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History · Knox

Knox’s post office opened in 1895, and 15% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1932 on and the census since 1810.

1895first post office
0on the National Register
15%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Nyttend · Public domain
Quick answers

How Knox began

When was Knox founded?

1895

The Knox post office opened in 1895, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, East Knox (1834), Knox Center (1841) and Knox Station (1872), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 414 in 18102020 census: 811131 years
Founding year: the first Knox post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Knox’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 Knox are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Knox, and 6 old place names are still on the map.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,102 in 1850; 811 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Knox’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Knox’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
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Knox had its own post office from 1895 to 1903. Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

East Knox
1834–1904
Knox Center
1841–1903
Knox Station
1872–1922
Knox
1895–1903
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
East KnoxFosters CornerKnox CenterKnox CornerKnox Ledge CornerRay Corner
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Knox
East KnoxKnox RidgeKnox StationLeonardSunny Side

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

People over time

Knox, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001850190019502000Peak: 1,102

Peaked at 1,102 in 1850; 811 people lived here in 2020.

22 censuses, 1810–2020.

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

The story so far

Knox, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Knox yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Knox is a town in Waldo County, Maine, United States. The town was named for General Henry Knox, the first United States Secretary of War. The population was 811 at the 2020 census.

Its first post office opened in 1895. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 806 in 2010, 811 in 2020.

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Knox, 1834 to 1932

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1834Post officeThe East Knox post office opens
  3. 1841Post officeThe Knox Center post office opens
  4. 1850CensusPopulation peaks at 1,102
  5. 1872Post officeThe Knox Station post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1903Post officeThe Knox Center post office closes
  8. 1904Post officeThe East Knox post office closes
  9. 1922Post officeThe Knox Station post office closes
  10. 1932On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Knox, decade by decade

Today2 recent
KnoxME OldSchoolhouse2022KnoxME OldSchoolhouseKnoxME KnoxRidgeBaptistChurch2022KnoxME KnoxRidgeBaptistChurch
On the map

Knox on the map, 1932 to 1982

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

Knox on the 1932 USGS mapKnox on the 1955 USGS mapKnox on the 1975 USGS mapKnox on the 1982 USGS map1932Brooks 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 Knox.

Famous people

Famous people close to Knox

Nobody well known was born in Knox itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Frederick LowGovernor of California · b. 1828
Elijah Parish LovejoyAmerican minister, journalist, and abolitionist · b. 1802
Ezra AbbotAmerican librarian and biblical scholar · b. 1819
Owen LovejoyAmerican politician · b. 1811
Eli PariserAmerican author, activist, and entrepreneur · b. 1980
Daniel D. PrattAmerican politician · b. 1813
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Brooks2 historic placesA−Montville3 historic placesAThorndike1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMorrillIts storyCFreedom2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townUnity2 historic placesB−

Questions about Knox’s history

What year was Knox founded?

The Knox post office opened in 1895, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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), 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.