Lisbon dates to 1799, and 23% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 77% of U.S. towns · #87 of 143 in Maine. What drives it
Its Register listings are the St. Cyril and St. Methodius Church, the Farwell Mill and the Lisbon Falls High School. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1906 on, and the census since 1810.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1865.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Lisbon’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lisbon is more historic than 77% of U.S. towns, #87 of 143 in Maine. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lisbon’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 Lisbon’s 4.1 sits below most of its state (25% of Maine towns have fewer) while its 4 historic buildings outnumber those of 68% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1799.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.5 points).
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 →
What stands out about Lisbon’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The community was originally part of Bowdoin, a township within the Kennebec Purchase. But because travel to attend town meetings was difficult, on June 22, 1799, the General Court of Massachusetts divided Bowdoin in two to create Thompsonborough. Residents, however, soon grew dissatisfied with the long name. Consequently, it would be renamed in 1802 as Lisbon, after Lisbon in Portugal. In 1808, Lisbon annexed the remainder of Little River Plantation (part of the Pejepscot Purchase) as Lisbon Falls. In 1840, part of Lisbon was set off as Webster.
Passages that mention Lisbon, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Androscoggin County, Maine ..1891 · page 480Read the page →
Read the text
Wehater Corner (Webster post-office) is near the south line of the town, where legislation has taken a small square from Lisbon to add to Webster, and, in the early settlement, was the center of business, its post-office in 1826 having the third amount of receipts in the county — i|53. Here is the fourth power of Sabattus river, and on its magnificent fall of 18 feet Jesse Davis, in 1780, built the first saw and grist mills of the town. While the town was being settled, and while manufacturing was carried on, business activity was
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Androscoggin County, Maine ..1891 · page 443Read the page →
Read the text
On the Moody privilege, below the bridge at Lisbon village, a grist-mill was built on the east side of the river near the end of the present dam as early as 1800, by Gideon and Abel Curtis, and Lisbon Factory was then called Curtis's Mills. This mill was tended by Eben Coombs, who came from Bath about 1803. He lived in a house where the house occupied by W. H. Miles, agent of Farwell Mills, now stands. William Batchelder later built a scythe factory just above this mill and conducted it some time. The first mill on the west side was built about 1804 by Gideon Curtis, afterward owned by
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
Lisbon, 1799 to 2020
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.
In 1799, according to Wikidata. Lisbon’s post office opened in 1865, and the census of 1810 counted 1,614 people here.
How does Lisbon rank for history?
Lisbon is more historic than 77% of U.S. towns, #87 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 Lisbon?
Three places: the St. Cyril and St. Methodius Church (listed 1977), the Farwell Mill (1985) and the Lisbon Falls High School (2007).
How old are the homes in Lisbon?
23% of Lisbon’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.5 points), against a typical 19% for a Maine town; the median home was built in 1973.
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 (8), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.
1906
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