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CHistory
History · Hebron

Hebron’s post office opened in 1911, and 14% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 30% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Sturtevant Hall. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1908 on, and the census since 1800.

1911first post office
1on the National Register
14%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Hebron’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Hebron began, and where its name came from

When was Hebron founded?

1911

The Hebron post office opened in 1911, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Hebron Station (1891) and Greenwood Mountains (1918), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 981 in 18002020 census: 1,223115 years

How did Hebron get its name?

Hebron was named Shepardsfield Plantation, although early inhabitants called it Bog Brook Plantation.

How historic is Hebron?

C

More historic than 30% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Hebron post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Hebron’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hebron is more historic than 30% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Hebron’s overall grade.
Founding era1911, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 194014.0% of homes (±4.8) · typical ME town 19.1% · U.S. 8.4%BNational Register1 listing, 9.0 per 10,000 residents · typical ME town 15.9 · U.S. 2.4C+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 30%
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 Hebron’s 9.0 sits near the middle of its state (38% of Maine towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.8 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 Hebron’s past

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

Shrank, then grewLost two-thirds of its people between 1820 and 1960, then more than doubled.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Hebron.On the map since 19084 editions of the USGS map, 1908 to 1980. Watch Hebron change.
★ What stands out · People over time

Hebron, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,6001,800180018501900195020001,727 in 1820Low: 465

Lost two-thirds of its people between 1820 and 1960, then more than doubled.

23 censuses, 1800–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and burying grounds

Hebron’s post office has been open since 1911. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hebron Station
1891–1936
Hebron
1911–today
Greenwood Mountains
1918–1959
18901960today
8cemeteries and burying grounds inside Hebron
Asa BearceBog BrookBryant RecordChurchyardFarris - WhitmanGreenwood MountainMaple RidgeMerrill Hill

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

On the map

Hebron on the map, 1908 to 1980

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

Hebron on the 1908 USGS mapHebron on the 1940 USGS mapHebron on the 1956 USGS mapHebron on the 1980 USGS map1908Poland 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 Hebron.

The story

How Hebron came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Hebron.

Read it all →

It was granted on March 8, 1777, by the Massachusetts General Court to Alexander Shepard, Jr. of Newton, Massachusetts as payment for a survey chart of the Maine coast that he had assisted making. It was named Shepardsfield Plantation, although early inhabitants called it Bog Brook Plantation. There was a farm settled in 1764 on what is now Sodom Road in Hebron before the Revolution and the grant to Alexander Shepard Jr. The first settlers of Shepardsfield Plantation were Captain Daniel Buckman and his family in 1778. Others followed, many fresh from the battlefields of the Revolutionary War. On February 27, 1829, Hebron's southwestern half was set off and incorporated as the town of Oxford.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Hebron, 1788 to 1959

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1788Born hereAlbion Parris is born here
  3. 19th century
  4. 1808In the archiveTrustees of Hebron Academy to John Read and William Smith, 29 August 1808 - DPLA - 207539…
  5. 1820CensusPopulation peaks at 1,727
  6. 1836Born hereOscar Dana Allen is born here
  7. 1891Post officeThe Hebron Station post office opens
  8. 20th century
  9. 1905In the archiveMountain View Cottage
  10. 1908On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  11. 1911Post officeThe Hebron post office opens
  12. 1918Post officeThe Greenwood Mountains post office opens
  13. 1936Post officeThe Hebron Station post office closes
  14. 1959Post officeThe Greenwood Mountains post office closes
By decade

Hebron, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1800s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1800s2 items
Trustees of Hebron Academy to John Read and William Smith, 29 August 1808 - DPLA - 20753945334d854f5baeecb7aa5914f6 (pa…1808Trustees of Hebron Academy to John Read and William S…DocumentTrustees of Hebron Academy to John Read and William Smith, 29 August 1808 - DPLA - 20753945334d854f5baeecb7aa5914f6 (pa…1808Trustees of Hebron Academy to John Read and William S…Document
1900s3 items
Mountain View Cottagec. 1905Mountain View CottagePostcardSturtevant Hall, Hebron Academy, ME1907Sturtevant Hall, Hebron Academy, MEPostcardSturtevant Home, Hebron Academy, ME1907Sturtevant Home, Hebron Academy, MEPostcard
1910s–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
Today4 recent
Moses Snell Homestead formerly Rogers Decoster Farm2018Moses Snell Homestead formerly Rogers Decoster FarmNew England Autumn2009New England AutumnNew England Autumn2009New England AutumnNew England Autumn2009New England Autumn
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.

Mountain View Cottage
Retake this viewMountain View Cottage, c. 1905

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Hebron

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1977
Sturtevant Hall
Sturtevant Hall
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Romanesque Revival1
Colonial Revival1
Sturtevant HallRomanesque Revival

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Hebron

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Albion ParrisAmerican politician · b. 1788
Oscar Dana AllenAmerican amateur botanist and professor of anal… · b. 1836
Help out

Finish Hebron’s story

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewMountain View Cottage: 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.

Oxford2 historic placesBParis8 historic placesABuckfield5 historic placesAMinotIts storyC−

Questions about Hebron’s history

What year was Hebron founded?

The Hebron post office opened in 1911, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Hebron rank for history?

Hebron is more historic than 30% 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 Hebron?

One place: the Sturtevant Hall (listed 1977).

How old are the homes in Hebron?

14% of Hebron’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.8 points), against a typical 19% for a Maine town; the median home was built in 1987.

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 (9), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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) 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.