On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Falmouth is more historic than 62% of U.S. towns, #110 of 143 in Maine. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Falmouth’s overall grade.
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 Falmouth’s 7.8 sits near the middle of its state (36% of Maine towns have fewer) while its 10 historic buildings outnumber those of 76% 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 (±3.7 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 Falmouth’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Native Americans followed receding glaciers into Maine around 11,000 BCE. At the time of European contact in the sixteenth century, people speaking an eastern dialect of the Abenaki-Pennacook language inhabited present-day Falmouth. In 1614, Captain John Smith observed a local Abenaki-Pennacook band whom he called "Aucocisco" (spelled various) living around western Casco Bay. The regional expert Alvin Morrison chose not call this band "Aucocisco" but simply the "Presumpscot River Wabanaki". Their main summer town was located on the lower Presumpscot, where they grew corn as well as beans and squash. Ten years later, English explorer Christopher Levett met with the Sagamore Skitterygusset at his summer fishing camp at Presumpscot Falls. Their meeting was reported as very positive, however, Levett was unable to return as promised due to unforeseen circumstances.
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.
Falmouth is more historic than 62% of U.S. towns, #110 of 143 in Maine. 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 Falmouth?
8 listings: 8 buildings, among them the Thomas Skelton House (listed 1973, the first). 10 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Falmouth?
14% of Falmouth’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.7 points), against a typical 19% for a Maine town; the median home was built in 1986.
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 (4), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (8), 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.
1782
c. 1910
