Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Avon

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Avon

Avon dates to 1802, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1929 on and the census since 1810.

1802founded
0on the National Register
11%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Avon began

When was Avon founded?

1802

Avon dates its founding to 1802 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1810.

First census: 304 in 18102020 census: 450224 years
Founding year: Wikipedia.The full story ↓

What stands out about Avon’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 Avon are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 827 in 1840; 450 people lived here in 2020.Deep rootsEstablished in 1802: 224 years of Avon.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Avon’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Avon, census by census

02004006008001850190019502000Peak: 827

Peaked at 827 in 1840; 450 people lived here in 2020.

22 censuses, 1810–2020.

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

Timeline

Avon, 1802 to 1929

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1802
    FoundingAvon is established
  3. 1819Born hereZebulon York is born here
  4. 1840CensusPopulation peaks at 827
  5. 20th century
  6. 1929On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story

How Avon came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Avon.

Read it all →

First known as Township 2 Abbott's Purchase, or Upper Town, it was settled in 1781 by a pair of sea captains—Joshua Soule, originally from Duxbury, Massachusetts and later Bremen, Maine, with Perkins Allen from Martha's Vineyard. The town was incorporated on February 22, 1802, named for the River Avon in England. One of the Worcestershire villages through which River Avon flows is Eckington, birthplace of Capt. Soule's ancestor, George Soule, a Mayflower Pilgrim. Capt. Soule's son, Bishop Joshua Soule, was raised in Avon.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Avon in 1885

Passages that mention Avon, cut from the printed page as they were published.

interests of the Phillips and Weld families in the wild lands of Maine, among which were those tracts since incorporated as the towns of Jhillips, Weld, Madrid, Salem, Temple, Avon, and Carthage. Mr. Abbot afterwards made a temporary residence in Brunswick, but subsequently having himself become a …
A history of Farmington, Franklin County, Maine, from the earliest explorations to the present time, 1776-18851885 · page 351Read the page →
Read the text

interests of the Phillips and Weld families in the wild lands of Maine, among which were those tracts since incorporated as the towns of Jhillips, Weld, Madrid, Salem, Temple, Avon, and Carthage. Mr. Abbot afterwards made a temporary residence in Brunswick, but subsequently having himself become a large proprietor in the lands, moved to Weld in order that he might better oversee their settlement. It was largely owing to his

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

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.
Add from your album
On the map

Avon on the map, 1929 to 1984

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

Avon on the 1929 USGS mapAvon on the 1932 USGS mapAvon on the 1977 USGS mapAvon on the 1984 USGS map1929Phillips 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 Avon.

Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Avon Corner
7cemeteries and burying grounds inside Avon
AvonAvon Valley RoadDay MountainKnott Burial PlotMount BluePeaseSprague Howland

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.

Strong2 historic placesAPhillips4 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townTemple1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWeld1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Avon’s history

What year was Avon founded?

In 1802, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. the census of 1810 counted 304 people here.

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 Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.