5 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 8 buildings. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1909 on, and the census since 1810.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1811.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Lovell’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lovell is more historic than 90% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its age lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lovell’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 Lovell’s 88.7 sits above most of its state (85% of Maine towns have fewer) while its 12 historic buildings outnumber those of 77% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.4 points). Two sources give 1800.
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 Lovell’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
In 1774, the Massachusetts General Court granted New Suncook Plantation to the officers and soldiers (or their heirs) who fought on May 8, 1725, during Father Rale's War against the Sokokis Abenaki Indians at Pequawket (now Fryeburg). First settled in 1777, the community had 85 inhabitants by 1790. New Suncook Plantation would be incorporated as a town on November 15, 1800, renamed after Captain John Lovewell, the fallen expedition leader.
Passages that mention Lovell, cut from the printed page as they were published.
The history of Waterford, Oxford County, Maine, comprising Historical address, by Henry P. Warren1879 · page 69Read the page →
Read the text
Hebron and Oxford (Philips Gore), settled 1776, incorporated 1792, Hiram, settled 1780, incorporated 1807, Lovell and Sweden (New Suncook),* settled 1777, incorporated 1800, Newry (Bostwick),* settled 1781, incorporated 1805, Norway (Rustfield, Lees Grant, Cummings Purchase), settled 1781, incorporated 1796,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Rumford, Oxford County, Maine, from its first settlement in 1779, to the present time1890 · page 53Read the page →
Read the text
been invaded at many points. General Jonathan Frye begun the settlement of Fryeburg in 1762. Like Eumford, most of the first settlers were from Concord, New Hampshire. Capt. Henry Young Brown of Haverhill, settled Brownfleld a year later. Lovell was settled in 1779, Hiram in 1774, Porter in 1781, Waterford in 1775. These were Saco River towns. On the Androscoggin, Turner was settled about 1772, Livermore a little later; Bethel in 1774, and Norway in 1781. Ezekiel Merrill, the first Andover settler, came
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.
By decade
Lovell, decade by decade
3 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1920s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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 1800, according to Wikidata. Lovell’s post office opened in 1811, and the census of 1810 counted 365 people here.
How does Lovell rank for history?
Lovell is more historic than 90% 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 Lovell?
5 listings: 4 buildings, among them the Lovell Village Church (listed 1986, the first), and 1 historic district, the Eastman Hill Rural Historic District, with 8 contributing buildings. 12 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Lovell?
23% of Lovell’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.4 points), against a typical 19% for a Maine town; the median home was built in 1985.
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 (6), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (5), 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 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.
1909
1910
c. 1913