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B−History
History · Denmark

Denmark dates to 1807, and 15% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 52% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1910 on, and the census since 1810.

1807founded
0on the National Register
15%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Denmark’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Denmark began

When was Denmark founded?

1807

Denmark dates its founding to 1807 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1810.

First census: 436 in 18102020 census: 1,197219 years

How historic is Denmark?

B−

More historic than 52% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1819.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Denmark’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Denmark is more historic than 52% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Denmark’s overall grade.
Founding era1807, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194015.3% of homes (±5.0) · typical ME town 19.1% · U.S. 8.4%BNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical ME town 15.9 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 52%
NewerOlder

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 Denmark’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (10% of Maine towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.0 points). Two sources give 1807.

Founding year: Wikidata (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 Denmark’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost two-thirds of its people between 1850 and 1960, then grew 3-fold.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Denmark, and 4 old place names are still on the map.Old burying grounds21 cemeteries and burying grounds inside Denmark.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Denmark’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewWyonegonic Camps: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Denmark, census by census

02004006008001,0001,20018501900195020001,203 in 1850Low: 376

Lost two-thirds of its people between 1850 and 1960, then grew 3-fold.

22 censuses, 1810–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Denmark’s post office has been open since 1819. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Denmark
1819–today
East Denmark
1877–1922
West Denmark
1889–1900
18101920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
East DenmarkHeads CornerLiberty CornerWest Denmark
21cemeteries and burying grounds inside Denmark
BeanBerryBlaisdellDeeringFessenden and IngallsGilmanGoodwinHarndenHeadHiltonHoltLowellMerrifieldMount PleasantPingree and BerryPingreeRobertsSchoolhouseThomasTrumbullWalker
See all 21

Bean Cemetery · Berry Cemetery · Blaisdell Cemetery · Deering Cemetery · Fessenden and Ingalls Cemetery · Gilman Cemetery · Goodwin Cemetery · Harnden Cemetery · Head Cemetery · Hilton Cemetery · Holt Cemetery · Lowell Cemetery · Merrifield Cemetery · Mount Pleasant Cemetery · Pingree and Berry Cemetery · Pingree Cemetery · Roberts Cemetery · Schoolhouse Cemetery · Thomas Cemetery · Trumbull Cemetery · Walker Cemetery

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

The story

How Denmark came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Denmark.

Read it all →

The land was once part of Pequawket (now Fryeburg), village of the Sokokis Abenaki Indians. Attacked by Captain John Lovewell in 1725 during Dummer's War, the tribe abandoned the area and fled to Canada. The township combined a grant made by the Massachusetts General Court to Fryeburg Academy, Foster's Gore and a strip from Brownfield. Several settlers came from Andover, Massachusetts. It was incorporated as Denmark on February 20, 1807 in the state of Massachusetts. Residents proposed several names and at the incorporation ceremony in the legislature, the governor selected Denmark as the official name. At present time, the reasons behind the name has become unclear, despite speculation. The town is not a Danish community.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Denmark, 1807 to 1922

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1807
    FoundingDenmark is established
  3. 1818Born hereRufus Ingalls is born here
  4. 1819Post officeThe Denmark post office opens
  5. 1827Born hereNathaniel Cobb Deering is born here
  6. 1840Born hereHazen S. Pingree is born here
  7. 1850CensusPopulation peaks at 1,203
  8. 1877Post officeThe East Denmark post office opens
  9. 1889Post officeThe West Denmark post office opens
  10. 20th century
  11. 1900Post officeThe West Denmark post office closes
  12. 1910On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  13. 1914In the archiveWyonegonic Camps
  14. 1922Post officeThe East Denmark post office closes
By decade

Denmark, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s1 item
Wyonegonic Camps1914Wyonegonic Camps
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
Today7 recent
Denmark Arts Center on Christmas Eve2025Denmark Arts Center on Christmas EveA farmer near Denmark, Maine, has arranged pumpkins for sale, a sure sign of approaching fall, near his or her barn. Th…2017A farmer near Denmark, Maine, has arranged pumpkins f…A farmer near Denmark, Maine, has arranged pumpkins for sale, a sure sign of approaching fall, near his or her barn. Th…2017A farmer near Denmark, Maine, has arranged pumpkins f…Pleasant Mountain View2009Pleasant Mountain ViewDenmark Municipal Building2008Denmark Municipal BuildingDenmark Fire Station2008Denmark Fire StationCivil War Monument2008Civil War Monument
On the map

Denmark on the map, 1910 to 1964

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

Denmark on the 1910 USGS mapDenmark on the 1964 USGS map1910Kezar Falls 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 Denmark.

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.

Wyonegonic Camps
Retake this viewWyonegonic Camps, 1914

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

3 famous people were born in Denmark

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

See all →
Hazen S. PingreeUnion Army soldier and politician · b. 1840
Rufus IngallsUnion Army general · b. 1818
Nathaniel Cobb DeeringAmerican politician · b. 1827
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

BrownfieldIts storyC+Bridgton11 historic placesB+Fryeburg13 historic placesASebago2 historic placesB+Hiram4 historic placesA

Questions about Denmark’s history

What year was Denmark founded?

In 1807, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Denmark’s post office opened in 1819, and the census of 1810 counted 436 people here.

How does Denmark rank for history?

Denmark is more historic than 52% 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.

How old are the homes in Denmark?

15% of Denmark’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.0 points), against a typical 19% for a Maine town; the median home was built in 1980.

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 (6), the Library of Congress (2), 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.