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History · Alexander

Alexander’s post office opened in 1832

Most of Alexander was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1982. Below: maps from 1929 on and the census since 1830.

1832first post office
0on the National Register
8%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Alexander began

When was Alexander founded?

1832

The Alexander post office opened in 1832, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Cedar (1908), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 336 in 18302020 census: 525194 years
Founding year: the first Alexander post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Alexander’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Alexander are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost two-thirds of its people between 1850 and 1970, then grew 3-fold.Deep rootsA post office since 1832: 194 years of Alexander.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Alexander’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Alexander’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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People over time

Alexander, census by census

01002003004005006001850190019502000544 in 1850Low: 169

Lost two-thirds of its people between 1850 and 1970, then grew 3-fold.

20 censuses, 1830–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Alexander’s Wikipedia page.

Timeline

Alexander, 1832 to 1943

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1832Post officeThe Alexander post office opens
  3. 1850CensusPopulation peaks at 544
  4. 20th century
  5. 1908Post officeThe Cedar post office opens
  6. 1929On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1935Post officeThe Cedar post office closes
  8. 1943Post officeThe Alexander post office closes
The story so far

Alexander, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Alexander yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Alexander is a town in Washington County, Maine, United States. The population was 525 at the 2020 census. The town is named for Alexander Baring, 1st Baron Ashburton, the British negotiator of the Webster–Ashburton Treaty which ended the Aroostook War in 1838–1839.

Its first post office opened in 1832. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 499 to 525 (+5%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

Alexander on the map, 1929 to 1987

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Alexander. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Alexander on the 1929 USGS mapAlexander on the 1932 USGS mapAlexander on the 1987 USGS map1929Calais sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Alexander.

Famous people

Famous people close to Alexander

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

See all →
Laurence TrimbleAmerican silent film actor, writer and director · b. 1885
Andrea GibsonAmerican poet and activist · b. 1975
George H. MosesAmerican politician · b. 1869
Styles BridgesAmerican politician · b. 1898
Harriet Elizabeth Prescott SpoffordAmerican author · b. 1835
Otis Tufton MasonAmerican ethnologist · b. 1838
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Alexander had its own post office from 1832 to 1943. Another post office, Cedar, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Alexander
1832–1943
Cedar
1908–1935
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Cedar

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

PrincetonIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCrawfordIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBaileyvilleIts storyBCooperIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Alexander’s history

What year was Alexander founded?

The Alexander post office opened in 1832, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via 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.