Most of Medway was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1975. Its Register listing is the Congregational Church of Medway. Below: maps from 1951 on and the census since 1870.
The Medway post office opened in 1859, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Nickatou (1853), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 415 in 18702020 census: 1,187167 years
How historic is Medway?
C
More historic than 33% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Medway post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Medway’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Medway is more historic than 33% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Medway’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 Medway’s 10.0 sits near the middle of its state (42% of Maine towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.3 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 Medway’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
One of the largest water powered sawmills then on the Penobscot River was built in Medway in 1820 by Gen. Boyd, who owned half the township. A second large mill was built soon after near what is now Medway Center, attracting settlers. Sawmills remained there as late as the 1920s. Boyd originally incorporated the town as "Kilmarnock", but the name was changed to Medway in 1854.
Passages that mention Medway, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Penobscot County, Maine1882 · page 513Read the page →
Read the text
With the exception of some half a dozen farms, the settlements in Woodville are made on the county road running to Medway, all the rest being an almost unbroken wilderness. During the summer of i88r a road was laid out by_ County Commissioners, running from nearly, opposite Winn village in Chester, to the county road, 'which will greatly develop this section.
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
Medway, 1853 to 1990
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Medway post office opened in 1859, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Medway rank for history?
Medway is more historic than 33% 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 Medway?
One place: the Congregational Church of Medway (listed 1977).
How old are the homes in Medway?
6% of Medway’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.3 points), against a typical 19% for a Maine town; the median home was built in 1975.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.
