Mount Desert dates to 1762, and 34% of its homes were built before 1940
Among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns. What drives it
11 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Gilman, Daniel Coit, Summer Home, a National Historic Landmark, and five historic districts with 45 buildings between them. Below: 17 old photos and papers, maps from 1904 on, and the census since 1790.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Mount Desert is among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs put Mount Desert near the top nationally; its age ranks highest.
A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Mount Desert’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 Mount Desert’s 311 sits above most of its state (97% of Maine towns have fewer) while its 52 historic buildings outnumber those of 85% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1762.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would still be A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±7.1 points).
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 Mount Desert’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
C J Halls QuarriesmineNortheast Harbor Post Officepost officeOtter Creek Post Officepost officeWhiting and Allen Quarriesmine
21cemeteries and burying grounds inside Mount Desert
Bartlett Island Cemetery 1Bartlett Island Cemetery 2Bartlett Island Cemetery 3Bartlett Island Cemetery 6Bartlett Island Number 5BrooksideBrownForest HillKenisonKimballOak Hill RoadOtter CreekPrayPretty MarshRichardsonSavage GravesSeal HarborSheep IslandSmallidgeSmith GravesSound
See all 21
Bartlett Island Cemetery 1 · Bartlett Island Cemetery 2 · Bartlett Island Cemetery 3 · Bartlett Island Cemetery 6 · Bartlett Island Number 5 Cemetery · Brookside Cemetery · Brown Cemetery · Forest Hill Cemetery · Kenison Cemetery · Kimball Cemetery · Oak Hill Road Cemetery · Otter Creek Cemetery · Pray Cemetery · Pretty Marsh Cemetery · Richardson Burying Ground · Savage Graves · Seal Harbor Cemetery · Sheep Island Cemetery · Smallidge Cemetery · Smith Graves · Sound Cemetery
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
On the National Register
11 listings protect 52 historic buildings
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Mount Desert, census by census
Lost half of its people between 1840 and 1850, then more than doubled.
24 censuses, 1790–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Mount Desert’s Wikipedia page.
The story so far
Mount Desert, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Mount Desert yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Mount Desert is a town located on Mount Desert Island in Hancock County, Maine, United States. The population was 2,146 at the 2020 census. Incorporated in 1789, the town comprises the villages of Otter Creek, Seal Harbor, Northeast Harbor, Somesville, Hall Quarry, and Pretty Marsh.
Mount Desert was established in 1762. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 2,053 to 2,146 (+5%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Mount Desert in 1926
Passages that mention Mount Desert, cut from the printed page as they were published.
them into a town named Seaville, but twenty-one years afterwards, February 24, 1859, this act was repealed and Bartlett’s Island was returned to Mount Desert, and Hardwood and Tinker’s Is¬ lands annexed to Tremont. The last division of the original town took place on June 3, 1848, when an act of the legis¬ lature of Maine set off “ All that part of the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Benjamin Kittredge. They were occupied in farming and lumbering. The next settler on the route was Dr. Kittredge, who lived across the bound of the town of Mount Desert, where his son William Kittredge, now lives. He moved to Mount Desert in 1799, and was the only practicing physician on the island for many years.
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
Mount Desert, 1622 to 2020
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.
In 1762, according to Wikidata. Mount Desert’s post office opened in 1821, and the first U.S. census counted 744 people here in 1790.
How does Mount Desert rank for history?
Mount Desert is among the most historic 1% 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 Mount Desert?
11 listings: 6 buildings, among them the Gilman, Daniel Coit, Summer Home (a National Historic Landmark since 1965), and 5 historic districts with 45 contributing buildings. 52 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Mount Desert?
34% of Mount Desert’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.1 points), against a typical 19% for a Maine town; the median home was built in 1969.
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 (17), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (11), 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.
1850
c. 1865
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c. 1908
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