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History · Bingham

Bingham dates to 1812, and 40% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Bingham Free Meetinghouse. Below: 16 old photos and papers, maps from 1903 on, and the census since 1820.

1812founded
1on the National Register
40%homes built before 1940
16old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Bingham’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Bingham began

When was Bingham founded?

1812

Bingham dates its founding to 1812 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1820.

First census: 336 in 18202020 census: 866214 years
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1825.The full story ↓

What stands out about Bingham’s past

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

Boom and bustPeaked at 1,592 in 1930; 866 people lived here in 2020.A town in old photos16 old photos, postcards and papers, 1869–1910.On the map since 19034 editions of the USGS map, 1903 to 1989. Watch Bingham change.Old housesHalf of Bingham’s homes were built before 1952.
★ What stands out · People over time

Bingham, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,6001850190019502000Peak: 1,592

Peaked at 1,592 in 1930; 866 people lived here in 2020.

21 censuses, 1820–2020.

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

By decade

Bingham, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1860s8 items
Bingham Ferry, from bluff.Alternate Title: Kennebec Valley Viewsc. 1869Bingham Ferry, from bluff.Alternate Title: Kennebec V…Bingham Ferry, from bluff.Alternate Title: Kennebec Valley Viewsc. 1869Bingham Ferry, from bluff.Alternate Title: Kennebec V…From Old HIll, Bingham, Me.Alternate Title: New England Viewsc. 1869From Old HIll, Bingham, Me.Alternate Title: New Engla…From Old HIll, Bingham, Me.Alternate Title: New England Viewsc. 1869From Old HIll, Bingham, Me.Alternate Title: New Engla…North from Old Hill, Bingham.Alternate Title: Kennebec Valley Viewsc. 1869North from Old Hill, Bingham.Alternate Title: Kennebe…North from Old Hill, Bingham.Alternate Title: Kennebec Valley Viewsc. 1869North from Old Hill, Bingham.Alternate Title: Kennebe…West from Old Hill, Bingham, Me.Alternate Title: New England Viewsc. 1869West from Old Hill, Bingham, Me.Alternate Title: New …West from Old Hill, Bingham, Me.Alternate Title: New England Viewsc. 1869West from Old Hill, Bingham, Me.Alternate Title: New …
1900s7 items
Main St1900Main St"Wyman Dam" Bingham, Me1900"Wyman Dam" Bingham, MeWyman Dam1900Wyman DamMain St1900Main StAlong Wyman Lake near Bingham1900Along Wyman Lake near BinghamBingham Hotel & Main Street1905Bingham Hotel & Main StreetPostcardOld Mill1909Old MillPostcard
1910s1 item
Gulf Stream Trestle1910Gulf Stream TrestlePostcard
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
Today2 recent
BinghamME IOOFHall2018BinghamME IOOFHallBingham maine2005Bingham maine
On the map

Bingham on the map, 1903 to 1989

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

Bingham on the 1903 USGS mapBingham on the 1956 USGS mapBingham on the 1975 USGS mapBingham on the 1989 USGS map1903Bingham 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 Bingham.

The story

How Bingham came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Bingham.

Read it all →

First settled in 1785, the town is named after William Bingham, a Philadelphia banker and politician who at one time owned two million acres (8,000 km2) of land in Maine known as the Bingham Purchase. The community was incorporated on February 6, 1812. By 1859, when the population was 752, Bingham had two water powered sawmills and two gristmills. It is located on the Old Canada Road (U. S. Route 201), which between 1820 until 1860 served as the primary link between Lower Canada and Maine. Bingham became an important Maine Central Railroad loading point for pulpwood floated down the Kennebec River to Wyman Dam until environmental regulations curtailed log driving in the 1970s.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Bingham, 1812 to 1930

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1812
    FoundingBingham is established
  3. 1825Post officeThe Bingham post office opens
  4. 1869In the archiveBingham Ferry, from bluff.Alternate Title: Kennebec Valley Views
  5. 20th century
  6. 1900In the archiveMain St
  7. 1903On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1910In the archiveGulf Stream Trestle
  9. 1930CensusPopulation peaks at 1,592
Every building

Bingham, building by building, 1916

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a sheet.

Bingham fire insurance map, 1916, sheet 11916Sheet 1 of 3
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

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.

Bingham Ferry, from bluff.Alternate Title: Kennebec Valley Views
Retake this viewBingham Ferry, from bluff.Alternate Title: Kennebec Valley Views, c. 1869

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Bingham

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1976
Bingham Free Meetinghouse
Bingham Free Meetinghouse
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Federal1
Gothic Revival1
Bingham Free MeetinghouseFederal

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

Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Bingham’s post office has been open since 1825.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Johnson Corner
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Bingham
Bingham VillageFall Brook

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

Help out

Finish Bingham’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 viewBingham Ferry, from bluff.Alternate Tit…: 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.

MoscowIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBrighton plantationIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSolon1 historic placeB+

Questions about Bingham’s history

What year was Bingham founded?

In 1812, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Bingham’s post office opened in 1825, and the census of 1820 counted 336 people here.

What is on the National Register in Bingham?

One place: the Bingham Free Meetinghouse (listed 1976).

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 Wikimedia Commons (13), the Library of Congress (5), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.