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–Not graded
History · Caratunk

Caratunk’s post office opened in 1831, and 23% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1956 on and the census since 1850.

1831first post office
0on the National Register
23%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Caratunk began

When was Caratunk founded?

1831

The Caratunk post office opened in 1831, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1977. Another post office, Pleasant Pond (1915), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 47 in 18502020 census: 81195 years
Founding year: the first Caratunk post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1977.

What stands out about Caratunk’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Caratunk are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 235 in 1910; 81 people lived here in 2020.Deep rootsA post office since 1831: 195 years of Caratunk.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Caratunk’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Caratunk’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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People over time

Caratunk, census by census

01002001850190019502000Peak: 235

Peaked at 235 in 1910; 81 people lived here in 2020.

17 censuses, 1850–2020.

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

Timeline

Caratunk, 1831 to 1956

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1831Post officeThe Caratunk post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1910CensusPopulation peaks at 235
  5. 1915Post officeThe Pleasant Pond post office opens
  6. 1938Post officeThe Pleasant Pond post office closes
  7. 1956On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story so far

Caratunk, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Caratunk yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Caratunk is a town in Somerset County, Maine, United States. The population was 81 at the 2020 census.

Its first post office opened in 1831. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 69 to 81 (+17%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

By decade

Caratunk, decade by decade

Today7 recent
PleasantPondMountain ViewToSugarloaf2022PleasantPondMountain ViewToSugarloafPleasantPondMountain ViewToKineo2022PleasantPondMountain ViewToKineoPleasantPondMountain SummitSign2022PleasantPondMountain SummitSignCaratunkME PossiblyOldTownHall2018CaratunkME PossiblyOldTownHallCaratunkME GreatCarryingPlace2018CaratunkME GreatCarryingPlaceCaratunkME ArnoldExpeditionMarker2018CaratunkME ArnoldExpeditionMarkerAppalachian Trail sign2013Appalachian Trail sign
On the map

Caratunk on the map, 1956 to 1989

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

Caratunk on the 1956 USGS mapCaratunk on the 1989 USGS map1956Bingham 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 Caratunk.

Famous people

Famous people close to Caratunk

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

See all →
Victor A. McKusickAmerican internist and medical geneticist · b. 1921
Abram WilliamsAmerican politician · b. 1832
Edgar Wilson NyeAmerican journalist and humorist · b. 1850
Freeman KnowlesAmerican politician · b. 1846
Louis J. BrannAmerican politician · b. 1876
Mary Louise GraffamChristian missionary · b. 1871
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Caratunk’s post office has been open since 1831. Another post office, Pleasant Pond, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Caratunk
1831–today
Pleasant Pond
1915–1938
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Pleasant Pond
1cemetery inside Caratunk
Caratunk

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

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 townThe Forks plantationIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Caratunk’s history

What year was Caratunk founded?

The Caratunk post office opened in 1831, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1977.

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 (7), 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.