Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 79% of U.S. towns · #81 of 143 in Maine. What drives it
5 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1900 on, and the census since 1800.
Hampden dates its founding to 1767 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1800.
More historic than 79% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hampden is more historic than 79% of U.S. towns, #81 of 143 in Maine. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
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 Hampden’s 7.6 sits below most of its state (35% of Maine towns have fewer) while its 6 historic buildings outnumber those of 72% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: Wikidata (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.
Hampden’s post office has been open since 1800. Five 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).
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Hampden’s history is told.
Lost a third of its people between 1850 and 1900, then grew 3-fold.
23 censuses, 1800–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Hampden’s Wikipedia page.
From Wikipedia’s history of Hampden.
The town was originally called Wheelersborough after its original settler, Benjamin Wheeler. It was incorporated on February 24, 1794, and named after the English patriot John Hampden.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Hampden, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The father 0/ John Hampden was known as "William Hampden of Hampden." This indicates that Hampden was already a geographical name among Englishspeaking people. There are, in fact, a "Great Hampden" and "Little Hampden" in England — both in Bucks county, in the south of the island, near London, and a part of the ancient Mercia of the Roman period.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
This town is the best supplied with post-offices of any in the county. On the river-road, beginning with East Hampden post-office at the northeast corner, are Hampden post-office, two and one-half miles below, and Hampden Corners, only about a mile further. In the interior are West Hampden post-office, near Stetson Pond, also the Neally's Corners and Hampden Centre offices. The settlement along the river-road, which
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
This town is the best supplied with post-offices of any in the county. O.i ths rivjr-road, beginning with East Hampden i)Ostofiice at the northeast corner, are Hampden post-office, two and one-half miles below, and Hampden Corner-;, only about a mile fuither. In the interior are West Hampden post-office, near Stetson Pond, also the Neally's Corners and Hampden Centre offices. Tlic settlement along the river-road, which
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
HAMPDEN'S HOME, The father of John Hampden was known as ''William Hampden of Hampden." This indicates that Hampden was already a geographical name among Englishspeaking people. There are, in fact, a " Great Hampden " and " Little Hampden " in England— both in Bucks county, in the south of the island, near London; and a part of the ancient Mercia of the Roman period,
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.
In the archivePlan of Hampden, Me., surveyor's name not given, dated May 16, 1795. - DPLA - 0cc44187548…
Born hereDorothea Dix is born here
BuiltHampden Academy is built
Born hereJames S. Brown is born here
Born hereHiram Knowles is born here
Born hereThompson H. Murch is born here
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveSterns Sawmill, below Bangor, ME
In the archiveSteamer in the Hampden Narrows, Penobscot River, ME3 decades in the archive, from the 1790s to the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Hampden. 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 Hampden.
No 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 Hampden’s page.
Retake this view · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1767, according to Wikidata. Hampden’s post office opened in 1800, and the census of 1800 counted 904 people here.
Hampden is more historic than 79% of U.S. towns, #81 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.
5 listings: 5 buildings, among them the Hampden Academy (listed 1975, the first). 6 historic buildings in all.
12% of Hampden’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.0 points), against a typical 19% for a Maine town; the median home was built in 1982.
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 (4), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (5), 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.
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