Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 97% of U.S. towns · #15 of 143 in Maine. What drives it
16 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Lady Pepperrell House, a National Historic Landmark, and three historic districts with 73 buildings between them. Below: 29 old photos and papers, maps from 1893 on, and the census since 1790.
Kittery dates its founding to 1632 (Wikidata). It appears in the first U.S. census, 1790.
More historic than 97% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Kittery is more historic than 97% of U.S. towns, #15 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 Kittery’s 85.0 sits above most of its state (84% of Maine towns have fewer) while its 89 historic buildings outnumber those of 89% 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.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
★ Landmark
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
7 decades in the archive, from the 1800s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
18931893 U. S. Geological Survey Map of Portsmouth HarborMap![Kittery Navy Yard [i.e. Portsmouth Navy Yard], Maine](https://images.townratings.com/story/23544/eb01af97fe192b7981a5-s.jpg)
1900Kittery Navy Yard [i.e. Portsmouth Navy Yard], Maine
1900Whipple House![[Portsmouth] Navy Yard](https://images.townratings.com/story/23544/8ef07f8f7822b9a4411b-s.jpg)
1900[Portsmouth] Navy Yard![Goverment [i.e. Government] Street](https://images.townratings.com/story/23544/55e05cad6e271b160708-s.jpg)
1900Goverment [i.e. Government] Street
1901Kittery Navy Yard, Maine [i.e. Portsmouth Navy Yard
1903Structures on shore at William Dean Howells' summer e…
1903Structures on shore at William Dean Howells' summer e…
1903Prison ship Southery, Portsmouth Navy Yard
c. 1905Sir William Pepperrell HousePostcard
1905Portsmouth and the Navy Yard from Hotel Wentworth, Ne…
1907Navy yard from Pierce's Island, Portsmouth, N.H. [i.e…
c. 1908Navy Yard BridgePostcard
c. 1908Old Block House, Kittery Point, MEPostcard
1908Piscataqua River and naval prison, Portsmouth, N.H. […
1908Dry dock, Portsmouth Navy Yard
1908Main office bldg., Portsmouth Navy Yard
1908Doorway and tablet, Peace Conference bldg., Portsmout…Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereWilliam Whipple is born here
Born hereJeremiah O'Brien is born here
In the archiveWilliam Badger by James FrothinghamBuiltFort McClary is built
BuiltWhaleback Light Station is built
BuiltMark F. and Eliza J. Wentworth House is builtIn the archive1893 U. S. Geological Survey Map of Portsmouth Harbor
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyIn the archiveKittery Navy Yard [i.e. Portsmouth Navy Yard], Maine
In the archiveGovernment Street
In the archiveFraternal Building
In the archiveMemorial Bridge between Portsmouth, N.H. and Kittery, Me (89667)
Born hereDennis C. Blair is born here
Born hereJohn O'Hurley is born hereFrom Wikipedia’s history of Kittery.
English settlement around the natural harbor of the Piscataqua River estuary began about 1623. By 1632 the community was protected by Fort William and Mary on today's New Hampshire side of the river; in 1689 defensive works that later became Fort McClary in Kittery Point were added on today's Maine side to the north.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Kittery, cut from the printed page as they were published.
John Wincoll, Sui'veigh^" The next grant to him was made in 1694 and laid out in 1697, according to the following copy of the record : — '* Kittery Decemb'' the 7'^ 1697 Measured and laid out unto Sarg' Joseph \Vilson his ten acres of land granted unto him by the town of Kittery May ye 16 1694 bounded by Cap'" Fernalds line East and West thirty six pole and on the West Side with
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
were laid out encroaching upon former town grants, and the phrase, " laid out foul before and now relaid out," is often met in the old town records. The following is an example : ^ "Kittery December 13 1740. Then laid out unto Joseph Wilson one acre of land by virtue of a grant granted to him Mar the lo'f' 1703 being part of said grant one half of said acre was laid out foul of Hutchins land by Daniel Emery Suiy"". and it
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Berwick was incorporated the ninth town in Maine, June 9, 1713, and then included Berwick and North and South Berwick. It was previously a parish of Kittery, and supposed to be too poor and low to ever form a separate town. A board of three selectmen was annually elected until the incorporation of the town. The first regular election for town officers was held in the meeting-house. Benjamin Nason was elected moderator, and town oflScers were chosen
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Kittery. 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 Kittery.
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.
1904Sheet 1 of 3Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
![Kittery Navy Yard [i.e. Portsmouth Navy Yard], Maine](https://images.townratings.com/story/23544/eb01af97fe192b7981a5-l.jpg)
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Kittery’s page.
Retake this view · +15Lost a third of its people between 1790 and 1820, then grew 5-fold.
24 censuses, 1790–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Kittery’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Kittery’s post office has been open since 1807.
Adams Lot · Badger Fernald Cemetery · Brown Plot · Captain Benjamin Fernald Lot · Charles Chauncey Lot · Chauncey Cutts Cemetery · Chick - Picott Plot · Cole Family Burial Ground · Congregational Church Yard · Cox Hurd Cemetery · Dennett - Frisbee Cemetery · First Baptist Church Cemetery · First Christian Church Cemetery · Gerrish Goodwin Cemetery · Gunnison Plot · Haley Cemetery · Highland Cemetery · John Parsons Lot · Johnson Haley Lot · Keen Plot · Laighton Thaxter Cemetery · Lewis Lot · Lorenzo D Manson Lot · Norton - Mugridge Lot · Old Burying Yard · Orchard Grove Cemetery · Orchard Grove Cemetery · Pierce Plot · Rice Cemetery · Safford Plot · Simon Lewis Plot · Spinney Plot · Spinney Plot · Stevenson Cemetery · Theodore Hill Lot · United States Naval Shipyard Cemetery · Willey Lot · William Manson Cemetery · Williams Cemetery
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1632, according to Wikidata. Kittery’s post office opened in 1807, and the first U.S. census counted 3,259 people here in 1790.
Kittery is more historic than 97% of U.S. towns, #15 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.
16 listings: 12 buildings, among them the Lady Pepperrell House (a National Historic Landmark since 1960), 3 historic districts, the Isles of Shoals, the Jones, John Paul, Memorial Park and the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, with 73 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 89 historic buildings in all.
25% of Kittery’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.4 points), against a typical 19% for a Maine town; the median home was built in 1965.
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 (18), the Library of Congress (13), Wikidata (4), the National Register of Historic Places (16), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
c. 1910
1912
1912
c. 1920
c. 1930
1947
1947
2008
2005
