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Fort Kent, MainePhoto: Quintin Soloviev · CC BY 4.0
B+History
History · Fort Kent

Fort Kent dates to 1839, and 17% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 72% of U.S. towns · #95 of 143 in Maine. What drives it

3 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Fort Kent, a National Historic Landmark. Below: 8 old photos and papers, maps from 1904 on, and the census since 1870.

1839founded
3on the National Register
17%homes built before 1940
8old photos & papers
4famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Fort Kent’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Fort Kent began

When was Fort Kent founded?

1839

Fort Kent dates its founding to 1839 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1870.

First census: 1,034 in 18702020 census: 4,067187 years

How historic is Fort Kent?

B+

More historic than 72% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1843.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Fort Kent’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Fort Kent is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns, #95 of 143 in Maine. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Fort Kent’s overall grade.
Founding era1839, from Wikipedia: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194016.8% of homes (±6.9) · typical ME town 19.1% · U.S. 8.4%BNational Register3 listings, 7.2 per 10,000 residents · typical ME town 15.9 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 72%
NewerOlder
Maine towns of 2,500+ (143)Ahead of 34%

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 Fort Kent’s 7.2 sits below most of its state (34% of Maine towns have fewer) while its 3 listings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.9 points). Two sources give 1839.

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 →

What stands out about Fort Kent’s past

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

A National Historic Landmark3 places on the National Register, including Fort Kent, a National Historic Landmark.Lost villages6 hamlets and corners are still on the map.Mapped building by building3 fire insurance maps, 1904 to 1917, drew every building in Fort Kent.Deep rootsEstablished in 1839: 187 years of Fort Kent.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

3 historic places in Fort Kent

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.

places listed
3
National Historic Landmark
1
Fort Kent
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts
first listed
1969
Fort Kent
Fort Kent Railroad StationJean-Baptiste Daigle HouseFort Kent★
Buildings★ landmark
★ Landmark
Fort KentBuilding
Fort Kent Railroad StationBuilding
All 3 listings
Jean-Baptiste Daigle HouseBuilding · listed 2013

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

Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Fort Kent’s post office has been open since 1843.

Fort Kent
1843–today
Fort Kent Mills
1906–today
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BradburysFort Kent MillsFort Kent VillageMichigan SettlementPierreViolette Settlement
Gone or out of use
Fort KentmilitaryFort Kent Municipal AirportairportFort Kent Post Officepost officeFort Kent Railroad Stationlocale
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Fort Kent
Christ Church CongregationalOld Saint Louis CatholicSaint Louis

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

Every building

Fort Kent, building by building, 1904–1917

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Fort Kent fire insurance map, 1904, sheet 11904Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

The story

How Fort Kent came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Fort Kent.

Read it all →

Fort Kent was established in the summer of 1839 as an American border outpost. The blockhouse, the first structure built in what is the present-day village of Fort Kent, was named after then-governor of Maine Edward Kent. The Saint John River was a log driving route from upstream forests to downstream sawmills and paper mills until the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad and trucks began transporting pulpwood.

Chapters2008 floodingRelationship with French Canada

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Fort Kent, 1839 to 1997

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1839
    FoundingFort Kent is established
  3. 1843Post officeThe Fort Kent post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1906Post officeThe Fort Kent Mills post office opens
  6. 1923In the archiveFt Kent ME Presby PHS695
  7. 1932On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1940In the archiveFishRiverFortKent
  9. 1965Born hereEllis Paul is born here
  10. 1968Born hereTroy Dale Jackson is born here
  11. 1973In the archiveFort Kent, Fort Kent (Aroostock County, Maine)
  12. 1973LandmarkFort Kent named a National Historic Landmark
  13. 1976Born hereBenjamin Collings is born here
  14. 1997In the archiveThe End Of Route 1
By decade

Fort Kent, decade by decade

4 decades in the archive, from the 1920s to the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1920s–1940s5 items
Ft Kent ME Presby PHS6951923Ft Kent ME Presby PHS695FishRiverFortKent1940FishRiverFortKentFortKentBlockhouse1940FortKentBlockhouseFortKentSchool1940FortKentSchoolDaveJacksonCar1941DaveJacksonCar
1970s–1990s2 items
Fort Kent, Fort Kent (Aroostock County, Maine)1973Fort Kent, Fort Kent (Aroostock County, Maine)The End Of Route 11997The End Of Route 1
Date unknown1 to date
NPS FortKentRRStationDate?NPS FortKentRRStation
Today9 recent
Fort Kent, Maine2026Fort Kent, MaineSaint John River - Fort Kent, Maine, USA - September 25, 20232023Saint John River - Fort Kent, Maine, USA - September …Blockhouse - Fort Kent, Maine, USA - September 25, 2023 022023Blockhouse - Fort Kent, Maine, USA - September 25, 20…Blockhouse - Fort Kent, Maine, USA - September 25, 2023 012023Blockhouse - Fort Kent, Maine, USA - September 25, 20…MEMap-location-of-Fort Kent2017MEMap-location-of-Fort KentLonesome Pines2012Lonesome PinesDowntownFortKent12012DowntownFortKent1Northern Terminus of US Route 12007Northern Terminus of US Route 1Map highlighting2006Map highlightingMap
On the map

Fort Kent on the map, 1932 to 1985

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

Fort Kent on the 1932 USGS mapFort Kent on the 1975 USGS mapFort Kent on the 1985 USGS map1932Fort Kent 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 Fort Kent.

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.

Ft Kent ME Presby PHS695
Retake this viewFt Kent ME Presby PHS695, 1923

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Fort Kent, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5005,0005,5006,00018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 5,363

Between 1,034 and 5,363 people in every census since 1870.

16 censuses, 1870–2020.

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

Famous people

4 famous people were born in Fort Kent

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

See all →
Ellis PaulAmerican singer-songwriter and musician · b. 1965
Troy Dale JacksonAmerican politician · b. 1968
B
Benjamin CollingsAmerican politician from Maine · b. 1976
L
Lucien DaigleAmerican politician
Help out

Finish Fort Kent’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
4 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewFt Kent ME Presby PHS695: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Frenchville1 historic placeC+New CanadaIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townWallagrass1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Fort Kent’s history

What year was Fort Kent founded?

In 1839, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Fort Kent’s post office opened in 1843, and the census of 1870 counted 1,034 people here.

How does Fort Kent rank for history?

Fort Kent is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns, #95 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 Fort Kent?

Three places: the Fort Kent (listed 1969), the Fort Kent Railroad Station (1989) and the Jean-Baptiste Daigle House (2013).

How old are the homes in Fort Kent?

17% of Fort Kent’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.9 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 (17), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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 Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.