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History · Frenchboro

Frenchboro’s post office opened in 1892, and 30% of its homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 4 buildings. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1904 on, and the census since 1820.

1892first post office
1on the National Register
30%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Frenchboro’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Frenchboro began

When was Frenchboro founded?

1892

The Frenchboro post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 19 in 18202020 census: 29134 years
Founding year: the first Frenchboro post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Frenchboro’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 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 197 in 1910; 29 people lived here in 2020.On the map since 19043 editions of the USGS map, 1904 to 1983. Watch Frenchboro change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Frenchboro’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo2 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewGreat Duck Island Light Station, At sou…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Frenchboro, census by census

01002001850190019502000Peak: 197

Peaked at 197 in 1910; 29 people lived here in 2020.

21 censuses, 1820–2020.

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

On the map

Frenchboro on the map, 1904 to 1983

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

Frenchboro on the 1904 USGS mapFrenchboro on the 1943 USGS mapFrenchboro on the 1983 USGS map1904Swan Island 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 Frenchboro.

The story so far

Frenchboro, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Frenchboro yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Frenchboro is a town in Hancock County, Maine, United States, and a village within this town located on Long Island, southeast of Swans Island. The population was 29 at the 2020 census. The town is accessible by state ferry service from Bass Harbor.

Its first post office opened in 1892. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 61 to 29 (-52%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Frenchboro, 1890 to 1910

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1890BuiltGreat Duck Island Light Station is built
  3. 1892Post officeThe Frenchboro post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1904On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1910CensusPopulation peaks at 197
By decade

Frenchboro, decade by decade

Date unknown2 to date
Great Duck Island Light Station, At southern tip of Great Duck Island southeast of Bass Harbor & northeast of FrenchboroDate?Great Duck Island Light Station, At southern tip of G…Mount Desert Rock Light Station, Twenty miles south of Mount Desert IslandDate?Mount Desert Rock Light Station, Twenty miles south o…
Today2 recent
Frenchboro Maine 2013-07-252013Frenchboro Maine 2013-07-25Mount Desert Rock Light2006Mount Desert Rock Light
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.

Great Duck Island Light Station, At southern tip of Great Duck Island southeast of Bass Harbor & northeast of Frenchboro
Retake this viewGreat Duck Island Light Station, At southern tip of Great Duck Island southeast of Bass Harbor & northeast of Frenchboro

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 listing protects 4 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
4
each building in a district counts
first listed
1988
Great Duck Island Light Station
Great Duck Island Light Station, built 1890
Districts

Architectural styles listings

Light Station1
Great Duck Island Light StationLight Station · Built 1890

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Frenchboro

Nobody well known was born in Frenchboro itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Nelson RockefellerVice President of the United States from 1974 t… · b. 1908
Charles O. HobaughAmerican astronaut, fighter pilot · b. 1961
Katie AseltonAmerican actress · b. 1978
Esther RalstonAmerican actress · b. 1902
Tim SylviaAmerican mixed martial artist · b. 1976
Garry DavisAmerican actor turned peace activist · b. 1921
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Swans Island1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townTremont5 historic placesACranberry Isles3 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBrooklin1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSouthwest Harbor4 historic placesA

Questions about Frenchboro’s history

What year was Frenchboro founded?

The Frenchboro post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Frenchboro?

One place: the Great Duck Island Light Station (listed 1988).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (2), the Library of Congress (2), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.