Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 52% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1904 on, and the census since 1810.
Friendship dates its founding to 1762 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1810.
More historic than 52% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Friendship is more historic than 52% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Friendship’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.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Friendship’s history is told.
Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Friendship. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Friendship.
From Wikipedia’s history of Friendship.
Part of the Waldo Patent, what is now Friendship was first settled in 1743. A garrison was built on what is now Garrison Island, which is connected to the mainland at low tide. By 1754, 22 families lived in Meduncook, most taking shelter within the garrison when the French and Indian War broke out.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Friendship, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The town of Friendship is one of the prettiest in Maine. The public and private buildings are, for the most part, in excellent condition, many being of modern style and with pleasant surroundings. The farms are looking thrifty and traders can*}' an excellent line of goods which is an indication of prosperity. There are t\yo daily stage lines from the village; one going to Waldoboro
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
He received his education in a log schoolhouse at what is known as Goose River in Friendship, which was the only institution of learning in that almost solitary wilderness, where the bear and wolf often blocked his pathway to and from the schoolhouse.
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.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereAllen Alexander Bradford is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveLobster pier, Friendship Harbor, MaineOne decade in the archive so far: the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
2014Friendship, Maine
2014Friendship, Maine
2014Friendship, Maine
2014Friendship, Maine
2014Friendship, Maine
2014Friendship, Maine
2014Friendship, Maine
2014Friendship, Maine
2014Friendship, Maine
2014Friendship, Maine
2014Friendship, Maine
2014Friendship, Maine
2014Friendship, Maine
2014Friendship, Maine
2014Friendship, Maine
2014Friendship, Maine
2012Sunset InNo then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Friendship’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 480 and 1,204 people in every census since 1810.
22 censuses, 1810–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Friendship’s Wikipedia page.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1762, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Friendship’s post office opened in 1877, and the census of 1810 counted 480 people here.
Friendship 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.
30% of Friendship’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.0 points), against a typical 19% for a Maine town; the median home was built in 1973.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (18), 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.
