On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Belmont is more historic than 75% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Belmont’s overall grade.
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 Belmont’s 11.4 sits near the middle of its state (45% of Maine towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±10.7 points).
Founding year: our sources. 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 Belmont’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
People over time
Belmont, census by census
Lost two-thirds of its people between 1850 and 1940, then grew 4-fold.
21 censuses, 1820–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Belmont’s Wikipedia page.
The story so far
Belmont, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Belmont yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Belmont is a town in Waldo County, Maine, United States. The population was 976 at the 2020 census. It was originally known as Green Plantation. The squatters who lived there would, when alerted to the impending arrival of law officers, dress as Indians and then ignore the officers.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 942 to 976 (+4%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Belmont, 1815 to 1918
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Belmont is more historic than 75% 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 Belmont?
One place: the Greer's Corner School (listed 1991).
How old are the homes in Belmont?
27% of Belmont’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±10.7 points), against a typical 19% for a Maine town; the median home was built in 1988.
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 (2), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
2009
2009
