The Monhegan plantation post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Monhegan Island (1858), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 64144 years
Founding year: the first Monhegan plantation post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
What stands out about Monhegan plantation’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Monhegan plantation yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Its first post office opened in 1882. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 69 to 64 (-7%).
On the map
Monhegan plantation on the map, 1904 to 1973
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Monhegan plantation. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1904Monhegan 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 Monhegan plantation.
Timeline
Monhegan plantation, 1777 to 1906
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Monhegan plantation post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What is on the National Register in Monhegan plantation?
4 listings: 3 buildings, among them the Monhegan Island Lighthouse and Quarters (listed 1980, the first), and 1 historic district, the Manana Island Fog Signal Station, with 2 contributing buildings. 10 historic buildings in all.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (4), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.