Bremen’s post office opened in 1830, and 17% of its homes were built before 1940
Its Register listings are the Daniel Weston Homestead, the Cora F. Cressey and the Bremen Town Hall, Former. Its Register listings are the Daniel Weston Homestead, the Cora F. Cressey and the Bremen Town Hall, Former. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1973 on, and the census since 1830.
The Bremen post office opened in 1830, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Broad Cove (1879) and Muscongus (1887), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 770 in 18302020 census: 823196 years
Founding year: the first Bremen post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Bremen’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Abenaki tribes once summered on Keene Neck, hunting shellfish and leaving behind shell middens. The area was settled as part of Bristol in 1735 by William Hilton from Plymouth, Massachusetts. Driven off by Indians during the French and Indian Wars, he returned after the 1745 Battle of Louisburg. In May 1755, Hilton and his three sons were ambushed by Indians while getting out of a boat, mortally wounding the father and killing his namesake.
Settled largely by German immigrants, it developed as a farming and fishing community. On February 19, 1828, the town was set off and incorporated, named after Bremen, Germany. Lobstering, clamming and tourism remain important industries.
Passages that mention Bremen, cut from the printed page as they were published.
A history of the towns of Bristol and Bremen in the state of Maine, including the Pemaquid settlement1873 · page 417Read the page →
A history of the towns of Bristol and Bremen in the state of Maine, including the Pemaquid settlement1873 · page 497Read the page →
Read the text
The town of Bremen, was incorporated by act of the state legislature February 19th, 1828. Many attempts had been made to effect a division of the large territory included in Bristol, by vote of the citizens, but without effect. All felt that a division into two or more towns was greatly to be desired, and many plans were proposed, but when submitted to vote in townmeeting they were always rejected. At length the people of Broad Cove determined to address their application directly to
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.
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 (11), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, 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 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.
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