Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Bridgton

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
B+History
History · Bridgton

Bridgton dates to 1779, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 75% of U.S. towns · #92 of 143 in Maine. What drives it

11 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 3 buildings. Below: 34 old photos and papers, maps from 1892 on, and the census since 1790.

1779founded
11on the National Register
11%homes built before 1940
34old photos & papers
7famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Bridgton’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Bridgton began

When was Bridgton founded?

1779

Bridgton dates its founding to 1779 (Wikipedia’s history). It appears in the first U.S. census, 1790.

First census: 329 in 17902020 census: 5,418247 years

How historic is Bridgton?

B+

More historic than 75% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1800.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Bridgton’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bridgton is more historic than 75% of U.S. towns, #92 of 143 in Maine. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.

B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Bridgton’s overall grade.
Founding era1779, from Wikipedia: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194010.7% of homes (±3.4) · typical ME town 19.1% · U.S. 8.4%B−National Register11 listings, 13 historic buildings, 23.0 per 10,000 residents · typical ME town 15.9 · U.S. 2.4B+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 75%
NewerOlder
Maine towns of 2,500+ (143)Ahead of 36%

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 Bridgton’s 23.0 sits near the middle of its state (62% of Maine towns have fewer) while its 13 historic buildings outnumber those of 77% 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 (±3.4 points). Two sources give 1779.

Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Bridgton’s past

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

A town in postcards34 old photos, postcards and papers, 1869–1930.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Bridgton, and 6 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 18964 editions of the USGS map, 1896 to 2000. Watch Bridgton change.Mapped building by building5 fire insurance maps, 1892 to 1914, drew every building in Bridgton.
★ What stands out · By decade

Bridgton, decade by decade

4 decades in the archive, from the 1860s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1860s8 items
Cumberland Mills [?], Cumberland Co., Mainec. 1869Cumberland Mills [?], Cumberland Co., MaineCumberland Mills [?], Cumberland Co., Mainec. 1869Cumberland Mills [?], Cumberland Co., MaineNorth Bridgton, Mec. 1869North Bridgton, MeNorth Bridgton, Mec. 1869North Bridgton, MeSteamboat.Alternate Title: Bridgton and vicinityc. 1869Steamboat.Alternate Title: Bridgton and vicinitySteamboat.Alternate Title: Bridgton and vicinityc. 1869Steamboat.Alternate Title: Bridgton and vicinityViews of Bridgton.Alternate Title: Bridgton and vicinityc. 1869Views of Bridgton.Alternate Title: Bridgton and vicin…Views of Bridgton.Alternate Title: Bridgton and vicinityc. 1869Views of Bridgton.Alternate Title: Bridgton and vicin…
1880s3 items
Bridgton and Saco River Narrow Gauge Railroad engine No 5 built by Portland Works at the Bridgton Junction yard in Hira…1882Bridgton and Saco River Narrow Gauge Railroad engine …Bridgton, Maine, U.S.A. - 18881888Bridgton, Maine, U.S.A. - 1888BridgtonMaineBirdsEye18881888BridgtonMaineBirdsEye1888
1890s–1910snothing 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
1920s–1930s23 items
Hartford Residencec. 1920Hartford ResidencePostcardAerial view, North Bridgton, Maine (91359)c. 1930Aerial view, North Bridgton, Maine (91359)PostcardBathing at Highland Lake, Bridgton, Maine (82822)c. 1930Bathing at Highland Lake, Bridgton, Maine (82822)PostcardBathing at Highland Lake, Bridgton, Maine (82888)c. 1930Bathing at Highland Lake, Bridgton, Maine (82888)PostcardCountry Club, Bridgton, Maine (88224)c. 1930Country Club, Bridgton, Maine (88224)PostcardCountry Club, Bridgton, Maine (90861)c. 1930Country Club, Bridgton, Maine (90861)PostcardFoot of Highland Lake, Bridgton, Maine (24288)c. 1930Foot of Highland Lake, Bridgton, Maine (24288)PostcardFoot of Highland Lake, Bridgton, Maine (82821)c. 1930Foot of Highland Lake, Bridgton, Maine (82821)PostcardGolf Course, Bridgton, Me (67310)c. 1930Golf Course, Bridgton, Me (67310)PostcardHighland Lake and The White Mountains from Bridgton, Maine (79773)c. 1930Highland Lake and The White Mountains from Bridgton, …PostcardHighland Lake, Bridgton, Maine (79770)c. 1930Highland Lake, Bridgton, Maine (79770)PostcardHighland Lake, Bridgton, Maine (79774)c. 1930Highland Lake, Bridgton, Maine (79774)PostcardHighland Lake, Bridgton, Maine (90862)c. 1930Highland Lake, Bridgton, Maine (90862)PostcardHighland Lake, Bridgton, Maine (90863)c. 1930Highland Lake, Bridgton, Maine (90863)PostcardHighland Lake, Bridgton, Maine (90864)c. 1930Highland Lake, Bridgton, Maine (90864)PostcardLong Lake, Bridgton, Maine (79771)c. 1930Long Lake, Bridgton, Maine (79771)PostcardLower Main Street, Bridgton, Maine (82819)c. 1930Lower Main Street, Bridgton, Maine (82819)PostcardMain Street, Bridgton, Maine (82816)c. 1930Main Street, Bridgton, Maine (82816)PostcardMain Street, North Bridgton, Maine (82818)c. 1930Main Street, North Bridgton, Maine (82818)PostcardMonument Square, Bridgton, Maine (82817)c. 1930Monument Square, Bridgton, Maine (82817)PostcardMoose Pond -- Causeway and Pleasant Mt., Bridgton, Maine (87445)c. 1930Moose Pond -- Causeway and Pleasant Mt., Bridgton, Ma…PostcardMoose Pond -- Looking north, Bridgton, Maine (91357)c. 1930Moose Pond -- Looking north, Bridgton, Maine (91357)PostcardMoose Pond and Pleasant Mountain, Bridgton, Maine (82823)c. 1930Moose Pond and Pleasant Mountain, Bridgton, Maine (82…Postcard
1940s–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
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Bridgton’s post office has been open since 1800. Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Bridgton
1800–today
North Bridgton
1821–today
South Bridgton
1829–1955
West Bridgton
1852–1901
Sandy Creek
1879–1927
18001910today
Hamlets and corners on the map
IngallsNorth BridgtonPlummer LandingSandy CreekSouth BridgtonWest Bridgton
19cemeteries and burying grounds inside Bridgton
BarnardBurnhamDouglassEmersonForest HillHigh StreetHio RidgeIngalls HillMillsNorth BridgtonPalmer - IngallsPerleyRidgeSandy CreekSawyerSouth BridgtonStoneStroutSweden Road
See all 19

Barnard Cemetery · Burnham Cemetery · Douglass Cemetery · Emerson Cemetery · Forest Hill Cemetery · High Street Cemetery · Hio Ridge Cemetery · Ingalls Hill Cemetery · Mills Cemetery · North Bridgton Cemetery · Palmer - Ingalls Cemetery · Perley Cemetery · Ridge Cemetery · Sandy Creek Cemetery · Sawyer Cemetery · South Bridgton Cemetery · Stone Cemetery · Strout Cemetery · Sweden Road Cemetery

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

On the map

Bridgton on the map, 1896 to 2000

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

Bridgton on the 1896 USGS mapBridgton on the 1946 USGS mapBridgton on the 1983 USGS mapBridgton on the 2000 USGS map1896Norway 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 Bridgton.

The story

How Bridgton came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Bridgton.

Read it all →

The undeveloped land was first called Pondicherry. It was granted in 1768 by the Massachusetts General Court to Moody Bridges and a group of proprietors. Settlement began in 1770 at what is now North Bridgton, where a tavern was built. The community was organized in 1779 as Bridgetown Plantation, named after Moody Bridges, and then incorporated on February 7, 1794, as Bridgton.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Bridgton, 1779 to 1955

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1779
    FoundingBridgton is established
  3. 1790BuiltPeabody-Fitch House is built
  4. 19th century
  5. 1800Post officeThe Bridgton post office opens
  6. 1821Post officeThe North Bridgton post office opens
  7. 1825BuiltFarnsworth House is built
  8. 1829Post officeThe South Bridgton post office opens
  9. 1840Born hereHenry B. Cleaves is born here
  10. 1845Born hereRobert G. Carter is born here
  11. 1855Born hereJohn Ripley Freeman is born here
  12. 1869In the archiveCumberland Mills [?], Cumberland Co., Maine
  13. 1882In the archiveBridgton and Saco River Narrow Gauge Railroad engine No 5 built by Portland Works at the …
  14. 1896On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  15. 20th century
  16. 1919Born hereGeorge D. Libby is born here
  17. 1920In the archiveHartford Residence
  18. 1930In the archiveAerial view, North Bridgton, Maine (91359)
  19. 1955Post officeThe South Bridgton post office closes
Every building

Bridgton, building by building, 1892–1914

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 year, then a sheet.

Bridgton fire insurance map, 1892, sheet 11892Sheet 1 of 4
Edition
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.

Cumberland Mills [?], Cumberland Co., Maine
Retake this viewCumberland Mills [?], Cumberland Co., Maine, c. 1869

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

11 historic places in Bridgton

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

places listed
11
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
13
each building in a district counts
first listed
1975
William F. Perry House
William F. Perry HouseWalker Memorial HallStone HouseSouth Bridgton Congregational ChurchBenjamin Cleaves HouseDavis, Dalton Holmes, Memorial LibraryPeabody-Fitch House, built 1790Wales and Hamblen StoreLt. Robert Andrews HouseJohn and Maria Webb HouseFarnsworth House, built 1825
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Italianate3
Federal3
Second Empire1
Queen Anne1
Gothic1
Classical Revival1
William F. Perry HouseSecond Empire
Walker Memorial HallQueen Anne
Stone HouseBuilding
South Bridgton Congregational ChurchItalianate
Benjamin Cleaves HouseFederal
Davis, Dalton Holmes, Memorial LibraryClassical Revival
Peabody-Fitch HouseFederal · Built 1790
Wales and Hamblen StoreItalianate
All 11 listings
Lt. Robert Andrews HouseBuilding · listed 2005John and Maria Webb HouseBuilding · listed 2013Farnsworth HouseBuilding · listed 1980

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

People over time

Bridgton, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0005,5006,000180018501900195020005,418

Grew from 329 people in 1790 to 5,418 in 2020, more than tenfold.

24 censuses, 1790–2020.

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

Famous people

7 famous people were born in Bridgton

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

See all →
Henry B. CleavesUnion Army officer, politician and lawyer · b. 1840
George D. LibbyUnited States Army Medal of Honor recipient · b. 1919
J
John Ripley FreemanAmerican civil engineer · b. 1855
Robert G. CarterUnited States Army Medal of Honor recipient · b. 1845
J
Jim MainsAmerican baseball player · b. 1922
R
Rip CannellAmerican baseball player · b. 1880
Help out

Finish Bridgton’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 viewCumberland Mills [?], Cumberland Co., M…: 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.

Fryeburg13 historic placesAHarrison3 historic placesA−DenmarkIts storyB−Naples4 historic placesBWaterford2 historic placesASwedenIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Bridgton’s history

What year was Bridgton founded?

In 1779, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Bridgton’s post office opened in 1800, and the first U.S. census counted 329 people here in 1790.

How does Bridgton rank for history?

Bridgton is more historic than 75% of U.S. towns, #92 of 143 in Maine. 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 Bridgton?

11 listings: 10 buildings, among them the William F. Perry House (listed 1975, the first), and 1 historic district, the Peabody-Fitch House, with 3 contributing buildings. 13 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Bridgton?

11% of Bridgton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.4 points), against a typical 19% for a Maine town; the median home was built in 1985.

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 (34), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (11), 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.