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History · Brooklin

Brooklin’s post office opened in 1849, and 32% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Brooklin IOOF Hall. Below: 8 old photos and papers, maps from 1904 on, and the census since 1850.

1849first post office
1on the National Register
32%homes built before 1940
8old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Brooklin’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Brooklin began

When was Brooklin founded?

1849

The Brooklin post office opened in 1849, the earliest record of the town by name. Five smaller post offices, Sedgwick Bay (1829), West Brooklin (1890) and Naskeag (1893), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 1,002 in 18502020 census: 827177 years
Founding year: the first Brooklin post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Brooklin’s past

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

Lost villages5 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Brooklin, and 4 old place names are still on the map.On the map since 19044 editions of the USGS map, 1904 to 1981. Watch Brooklin change.Deep rootsA post office since 1849: 177 years of Brooklin.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Brooklin’s post office has been open since 1849. Five other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Sedgwick Bay
1829–1849
Brooklin
1849–today
North Brooklin
1863–today
West Brooklin
1890–1942
Naskeag
1893–1920
Haven
1894–1956
Flye Point
1910–1921
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
HavenNaskeagNorth BrooklinWest Brooklin
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Brooklin
FreethyMount EphraimOld Birchland

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

On the map

Brooklin on the map, 1904 to 1981

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

Brooklin on the 1904 USGS mapBrooklin on the 1944 USGS mapBrooklin on the 1957 USGS mapBrooklin on the 1981 USGS map1904Blue Hill 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 Brooklin.

Timeline

Brooklin, 1829 to 1915

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1829Post officeThe Sedgwick Bay post office opens
  3. 1849Post officeThe Sedgwick Bay post office closes
  4. 1849Post officeThe Brooklin post office opens
  5. 1863Post officeThe North Brooklin post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1904On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1909In the archiveRedman Cottage, North
  9. 1915In the archiveOld High School
The story

How Brooklin came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Brooklin.

Read it all →

Brooklin was originally part the larger town of Sedgwick. Brooklin broke off and formed its own town in 1849. A few weeks later, the name was changed to Brooklin, after the brook line which separated it from Sedgwick. Using pogie oil as a fertilizer, the difficult soil was made productive, and hay became the principal crop. With excellent harbors, however, the main occupations were fishing and seafaring. By 1859, when the population was 1,002, it also had five boot and shoemaking factories, as well as two barrel manufacturers. By 1886, the town was noted for producing smoked herring in considerable quantities. Canning lobster had also become an important business.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Brooklin, decade by decade

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

1900s–1910s4 items
Redman Cottage, Northc. 1909Redman Cottage, NorthPostcardStreet View1909Street ViewPostcardView at1909View atOld High Schoolc. 1915Old High SchoolPostcard
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 unknown4 to date
Maine Lobster Boat Shepherdess, Bridges Point BoatyardDate?Maine Lobster Boat Shepherdess, Bridges Point BoatyardMaine Lobster Boat Charlena, Residence of Maynard BrayDate?Maine Lobster Boat Charlena, Residence of Maynard BrayMaine Lobster Boat Tranquil C, Bridges Road MarinaDate?Maine Lobster Boat Tranquil C, Bridges Road MarinaMaine Lobster Boat Half A Chance, Bridges Point MarinaDate?Maine Lobster Boat Half A Chance, Bridges Point Marina
Today1 recent
Brooklin Maine town offices image 22018Brooklin Maine town offices image 2
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.

Redman Cottage, North
Retake this viewRedman Cottage, North, c. 1909

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Brooklin

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
1990
Brooklin IOOF Hall
Brooklin IOOF Hall
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Late Victorian1
Second Empire1
Brooklin IOOF HallLate Victorian

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

People over time

Brooklin, census by census

02004006008001,0001850190019502000Peak: 1,046

Between 525 and 1,046 people in every census since 1850.

18 censuses, 1850–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Brooklin

Nobody well known was born in Brooklin itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Nelson RockefellerVice President of the United States from 1974 t… · b. 1908
Charles O. HobaughAmerican astronaut, fighter pilot · b. 1961
Esther RalstonAmerican actress · b. 1902
Tim SylviaAmerican mixed martial artist · b. 1976
Garry DavisAmerican actor turned peace activist · b. 1921
Graham PlatnerAmerican oyster farmer, harbormaster, and polit… · b. 1984
Help out

Start Brooklin’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Brooklin’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 photo4 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewRedman Cottage, North: 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.

Sedgwick2 historic placesADeer Isle6 historic placesATremont5 historic placesAFrenchboro1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSwans Island1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBlue Hill7 historic placesA

Questions about Brooklin’s history

What year was Brooklin founded?

The Brooklin post office opened in 1849, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Brooklin?

One place: the Brooklin IOOF Hall (listed 1990).

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 (5), the Library of Congress (4), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.