Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Hodgdon

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
C+History
History · Hodgdon

21% of Hodgdon’s homes were built before 1940

More historic than 40% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: maps from 1938 on and the census since 1840.

0on the National Register
21%homes built before 1940
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: wbaron · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

Where Hodgdon’s name came from

How did Hodgdon get its name?

Hodgdon was named for John Hodgdon, an early proprietor originally from Weare, New Hampshire.

How historic is Hodgdon?

C+

More historic than 40% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Hodgdon’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hodgdon is more historic than 40% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Hodgdon’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 194020.5% of homes (±7.1) · typical ME town 19.1% · U.S. 8.4%B+National RegisterNo listings counted · typical ME town 15.9 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 40%
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 Hodgdon’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 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 (±7.1 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 Hodgdon’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Hodgdon are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Hodgdon’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Hodgdon’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Hodgdon came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Hodgdon.

Read it all →

Hodgdon was incorporated in 1821. It was named for John Hodgdon, an early proprietor originally from Weare, New Hampshire. The town was mainly settled by Scotch-Irish immigrants from Northern Ireland. Hodgdon is located on the Canadian border in Southern Aroostook County. A substantial portion of the Lt. Gordon Manuel Wildlife Management Area, on the South Branch Meduxnekeag River, lies in the southwestern portion of the town in the Hodgdon Mills Village.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Hodgdon, 1858 to 1940

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1858Born hereIra Greenlief Hersey is born here
  3. 1871Born hereGeorge Otis Smith is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1938On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1940Born hereRoger Sherman is born here
By decade

Hodgdon, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Hodgdon ME Westford Hill2023Hodgdon ME Westford HillMEMap-location-of-Hodgdon2017MEMap-location-of-HodgdonHODGDON HIGH SCHOOL SPRING2017HODGDON HIGH SCHOOL SPRINGHodgdon ME Welcome Sign2012Hodgdon ME Welcome SignHodgdon Maine Abandoned Border Station2007Hodgdon Maine Abandoned Border StationLooking across the Valley2002Looking across the Valley
On the map

Hodgdon on the map, 1938 to 1984

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

Hodgdon on the 1938 USGS mapHodgdon on the 1951 USGS mapHodgdon on the 1984 USGS map1938Houlton 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 Hodgdon.

People over time

Hodgdon, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001850190019502000Peak: 1,309

Between 665 and 1,309 people in every census since 1840.

19 censuses, 1840–2020.

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

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Hodgdon

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

See all →
Ira Greenlief HerseyAmerican politician from Maine · b. 1858
George Otis SmithAmerican geologist · b. 1871
R
Roger ShermanMaine Legislator · b. 1940
Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

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

Hamlets and corners on the map
East HodgdonHodgdon CornersJackins Settlement
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Hodgdon
HodgdonUnion Church

Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

LinneusIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHoulton13 historic placesA

Questions about Hodgdon’s history

How does Hodgdon rank for history?

Hodgdon is more historic than 40% 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.

How old are the homes in Hodgdon?

21% of Hodgdon’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.1 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 (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.