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C+History
History · Eddington

13% of Eddington’s homes were built before 1940

More historic than 44% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Its Register listing is the East Eddington Public Hall. Below: maps from 1902 on and the census since 1800.

1on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

About Eddington’s history

How historic is Eddington?

C+

More historic than 44% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Eddington’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Eddington is more historic than 44% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Eddington’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 194012.5% of homes (±6.1) · typical ME town 19.1% · U.S. 8.4%B−National Register1 listing, 4.5 per 10,000 residents · typical ME town 15.9 · U.S. 2.4C+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 44%
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 Eddington’s 4.5 sits below most of its state (27% of Maine towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.1 points).

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 →

What stands out about Eddington’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 Eddington are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1860 and 1930, then grew 4-fold.On the map since 19024 editions of the USGS map, 1902 to 1988. Watch Eddington change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Eddington’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Eddington, census by census

05001,0001,5002,00018001850190019502000856 in 1860Low: 487

Lost a third of its people between 1860 and 1930, then grew 4-fold.

23 censuses, 1800–2020.

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

On the map

Eddington on the map, 1902 to 1988

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

Eddington on the 1902 USGS mapEddington on the 1944 USGS mapEddington on the 1955 USGS mapEddington on the 1988 USGS map1902Orono 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 Eddington.

The story

How Eddington came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Eddington.

Read it all →

The town was founded by and named after Jonathan Eddy, a militia captain in the French and Indian War, a colonel in the American Revolutionary War, and the first magistrate in the area. Eddy and most of the town's other original settlers migrated to the town from Nova Scotia, where they had supported the rebel cause against the majority British Loyalist population. Eddy tried to make Nova Scotia—the 14th American colony—join the revolution by leading the Siege of Fort Cumberland. After the siege failed, Eddy and others emigrated to the District of Maine and were given land grants in present-day Eddington. Later in the war, Eddy successfully defended Maine from a British attack in the Battle of Machias (1777).

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Eddington in 1882

Passages that mention Eddington, cut from the printed page as they were published.

of numerous and prosperous settlement have been well made in Clifton. Most of it, so far, rests along the road which comes from the river road on the Penobscot, at Eddington's Bend, runs through Eddington to Davis Pond, and there makes an angle to the northeastward into Clifton, through which it ru…
History of Penobscot County, Maine1882 · page 291Read the page →
Read the text

of numerous and prosperous settlement have been well made in Clifton. Most of it, so far, rests along the road which comes from the river road on the Penobscot, at Eddington's Bend, runs through Eddington to Davis Pond, and there makes an angle to the northeastward into Clifton, through which it runs in the same general direction to its exit into Hancock county, between the Bradbury Brook Branch and Peaked Mountain. This is

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
14, 1785, tracts of various size on the east side of the Penobscot, in the neighborhood of the head of tidewater. Altogether they made up 9,000 acres and now constitute the major part of the town of Eddington, which is named from Colonel Eddy. The grants were conditioned that each grantee should er…
History of Penobscot County, Maine1882 · page 79Read the page →
Read the text

14, 1785, tracts of various size on the east side of the Penobscot, in the neighborhood of the head of tidewater. Altogether they made up 9,000 acres and now constitute the major part of the town of Eddington, which is named from Colonel Eddy. The grants were conditioned that each grantee should erect a dwelling on his lot within two years after the concession, and that the place should be immediately settled.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The settlement of Eddington had begun five years before the grant to Eddy and his companions. As early as 1780, eleven years after the first settler ajjpeared at Bangor, several families became located on this side of therivcr. .\mongthem were AlexanderandStephen Grant, Daniel Mann, Stephen Buzzell…
History of Penobscot County, Maine1882 · page 335Read the page →
Read the text

The settlement of Eddington had begun five years before the grant to Eddy and his companions. As early as 1780, eleven years after the first settler ajjpeared at Bangor, several families became located on this side of therivcr. .\mongthem were AlexanderandStephen Grant, Daniel Mann, Stephen Buzzell, Jacob Oliver, and P.

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.

Timeline

Eddington, 1800 to 2010

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1800Post officeThe Eddington post office opens
  3. 1840Post officeThe East Eddington post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1902On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1911Born hereNorman Kelley is born here
  7. 1912Post officeThe Eddington post office closes
  8. 21st century
  9. 2010CensusPopulation peaks at 2,225
By decade

Eddington, decade by decade

Today11 recent
Overhead shot of Penobscot Experimental Forest2021Overhead shot of Penobscot Experimental ForestUnusual three wheel motorcycle2018Unusual three wheel motorcycleOld rusty car image 32018Old rusty car image 3Old rusty car image 22018Old rusty car image 2Old rusty car image 12018Old rusty car image 1Old Nash Automobiles2018Old Nash AutomobilesPenobscot River in Winter image 72016Penobscot River in Winter image 7Penobscot River in Winter image 62016Penobscot River in Winter image 6Penobscot River in Winter image 52016Penobscot River in Winter image 5Eddington Salmon Club overlooking Penobscot River in winter2016Eddington Salmon Club overlooking Penobscot River in …CominsHallEddingtonMaine2009CominsHallEddingtonMaine
On the National Register

1 historic place in Eddington

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
2004
East Eddington Public Hall
East Eddington Public Hall
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Late Victorian1
Italianate1
East Eddington Public HallLate Victorian

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Eddington had its own post office from 1800 to 1912.

Eddington
1800–1912
East Eddington
1840–today
18001910today
Hamlets and corners on the map
East Eddington
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Eddington
Blackman RiversideJonathan EddyPine Tree

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.

Holden1 historic placeCVeazieIts storyCOrono11 historic placesABradleyIts storyBBrewer3 historic placesA−Clifton2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townDedham1 historic placeB+

Questions about Eddington’s history

How does Eddington rank for history?

Eddington is more historic than 44% 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.

What is on the National Register in Eddington?

One place: the East Eddington Public Hall (listed 2004).

How old are the homes in Eddington?

13% of Eddington’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.1 points), against a typical 19% for a Maine town; the median home was built in 1979.

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 (11), 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), 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.