Lewiston dates to 1760, and 32% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 98% of U.S. towns · #8 of 143 in Maine. What drives it
48 places in town are on the National Register, among them five historic districts with 197 buildings between them. Below: 7 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1790.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1867.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Lewiston’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lewiston is more historic than 98% of U.S. towns, #8 of 143 in Maine. All 3 inputs put Lewiston near the top nationally; its age ranks highest.
A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lewiston’s overall grade.
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 Lewiston’s 63.7 sits above most of its state (79% of Maine towns have fewer) while its 244 historic buildings outnumber those of 94% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikipedia alone; no second source gives 1760.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A to A+. The pre-1940 share (±2.7 points) is firm at this size.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Lewiston’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Prior to European colonization, the region of Lewiston was inhabited by the Androscoggin, an Abenaki people. During the 17th century, Androscoggin were among the first Native American tribes to make contact with European colonists in Maine. Relations soon deteriorated over colonial expansion, and conflicts with colonists and epidemics of infectious diseases devastated the Androscoggin, which responded by migrating to New France from 1669 onwards. By 1680, the Androscoggin had been completely driven out of Maine. The governor of New France, Louis de Buade, allocated them two seigneuries on the Saint Francis River.
Passages that mention Lewiston, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Androscoggin County, Maine ..1891 · page 395Read the page →
Read the text
RAILROADS. — In 1849 railroad facilities came to Lewiston. On March 24 the Androscoggin & Kennebec Railroad was opened to Lewiston. The legislature, February 15, 1860, authorized the Androscoggin Railroad Company to extend its railroad from Leeds to the Kennebec river, or to form a junction with the Portland & Kennebec at Topsham or Brunswick.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Androscoggin County, Maine ..1891 · page 96Read the page →
Read the text
property of the mortgagees by foreclosure. May 11, 1865. They formed a new corporation, the Leeds and Farmington Railroad Company. The Androscoggin Railroad then extended from Leeds to Brunswick, covering the branch from Crowley's Junction to Lewiston. June 1, 1867, the Leeds and Farmington Railroad Company leased its road to the Androscoggin Railroad Company, which, June 29, 1871, gave a lease of its road for nine hundred and ninety-nine years to the Maine Central, and assigned to it its lease of the Leeds and Farminsrton road. This lease was later confirmed and extended to nine
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.
Timeline
Lewiston, 1760 to 1978
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Lewiston. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1908Lewiston 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 Lewiston.
Every building
Lewiston, building by building, 1886–1914
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.
In 1760, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Lewiston’s post office opened in 1867, and the first U.S. census counted 532 people here in 1790.
How does Lewiston rank for history?
Lewiston is more historic than 98% of U.S. towns, #8 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.
What is on the National Register in Lewiston?
48 listings: 43 buildings, among them the Hathorn Hall, Bates College (listed 1970, the first), and 5 historic districts with 197 contributing buildings. 244 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Lewiston?
32% of Lewiston’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.7 points), against a typical 19% for a Maine town; the median home was built in 1957.
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 (7), Wikidata (5), the National Register of Historic Places (48), 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.
1895
c. 1905
1908
1908
c. 1908
