Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 64% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Morrill Homestead. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1924 on, and the census since 1810.
More historic than 64% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Chesterville is more historic than 64% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Chesterville’s 7.2 sits below most of its state (33% of Maine towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: our sources. 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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Chesterville’s history is told.
Lost half of its people between 1850 and 1960, then more than doubled.
21 censuses, 1810–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Chesterville’s Wikipedia page.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Chesterville. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Chesterville.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Chesterville yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Chesterville is a town in Franklin County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,328 at the 2020 census.
Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 1,352 in 2010, 1,328 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Chesterville, cut from the printed page as they were published.
by adjournment, measures were adopted for erecting a bridge the next year, and a committee was raised for the purpose of meeting a committee representing the town of Chesterville with a view of more clearly defining the proportions of the bridge which the respective towns should build and maintain. This committee from the two towns, mutually agreed and determined "that the boundary line for building a bridge across Sandy River at the falls between said towns
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Chesterville. 55 the stream wholly in Chesterville at the site of this mill. Between the two points above mentioned the stream was made the town line, a few years after the incorporation of Chesterville. This was the second Sawmill erected in this town.
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereSamuel P. Morrill is born here
Born hereH. B. Goodwin is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyThe country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Another post office, North Chesterville, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Chesterville is more historic than 64% of U.S. towns. 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.
One place: the Morrill Homestead (listed 2022).
22% of Chesterville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.3 points), against a typical 19% for a Maine town; the median home was built in 1978.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (9), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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 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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