Its Register listings are the Church of the Advent and the U.S. Inspection Station-Limestone, Maine. Its Register listings are the Church of the Advent and the U.S. Inspection Station-Limestone, Maine. Below: 2 old photos and papers from 1998 on.
Founding year: the first Limestone post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Limestone’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Limestone is more historic than 49% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Limestone’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 Limestone’s 12.7 sits near the middle of its state (49% of Maine towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.9 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Limestone’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Mark Trafton (1785–1857) settled Limestone in 1849 when he was customs officer of Fort Fairfield; Trafton would later serve in the Maine House of Representatives in the early 1850s. Trafton, his son, and an associate co-founded the Limestone Mill Company three years earlier in 1846.
Limestone was incorporated as a town on March 17, 1869, and was named for regional limestone deposits.
The Limestone post office opened in 1858, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Limestone rank for history?
Limestone is more historic than 49% 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.
What is on the National Register in Limestone?
Two places: the Church of the Advent (listed 1991) and the U.S. Inspection Station-Limestone, Maine (2014).
How old are the homes in Limestone?
14% of Limestone’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.9 points), against a typical 19% for a Maine town; the median home was built in 1959.
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 (5), the National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
1998
2011
2007
2005