Mattawamkeag’s post office opened in 1830, and 16% of its homes were built before 1940
Its Register listing is the George W. Smith Homestead. Its Register listing is the George W. Smith Homestead. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1940 on, and the census since 1820.
Peaked at 1,000 in 1980; 596 people lived here in 2020.
19 censuses, 1820–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Mattawamkeag’s Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Mattawamkeag’s post office has been open since 1830.
Hamlets and corners on the map
Back SettlementGordonJordan MillsMeadowvilleWebb Hill
Gone or out of use
Davis Farmlocale
1cemetery inside Mattawamkeag
Mattawamkeag
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The story so far
Mattawamkeag, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Mattawamkeag yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Mattawamkeag is a town in Penobscot County, Maine, United States, located where the Mattawamkeag River joins the Penobscot River. The population was 596 at the 2020 census. The village of Mattawamkeag is in the southwestern part of the town.
Its first post office opened in 1830. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 687 to 596 (-13%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Mattawamkeag in 1882
Passages that mention Mattawamkeag, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Penobscot County, Maine1882 · page 897Read the page →
Read the text
Some two and one-half miles above Mattawamkeag village are the sunken bridges on the Military Road, wliere five bridges have sunk into the soft ooze whose depth has never been discovered, though the length of the bridge has been shortened by filling up. About a mile above Mattawamkeag a new road goes into a settlement commenced near i860; this, with the exception of a short road of two or three iniles up the Mattawamkeag
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Penobscot County, Maine1882 · page 897Read the page →
Read the text
Some two and one-half miles above Mattawamkeag village are the sunken bridges on the Military Road, where five bridges have sunk into the soft ooze whose depth has never been discovered, though the length of the bridge has been shortened by filling up. About a mile above Mattawamkeag a new road goes into a settlement commenced near i860; this, with the exception of a short road of two or three miles up the Mattawamkeag
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Penobscot County, Maine1882 · page 895Read the page →
Read the text
Mattawamkeag village is at the crossing of the stream of that name, on the north bank, and about one-third of a mile from the Penobscot. The railroad, which has followed closely the river road into the town, here diverges at almost a right angle, and runs off east and north of east into Kingman, making no station in the eight and one-fifth miles to that village. It has at Mattawamkeag its machine and repair shops, freight and passenger-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Penobscot County, Maine1882 · page 895Read the page →
Read the text
Mattawamkeag village is at the crossing of the stream of that name, on the north bank, and about one-third of a mile from the Penobscot. The railroad, which has followed closely the river road into the town, here diverges at almost a right angle, and runs off east and north of east into Kingman, making no station in the eight and one-fifth miles to that village. It has at Mattawamkeag its machine and repair shops, freight and passenger-
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
Mattawamkeag, 1830 to 1980
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.
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). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (4), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
2014
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