Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Lubec

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
A+History
History · Lubec

Lubec dates to 1811, and 41% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 96% of U.S. towns. What drives it

7 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 12 buildings between them. Below: 14 old photos and papers, maps from 1908 on, and the census since 1820.

1811founded
7on the National Register
41%homes built before 1940
14old photos & papers
5famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Lubec’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Lubec began

When was Lubec founded?

1811

Lubec dates its founding to 1811 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1820.

First census: 1,430 in 18202020 census: 1,237215 years

How historic is Lubec?

A+

More historic than 96% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1816.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Lubec’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Lubec is more historic than 96% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest and its age lowest.

A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Lubec’s overall grade.
Founding era1811, from Wikidata: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194041.3% of homes (±7.5) · typical ME town 19.1% · U.S. 8.4%ANational Register7 listings, 16 historic buildings, 119 per 10,000 residents · typical ME town 15.9 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 96%
NewerOlder

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 Lubec’s 119 sits above most of its state (88% of Maine towns have fewer) while its 16 historic buildings outnumber those of 78% 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 (±7.5 points). Two sources give 1811.

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 Lubec’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Lubec, and 5 old place names are still on the map.Boom and bustPeaked at 3,371 in 1920; 1,237 people lived here in 2020.A town in old photos14 old photos, postcards and papers, 1850–1980.On the map since 19084 editions of the USGS map, 1908 to 1977. Watch Lubec change.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Lubec’s post office has been open since 1816. Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Lubec
1816–today
West Lubec
1848–1957
North Lubec
1870–1975
South Lubec
1886–1906
18101920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
North LubecRidgeSouth LubecSplit HillWest Lubec
Gone or out of use
Straight Bay Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Lubec
LubecWest Lubec Split Hill

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

People over time

Lubec, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5001850190019502000Peak: 3,371

Peaked at 3,371 in 1920; 1,237 people lived here in 2020.

21 censuses, 1820–2020.

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

By decade

Lubec, decade by decade

7 decades in the archive, from the 1850s to the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1850s–1890s5 items
1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Maine - Washington County - ED 15-50, ED 15-51, ED 15-52, ED 15-5318501940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Maine…1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Maine - Washington County - Lubec - ED 15-50, ED 15-51, ED 15-53, ED 15-5418801940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Maine - Washi…Deacon Smuggling1883Deacon SmugglingUS-ME(1891) p314 LUBEC AND THE NARROWS1891US-ME(1891) p314 LUBEC AND THE NARROWSSketch showing Lubec Channel, Maine ~ Also Improvements made to Date and Dredging proposed under Act of March 3rd 18991899Sketch showing Lubec Channel, Maine ~ Also Improvemen…
1900s–1910s5 items
Yacht with the village of Lubec, Maine in the background1904Yacht with the village of Lubec, Maine in the backgro…Soldiers' Monument1908Soldiers' MonumentPostcardGeneral View ofc. 1910General View ofPostcardGovernor Cobb1910Governor CobbAdult packers in the Lawrence Canning Co., near Lubec, showing packing process. There are few children so used at this …1911Adult packers in the Lawrence Canning Co., near Lubec…
1920s–1960snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
1970s–1980s4 items
LUBEC, LOOKING WEST FROM CAMPOBELLO ISLAND. LUBEC IS THE EASTERNMOST TOWN IN THE CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES1973LUBEC, LOOKING WEST FROM CAMPOBELLO ISLAND. LUBEC IS …LUBEC, LOOKING WEST FROM CAMPOBELLO ISLAND. SMOKE IS EMITTED BY THE MCCURDY PACKING PLANT WHERE HERRING IS SMOKED... - …1973LUBEC, LOOKING WEST FROM CAMPOBELLO ISLAND. SMOKE IS …LUBEC, LOOKING WEST FROM CAMPOBELLO ISLAND. SMOKE IS FROM MC CURDY'S PACKING PLANT WHERE HERRING IS SMOKED1973LUBEC, LOOKING WEST FROM CAMPOBELLO ISLAND. SMOKE IS …West Quoddy Head Light1980West Quoddy Head Light
1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today7 recent
LubecME McCurdysSmokehouse 22013LubecME McCurdysSmokehouse 2LubecME McCurdysSmokehouse 12013LubecME McCurdysSmokehouse 1LubecME FowlerHouse2013LubecME FowlerHouseLubecME DanielYoungHouse2013LubecME DanielYoungHouseLubec, Maine, from Campobello 20122012Lubec, Maine, from Campobello 2012Line2826 - Flickr - NOAA Photo Library2011Line2826 - Flickr - NOAA Photo LibraryThe McCurdy Smokehouse2008The McCurdy Smokehouse
The story

How Lubec came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Lubec.

Read it all →

Located on a peninsula overlooking an ice-free harbor, the town was first settled about 1775. Originally part of Eastport, it was set off and incorporated on June 21, 1811, and named for Lübeck, Germany. In 1795, judge David Owen drew a map of the Passamaquoddy Bay, identifying old French settlements including one at Lubec.

Following the War of 1812, Lubec was the site of considerable smuggling trade in gypsum, although principal industries remained agriculture and fisheries. Captain Jabez Pike noted Lubec had been "founded on smuggling, and no one frowned on it except the government".

By 1859, there was a tannery, three gristmills and nine sawmills; by 1886, there were also two shipyards, three boatbuilders and three sailmakers.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Lubec, 1808 to 1910

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1808BuiltWest Quoddy Head Light Station is built
  3. 1811
    FoundingLubec is established
  4. 1814Born hereJames Henry Carleton is born here
  5. 1816Post officeThe Lubec post office opens
  6. 1822BuiltDaniel Young House is built
  7. 1840BuiltJeremiah Fowler House is built
  8. 1848Post officeThe West Lubec post office opens
  9. 1850In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Maine - Washington County - ED 15-50, ED …
  10. 1854Born hereAlbert Brewer Guptill is born here
  11. 1869Born hereGeorge H. Moses is born here
  12. 1870Post officeThe North Lubec post office opens
  13. 1880In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Maps - Maine - Washington County - Lubec - ED 15-50, ED …
  14. 1890BuiltLubec Channel Light Station is built
  15. 1891In the archiveUS-ME(1891) p314 LUBEC AND THE NARROWS
  16. 1891Born hereSumner Pike is born here
  17. 20th century
  18. 1904In the archiveYacht with the village of Lubec, Maine in the background
  19. 1908On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  20. 1910In the archiveGeneral View of
On the map

Lubec on the map, 1908 to 1977

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

Lubec on the 1908 USGS mapLubec on the 1949 USGS mapLubec on the 1952 USGS mapLubec on the 1977 USGS map1908Eastport 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 Lubec.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Maine - Washington County - ED 15-50, ED 15-51, ED 15-52, ED 15-53
Retake this view1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Maine - Washington County - ED 15-50, ED 15-51, ED 15-52, ED 15-53, 1850

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Lubec’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

7 historic places in Lubec

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.

places listed
7
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
16
each building in a district counts
first listed
1980
West Quoddy Head Light Station
West Quoddy Head Light Station, built 1808Jeremiah Fowler House, built 1840Daniel Young House, built 1822Lubec Channel Light Station, built 1890West Quoddy Lifesaving StationMcCurdy Smokehouse, built 1903Chaloner House
BuildingsDistrictsStructures

Architectural styles listings

Federal2
Greek Revival1
Light Station1
Colonial Revival1
Smoked Herring Facility1
Early Republic1
West Quoddy Head Light StationBuilt 1808
Jeremiah Fowler HouseGreek Revival · Built 1840
Daniel Young HouseFederal · Built 1822
Lubec Channel Light StationLight Station · Built 1890
West Quoddy Lifesaving StationColonial Revival
McCurdy SmokehouseSmoked Herring Facility · Built 1903
Chaloner HouseEarly Republic

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

5 famous people were born in Lubec

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
George H. MosesAmerican politician · b. 1869
James Henry CarletonOfficer in the Union army during the American C… · b. 1814
Sumner PikeAmerican government official · b. 1891
Albert Brewer GuptillAmerican lawyer · b. 1854
Emily Pierpont de LesdernierAmerican novelist · b. 1819
Help out

Finish Lubec’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
4 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view1940 Census Enumeration District Descri…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Eastport6 historic placesA+Pembroke1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townPerryIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Lubec’s history

What year was Lubec founded?

In 1811, according to Wikidata. Lubec’s post office opened in 1816, and the census of 1820 counted 1,430 people here.

How does Lubec rank for history?

Lubec is more historic than 96% 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 Lubec?

7 listings: 3 buildings, 2 historic districts, the West Quoddy Lifesaving Station and the McCurdy Smokehouse, with 12 contributing buildings, and 2 structures. 16 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Lubec?

41% of Lubec’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.5 points), against a typical 19% for a Maine town; the median home was built in 1960.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (18), the Library of Congress (3), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (7), 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) 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.