brush,” the town formed as a scattering of buildings far removed from the town’s flour mill, which rose, tower-like, from a clump of trees. Today it’s a National Register-listed building and worth a visit.

The first settler of the site was James Bowers, who arrived in 1861. In 1867, the land was acquired by “Vine” Favor, who for years had driven a stage on the Lewiston route. Favor platted the town in 1882, and for a brief time it was successively known as Waterstown and Favorsburg. Finally, it took the Native American name Pataha.