More historic than 32% of U.S. towns · #139 of 143 in Maine. What drives it
Most of Glenburn was built recently: 3% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1989. Below: maps from 1902 on and the census since 1830.
The Glenburn post office opened in 1840, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, West Glenburn (1841), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 443 in 18302020 census: 4,648186 years
How historic is Glenburn?
C
More historic than 32% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Glenburn post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Glenburn’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Glenburn is more historic than 32% of U.S. towns, #139 of 143 in Maine. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Glenburn’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 Glenburn’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.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.5 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Glenburn’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost half of its people between 1850 and 1930, then grew more than tenfold.
20 censuses, 1830–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Glenburn’s Wikipedia page.
On the map
Glenburn on the map, 1902 to 1977
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Glenburn. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1902Bangor 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 Glenburn.
The story so far
Glenburn, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Glenburn yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Glenburn is a town in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. The population was 4,648 at the 2020 census. When originally incorporated in 1822, it was called "Dutton" in honor of Bangor's Samuel Dutton, a judge and founder of the Bangor Theological Seminary. It was renamed the Town of Glenburn on March 18, 1837.
Its first post office opened in 1840. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 4,594 in 2010, 4,648 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Glenburn in 1882
Passages that mention Glenburn, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Penobscot County, Maine1882 · page 360Read the page →
Read the text
two uniting at West Glenburn, crossing the Kenduskeag, and following up its left bank to the Kenduskeag postoffice. At School No. I, midway between West Glenburn and the town line, the westernmost of these roads pushes off a highway due west and then northwest into Levant, from which a short road, with School No. 7 and a cemetery upon it, connects with another diagonal line crossing almost at the extreme southwest corner of Glen-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Penobscot County, Maine1882 · page 306Read the page →
Read the text
Charleston south to the Town House, and the junction of this with the road to Corinth post-office, whence it runs southeasterly through South Corinth and into Kenduskeag, and thence to Glenburn and Bangor, Schools No. 4, s, 6, 15, and 1 7 are upon this road, the last a mile from the southeast corner of the town, No. 15 at East Corinth, No. 5 a little above, No. 4 a third of a mile below the Town House, and No. 6 near South Corinth post-office. At
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Penobscot County, Maine1882 · page 379Read the page →
Read the text
Another road from the station crosses the Sowadabscook here, and goes northeast to and through Hermon village to a road from Bangor to Glenburn, across the northeast mgle of the town, where, at a [joint a little below North Hermon post-office, it ends. Another partial diagonal j)f the town, passing to the northwest from two branches Starting respectively from Hampden and Bangor, and Jniting something more than a mile from the south and
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
Glenburn, 1840 to 2020
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Glenburn post office opened in 1840, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Glenburn rank for history?
Glenburn is more historic than 32% of U.S. towns, #139 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.
How old are the homes in Glenburn?
3% of Glenburn’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.5 points), against a typical 19% for a Maine town; the median home was built in 1989.
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 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.
