Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Baldwin

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
A−History
History · Baldwin

Baldwin’s post office opened in 1811, and 15% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 77% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Its Register listings are the Valley Lodge and the Burnell Tavern. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1896 on, and the census since 1790.

1811first post office
2on the National Register
15%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Baldwin’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Baldwin began

When was Baldwin founded?

1811

The Baldwin post office opened in 1811, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, North Baldwin (1859) and Higgins (1892), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 190 in 17902020 census: 1,520215 years

How historic is Baldwin?

A−

More historic than 77% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Baldwin’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Baldwin is more historic than 77% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.

A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Baldwin’s overall grade.
Founding era1811, from the first post office: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194015.0% of homes (±4.8) · typical ME town 19.1% · U.S. 8.4%BNational Register2 listings, 3 historic buildings, 25.6 per 10,000 residents · typical ME town 15.9 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 77%
NewerOlder

Maine towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Maine town has 15.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Baldwin’s 25.6 sits near the middle of its state (64% of Maine towns have fewer) while its 3 historic buildings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B+ to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.8 points). 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 Baldwin’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1860 and 1930, then more than doubled.On the map since 18963 editions of the USGS map, 1896 to 1983. Watch Baldwin change.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Baldwin, and 3 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Baldwin’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewStreet Scene, West: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Baldwin, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,600180018501900195020001,227 in 1860Low: 694

Lost a third of its people between 1860 and 1930, then more than doubled.

24 censuses, 1790–2020.

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

On the map

Baldwin on the map, 1896 to 1983

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

Baldwin on the 1896 USGS mapBaldwin on the 1942 USGS mapBaldwin on the 1983 USGS map1896Sebago 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 Baldwin.

The story

How Baldwin came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Baldwin.

Read it all →

First called Flintstown Plantation, it was granted in 1774 by the Massachusetts General Court to survivors of the Concord, Massachusetts, company commanded by Captain John Flint. It replaced a grant of about 1735 which gave them Township No. 3, because when state borders were adjusted in 1741, the town turned out to be in New Hampshire—present-day Walpole. On June 23, 1802, Flintstown was incorporated as Baldwin, named for Colonel Loammi Baldwin, for whom the Baldwin apple was named. Sebago was set off and incorporated in 1826.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Baldwin, 1792 to 2010

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1792BuiltValley Lodge is built
  3. 1792Born hereJosiah Pierce is born here
  4. 19th century
  5. 1811Post officeThe Baldwin post office opens
  6. 1833Post officeThe Baldwin post office closes
  7. 1834Post officeThe West Baldwin post office opens
  8. 1859Post officeThe North Baldwin post office opens
  9. 1866Born hereLedell Titcomb is born here
  10. 1896On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  11. 20th century
  12. 1907In the archiveStreet Scene, West
  13. 1915In the archiveStreet Scene, East
  14. 1955Post officeThe North Baldwin post office closes
  15. 21st century
  16. 2010CensusPopulation peaks at 1,525
By decade

Baldwin, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s–1910s3 items
Street Scene, West1907Street Scene, WestPostcardStreet Scene, Eastc. 1915Street Scene, EastPostcardCottage at Dyke Mt. Farm, West1919Cottage at Dyke Mt. Farm, WestPostcard
1920s–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
Date unknown1 to date
Annual report of the municipal officers of the town ofDate?Annual report of the municipal officers of the town ofBook
Today2 recent
BaldwinME ValleyLodge2014BaldwinME ValleyLodgeBaldwinME BurnellTavern2014BaldwinME BurnellTavern
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.

Street Scene, West
Retake this viewStreet Scene, West, 1907

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Baldwin

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts
first listed
1977
Valley Lodge
Valley Lodge, built 1792Burnell Tavern
Buildings
Valley LodgeBuilt 1792
Burnell TavernBuilding

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Baldwin

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
J
Josiah PierceAmerican politician · b. 1792
Ledell TitcombMajor League Baseball player · b. 1866
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Baldwin had its own post office from 1811 to 1833. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Baldwin
1811–1833
West Baldwin
1834–today
North Baldwin
1859–1955
Higgins
1892–1895
18101920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
East Baldwin Mattocks StationNorth BaldwinWest Baldwin
19cemeteries and burying grounds inside Baldwin
BentonBickford DyerBrownCyrus BrownDunn Nason GuptillEdward RoundsEmerson - ThorneFlintGoodwinLarrabeePierceRidlonSanbornSawyerWeemanWentworthWest BaldwinWigginsYork
See all 19

Benton Cemetery · Bickford Dyer Cemetery · Brown Cemetery · Cyrus Brown Cemetery · Dunn Nason Guptill Cemetery · Edward Rounds Cemetery · Emerson - Thorne Cemetery · Flint Cemetery · Goodwin Cemetery · Larrabee Cemetery · Pierce Cemetery · Ridlon Cemetery · Sanborn Cemetery · Sawyer Cemetery · Weeman Cemetery · Wentworth Cemetery · West Baldwin Cemetery · Wiggins Cemetery · York Cemetery

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.

Limington4 historic placesB+Sebago2 historic placesB+Hiram4 historic placesACornish4 historic placesA−Steep Falls1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townStandish6 historic placesA

Questions about Baldwin’s history

What year was Baldwin founded?

The Baldwin post office opened in 1811, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Baldwin rank for history?

Baldwin is more historic than 77% 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 Baldwin?

Two places: the Valley Lodge (listed 1977) and the Burnell Tavern (1983).

How old are the homes in Baldwin?

15% of Baldwin’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.8 points), against a typical 19% for a Maine town; the median home was built in 1979.

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), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.