Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 71% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Lucerne Inn. Below: maps from 1900 on and the census since 1840.
Dedham dates its founding to 1810 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1840.
More historic than 71% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Dedham is more historic than 71% of U.S. towns. Its age 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 Dedham’s 6.0 sits below most of its state (29% of Maine towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
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 →
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 Dedham’s history is told.
Lost half of its people between 1850 and 1930, then grew 5-fold.
19 censuses, 1840–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Dedham’s Wikipedia page.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Dedham. 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 Dedham.
From Wikipedia’s history of Dedham.
Dedham, Maine, was named after Dedham, Massachusetts. The town was first settled in 1810 by Nathan Phillips, for whom Phillips Lake is named.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born herePascal Pearl Gilmore is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
The 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.
Dedham had its own post office from 1852 to 1913. Two other post offices 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.
In 1810, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Dedham’s post office opened in 1852, and the census of 1840 counted 455 people here.
Dedham is more historic than 71% 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 Lucerne Inn (listed 1982).
20% of Dedham’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.7 points), against a typical 19% for a Maine town; the median home was built in 1983.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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) 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.
