Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Islesboro

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
–Not graded
History · Islesboro

Islesboro’s post office opened in 1834, and 38% of its homes were built before 1940

7 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 2 old photos and papers from 1891 on.

1834first post office
7on the National Register
38%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Islesboro’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Islesboro began

When was Islesboro founded?

1834

The Islesboro post office opened in 1834, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, North Islesboro (1854), Dark Harbor (1895) and Pripet (1915), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 583192 years
Founding year: the first Islesboro post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Islesboro’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Islesboro, and 3 old place names are still on the map.Landmarks on the Register7 places on the National Register.Deep rootsA post office since 1834: 192 years of Islesboro.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Islesboro’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewA bit of Islesboro, Me. - Louis K. Harl…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Islesboro’s post office has been open since 1834. Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Islesboro
1834–today
North Islesboro
1854–1945
Dark Harbor
1895–1966
Pripet
1915–1952
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Dark HarborNorth IslesboroPripet
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Islesboro
BayviewMaple Grove

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

On the National Register

7 historic places in Islesboro

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

places listed
7
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
8
each building in a district counts
first listed
1985
Drexel Estate
Grindle Point Light Station, built 1850Drexel Estate, built 1903Philler Cottage, built 1894Free Will Baptist Church and CemeteryIslesboro Free LibraryGeorge S. Tiffany Cottage, built 1911Dark Harbor Shop
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Colonial Revival2
Georgian Revival1
Greek Revival1
Late 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements1
Prairie School1
Grindle Point Light StationBuilt 1850
All 7 listings
Drexel EstateBuilding · listed 1985Philler CottageBuilding · listed 1985Free Will Baptist Church and CemeteryBuilding · listed 1988Islesboro Free LibraryBuilding · listed 1989George S. Tiffany CottageBuilding · listed 1989Dark Harbor ShopBuilding · listed 2017

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

The story

How Islesboro came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Islesboro.

Read it all →

The Penobscot people called it Pitaubegwimenahanuk, meaning "the island that lies between two channels", although André Thevet recorded the name Aiayascon in 1556. It was part of the Waldo Patent. First called Long Island Plantation, it was settled in 1769. It was incorporated as Islesborough on January 28, 1789, although over time the spelling was contracted to Islesboro.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Islesboro, 1834 to 1966

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1834Post officeThe Islesboro post office opens
  3. 1850BuiltGrindle Point Light Station is built
  4. 1854Post officeThe North Islesboro post office opens
  5. 1891In the archiveA bit of Islesboro, Me. - Louis K. Harlow ; by Louis K. Harlow
  6. 1894BuiltPhiller Cottage is built
  7. 1895Post officeThe Dark Harbor post office opens
  8. 20th century
  9. 1903BuiltDrexel Estate is built
  10. 1911BuiltGeorge S. Tiffany Cottage is built
  11. 1945Post officeThe North Islesboro post office closes
  12. 1966Post officeThe Dark Harbor post office closes
By decade

Islesboro, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1890s2 items
A bit of Islesboro, Me. - Louis K. Harlow ; by Louis K. Harlow1891A bit of Islesboro, Me. - Louis K. Harlow ; by Louis …A bit of Islesboro, Me1891A bit of Islesboro, Me
1900s–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
Today1 recent
Pendleton Point2003Pendleton Point
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.

A bit of Islesboro, Me. - Louis K. Harlow ; by Louis K. Harlow
Retake this viewA bit of Islesboro, Me. - Louis K. Harlow ; by Louis K. Harlow, 1891

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

Retake this view · +15
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Northport2 historic placesA+Deer Isle6 historic placesABrooksville3 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCastine7 historic placesA+Searsport12 historic placesALincolnville3 historic placesBNorth Haven2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCamden18 historic placesA+

Questions about Islesboro’s history

What year was Islesboro founded?

The Islesboro post office opened in 1834, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Islesboro?

7 listings: 7 buildings, among them the Drexel Estate (listed 1985, the first). 8 historic buildings in all.

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (2), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (7), 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.