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History · Moscow

Moscow’s post office opened in 1831

Most of Moscow was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1991. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1903 on, and the census since 1820.

1831first post office
0on the National Register
6%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Moscow’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Moscow began

When was Moscow founded?

1831

The Moscow post office opened in 1831, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Deadwater (1906) and Wyman Dam (1930), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 286 in 18202020 census: 475195 years
Founding year: the first Moscow post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Moscow’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,455 in 1930; 475 people lived here in 2020.On the map since 19033 editions of the USGS map, 1903 to 1989. Watch Moscow change.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Moscow, and 1 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Moscow’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Moscow’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewTemple Mill, Moscow, Me.Alternate Title…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Moscow, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,6001850190019502000Peak: 1,455

Peaked at 1,455 in 1930; 475 people lived here in 2020.

21 censuses, 1820–2020.

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

On the map

Moscow on the map, 1903 to 1989

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

Moscow on the 1903 USGS mapMoscow on the 1956 USGS mapMoscow on the 1989 USGS map1903Bingham 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 Moscow.

The story

How Moscow came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Moscow.

Read it all →

Moscow Air Force Station, a radar installation comprising numerous steel antenna towers in three linear arrays on 1,494 acres about five miles northeast of the town center, was erected in the late 1980s and decommissioned in 2002. The site was put up for online auction in September 2011 through the U.S. General Services Administration. In July 2010 a wind farm was proposed as a possible use for the land, and the town began setting zoning regulations for wind turbine placement in December 2010. By October 2011, the radar antenna arrays had been dismantled and removed from the deactivated station, but microwave towers and various buildings remained. As of November 2011, the land was still up for auction with two bidders active. Because the site has been federally owned and tax-exempt, the town has been denied property tax revenue for decades.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Moscow, 1831 to 1967

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1831Post officeThe Moscow post office opens
  3. 1832Post officeThe Moscow post office closes
  4. 1869In the archiveTemple Mill, Moscow, Me.Alternate Title: Kennebec Valley Views
  5. 20th century
  6. 1903On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1906Post officeThe Deadwater post office opens
  8. 1930Post officeThe Wyman Dam post office opens
  9. 1930CensusPopulation peaks at 1,455
  10. 1931Post officeThe Deadwater post office closes
  11. 1967Post officeThe Wyman Dam post office closes
By decade

Moscow, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1860s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1860s2 items
Temple Mill, Moscow, Me.Alternate Title: Kennebec Valley Viewsc. 1869Temple Mill, Moscow, Me.Alternate Title: Kennebec Val…Temple Mill, Moscow, Me.Alternate Title: Kennebec Valley Viewsc. 1869Temple Mill, Moscow, Me.Alternate Title: Kennebec Val…
Today4 recent
Moscow Elementary School, Maine2018Moscow Elementary School, MaineKennebec River2012Kennebec RiverMaineOct2010 0982010MaineOct2010 098Old Canada Road Scenic Byway - South View in2001Old Canada Road Scenic Byway - South View in
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.

Temple Mill, Moscow, Me.Alternate Title: Kennebec Valley Views
Retake this viewTemple Mill, Moscow, Me.Alternate Title: Kennebec Valley Views, c. 1869

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Moscow

Nobody well known was born in Moscow itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Victor A. McKusickAmerican internist and medical geneticist · b. 1921
Abram WilliamsAmerican politician · b. 1832
Edgar Wilson NyeAmerican journalist and humorist · b. 1850
Freeman KnowlesAmerican politician · b. 1846
Louis J. BrannAmerican politician · b. 1876
Mary Louise GraffamChristian missionary · b. 1871
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Moscow had its own post office from 1831 to 1832. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Moscow
1831–1832
Deadwater
1906–1931
Wyman Dam
1930–1967
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Deadwater
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Moscow
BakerPierce HillStevensUnion

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Pleasant Ridge plantationIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCaratunkIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBingham1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Moscow’s history

What year was Moscow founded?

The Moscow post office opened in 1831, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, 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.