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A−History
History · Greenville

23% of Greenville’s homes were built before 1940

More historic than 76% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Its Register listings are the KATAHDIN (Lake Boat) and the William M. Shaw House. Its Register listings are the KATAHDIN (Lake Boat) and the William M. Shaw House. Below: 10 old photos and papers, maps from 1904 on, and the census since 1840.

2on the National Register
23%homes built before 1940
10old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Greenville’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

About Greenville’s history

How historic is Greenville?

A−

More historic than 76% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Greenville’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Greenville is more historic than 76% of U.S. towns. All 2 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.

A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Greenville’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 194023.3% of homes (±5.3) · typical ME town 19.1% · U.S. 8.4%A−National Register2 listings, 14.8 per 10,000 residents · typical ME town 15.9 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 76%
NewerOlder

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 Greenville’s 14.8 sits near the middle of its state (51% of Maine towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% 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 (±5.3 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 Greenville’s past

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

Boom and bustPeaked at 2,025 in 1960; 1,437 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · People over time

Greenville, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0001850190019502000Peak: 2,025

Peaked at 2,025 in 1960; 1,437 people lived here in 2020.

19 censuses, 1840–2020.

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

The story

How Greenville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Greenville.

Read it all →

First called T9 R10 NWP (or Township 9, Range 10, North of the Waldo Patent), the land was granted about 1812 by the Massachusetts General Court to Thornton Academy in Saco. In 1824, Nathaniel Haskell of Westbrook bought the Thornton Academy Grant. With Oliver Young and John Smith, he began clearing trees that summer for farming near Wilson Pond, where the Wilson Stream would provide water power for mills.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Greenville, 1887 to 1960

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1887Post officeThe Greenville Junction post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1900In the archiveMoosehead Lake
  5. 1914BuiltKATAHDIN (Lake Boat) is built
  6. 1914In the archiveVeneer Products Co
  7. 1951On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1960CensusPopulation peaks at 2,025
By decade

Greenville, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s9 items
Moosehead Lake1900Moosehead LakeMoosehead Lake from Indian Hill1900Moosehead Lake from Indian HillMoosehead Lake from Blair's Hill1900Moosehead Lake from Blair's HillSquaw Mountain from Blair's Hill, Moosehead Lake1900Squaw Mountain from Blair's Hill, Moosehead LakeFirst view, Moosehead Lake1900First view, Moosehead LakeSquaw Mts., Moosehead Lake1900Squaw Mts., Moosehead LakeUnion Churchc. 1906Union ChurchPostcardPanorama1907PanoramaPostcardMoosehead Inn, Greenville Junction, ME1908Moosehead Inn, Greenville Junction, MEPostcard
1910s1 item
Veneer Products Co1914Veneer Products CoPostcard
1920s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today13 recent
Big Moose Mountain Lookout Tower, with replica fire warden cabin, at Moosehead Lake Region Visitor Center2024Big Moose Mountain Lookout Tower, with replica fire w…20240912-USDA-RD-ME-SDS-CADeanHospital-0010-perspective edited202420240912-USDA-RD-ME-SDS-CADeanHospital-0010-perspecti…GreenvilleME UnionChurch2022GreenvilleME UnionChurchGreenvilleME ShawMemorialLibrary2022GreenvilleME ShawMemorialLibraryGreenvilleME ShawBlock2022GreenvilleME ShawBlockGreenvilleME School2022GreenvilleME SchoolGreenvilleME PeoplesUMC2022GreenvilleME PeoplesUMCGreenvilleME MasonicLodge2022GreenvilleME MasonicLodgeGreeting from Greenville, Maine - Large Letter Postcard2016Greeting from Greenville, Maine - Large Letter Postca…DocumentCenter for Moosehead History2014Center for Moosehead HistoryA church in2008A church inA church in2008A church inElephant Mountain B522006Elephant Mountain B52
On the map

Greenville on the map, 1951 to 1989

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

Greenville on the 1951 USGS mapGreenville on the 1977 USGS mapGreenville on the 1989 USGS map1951Greenville 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 Greenville.

Every building

Greenville, building by building, 1904–1911

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.

Greenville fire insurance map, 1904, sheet 11904Sheet 1 of 3
Edition
BrickWoodStone

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

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.

Moosehead Lake
Retake this viewMoosehead Lake, 1900

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Greenville

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1978
KATAHDIN (Lake Boat)
KATAHDIN (Lake Boat), built 1914William M. Shaw House
BuildingsStructures
KATAHDIN (Lake Boat)Built 1914
William M. Shaw HouseBuilding

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Greenville

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

See all →
Hiram Stevens MaximAmerican-born inventor · b. 1840
C
Corey BeaulieuAmerican guitarist · b. 1983
Victor A. McKusickAmerican internist and medical geneticist · b. 1921
Ralph Owen BrewsterAmerican politician · b. 1888
Edgar Wilson NyeAmerican journalist and humorist · b. 1850
Freeman KnowlesAmerican politician · b. 1846
Places that used to be

Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Greenville JunctionMorkillThe Highlands
Gone or out of use
Greenville Post Officepost office
1cemetery inside Greenville
Greenville

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

Help out

Finish Greenville’s story

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewMoosehead Lake: 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.

Beaver CoveIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townShirleyIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Greenville’s history

How does Greenville rank for history?

Greenville is more historic than 76% 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.

What is on the National Register in Greenville?

Two places: the KATAHDIN (Lake Boat) (listed 1978) and the William M. Shaw House (2013).

How old are the homes in Greenville?

23% of Greenville’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.3 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), the Library of Congress (6), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, 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.