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CHistory
History · Solomons

Solomons’ post office opened in 1884, and 3 of its places are on the National Register

More historic than 28% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Most of Solomons was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1998. 3 places in town are on the National Register, among them 2 National Historic Landmarks. Below: 6 old photos and papers from 1917 on.

1884first post office
3on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Solomons’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Solomons began

When was Solomons founded?

1884

The Solomons post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Solomon's Island (1870), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 2,650142 years

How historic is Solomons?

C

More historic than 28% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Solomons post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Solomons’ History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Solomons is more historic than 28% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Solomons’ overall grade.
Founding era1884, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 19400.0% of homes (±1.0) · typical MD town 3.3% · U.S. 8.4%D−National Register3 listings, 12.3 per 10,000 residents · typical MD town 0.9 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 28%
NewerOlder

Few Maryland towns list much on the Register (a typical Maryland town has 0.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Solomons’ 12.3 sits above most of its state (70% of Maryland towns have fewer) while its 3 listings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B−. The pre-1940 share (±1.0 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Solomons’ past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Solomons, and 4 old place names are still on the map.A National Historic Landmark3 places on the National Register, 2 of them National Historic Landmarks.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Solomons’s post office has been open since 1884. Another post office, Solomon's Island, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Solomon's Island
1870–1884
Solomons
1884–today
Dowell
1926–today
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
DowellJohnstownNewtownSummerville
Gone or out of use
Solomonlocale
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Solomons
Our Lady Star of the SeaSolomons Island

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

On the National Register

3 historic places in Solomons

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. 2 are National Historic Landmarks, the highest tier.

places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
2
TENNISON, WM. B. (Chesapeake Bay Bugeye)
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts
first listed
1973
Drum Point Lighthouse
Drum Point LighthouseTENNISON, WM. B. (Chesapeake Bay Bugeye)★Lore, J. C., Oyster House★
BuildingsStructures★ landmark

Architectural styles listings

Early 20th Century Marine Commercial1
★ Landmark
TENNISON, WM. B. (Chesapeake Bay Bugeye)Structure
★ Landmark
Lore, J. C., Oyster HouseEarly 20th Century Marine Commercial
Drum Point LighthouseStructure

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

The story

How Solomons came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Solomons.

Read it all →

Originally called Bourne's Island (1680), then Somervell's Island (1740), Solomons takes its name from 19th century Baltimore businessman Isaac Solomon, who established a cannery there shortly after the Civil War. Solomon's home still stands on the front of the island.

ChaptersEarly settlersShipbuilding and maritime activitySupporting the U.S. Navy during World War IIGovernor Thomas Johnson Bridge

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Solomons, 1870 to 2001

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1870Post officeThe Solomon's Island post office opens
  3. 1884Post officeThe Solomon's Island post office closes
  4. 1884Post officeThe Solomons post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1917In the archiveMaryland - Solomons Island
  7. 1920In the archiveSolomon's Island
  8. 1926Post officeThe Dowell post office opens
  9. 1994LandmarkTENNISON, WM. B. (Chesapeake Bay Bugeye) named a National Historic Landmark
  10. 21st century
  11. 2001LandmarkLore, J. C., Oyster House named a National Historic Landmark
By decade

Solomons, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s–1920s6 items
Maryland - Solomons Island1917Maryland - Solomons IslandMaryland - Solomons Island1917Maryland - Solomons IslandMaryland - Solomons Island1917Maryland - Solomons IslandSolomon's Island1920Solomon's IslandSolomon's Island1920Solomon's IslandSolomon's Island Tour Court House at (...)1920Solomon's Island Tour Court House at (...)
1930s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Maryland - Solomons Island
Retake this viewMaryland - Solomons Island, 1917

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Solomons’ page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Solomons

Nobody well known was born in Solomons itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Alfred GoughAmerican screenwriter and producer · b. 1967
Jerome AdamsSurgeon General of the United States from 2017 … · b. 1974
Benedict Joseph FenwickAmerican Catholic bishop · b. 1782
T.J. CarterAmerican basketball player · b. 1985
Leonard CovingtonAmerican politician · b. 1768
J
James R. LewisWriter and academic specializing in various rel… · b. 1949
Help out

Finish Solomons’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewMaryland - Solomons Island: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Lusby1 historic placeC+

Questions about Solomons’ history

What year was Solomons founded?

The Solomons post office opened in 1884, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Solomons rank for history?

Solomons is more historic than 28% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Solomons?

Three places: the TENNISON, WM. B. (Chesapeake Bay Bugeye) (listed 1980), the Lore, J. C., Oyster House (1984) and the Drum Point Lighthouse (1973).

How old are the homes in Solomons?

0.0% of Solomons’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.0 points), against a typical 3.3% for a Maryland town; the median home was built in 1998.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.