The story
Read it all →How Mount Vernon came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Mount Vernon.
Mount Vernon was incorporated on June 28, 1792, and was named for George Washington's Virginia estate.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
AHistory
History · Mount Vernon
Mount Vernon dates to 1792, and 24% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 91% of U.S. towns. What drives it
3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 15 buildings. Below: the census since 1800.
1792founded
3on the National Register
24%homes built before 1940
3famous people
Quick answers
How Mount Vernon began
When was Mount Vernon founded?
1792
Mount Vernon dates its founding to 1792 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1800.
First census: 740 in 18002020 census: 1,721234 years
How historic is Mount Vernon?
A
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 91% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1801.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Mount Vernon’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Mount Vernon is more historic than 91% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its National Register listings ranks highest and its age lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Mount Vernon’s overall grade.
Founding era1792, from Wikipedia: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194023.6% of homes (±6.9) · typical ME town 19.1% · U.S. 8.4%A−National Register3 listings, 17 historic buildings, 99.1 per 10,000 residents · typical ME town 15.9 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 91%
NewerOlder
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 Vernon’s 99.1 sits above most of its state (87% of Maine towns have fewer) while its 17 historic buildings outnumber those of 79% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.9 points). Two sources give 1792.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Vernon’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost villages4 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Mount Vernon, and 4 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Mount Vernon are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost half of its people between 1850 and 1960, then more than doubled.Deep rootsEstablished in 1792: 234 years of Mount Vernon.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Mount Vernon’s post office has been open since 1801. Four other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Mount Vernon
Dunn's Corners
West Mount Vernon
West Mount Vernon
Lakeside
18001910today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Dunns CornersLocks CornerWest Mount VernonWings Mills
Gone or out of use
Mount Vernon AirportairportSeven G's Seaplane Baseairport
12cemeteries and burying grounds inside Mount Vernon
BeamButlerDunnsHaynes HoveyHopkinsLake SideMarstonPhilbrickPotashRobinsonSmithStevens
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start Mount Vernon’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Mount Vernon’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.People over time
Mount Vernon, census by census
Lost half of its people between 1850 and 1960, then more than doubled.
23 censuses, 1800–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Mount Vernon’s Wikipedia page.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Mount Vernon in 1892
Passages that mention Mount Vernon, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Illustrated history of Kennebec County, Maine1892 · page 948Read the page →
Read the text
Major Thing was a man of great force of character, and exerted a wide influence in the town of Mount Vernon. He filled all of the town offices, served in the legislature in 1843 as an old line whig, and was a deacon in the Baptist church for many years. He was actively connected, as early as 1814, with the state militia, and attained the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Illustrated history of Kennebec County, Maine1892 · page 937Read the page →
Read the text
meeting house erected by the town just south of Moose pond, in 1800, and in school houses till 1826, when Esquire James Robinson gave a plot of land near the Robinson burying ground, on which was built the First Particular Baptist meeting house in Mount Vernon. Elijah Morse, Dudley Robinson and Daniel Thing were the building committee. Here the Baptist society had a house for over half a century, the last sermon being preached by Elder C. E. Young, in July, 1879.
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 Vernon, 1792 to 2020
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 18th century
- 1792FoundingMount Vernon is established
- 19th century
- 1800
BuiltDr. Samuel Quimby House is built - 1801Post officeThe Mount Vernon post office opens
- 1816Born hereJohn H. Rice is born here
- 1820
Born hereJohn L. Stevens is born here - 1832Post officeThe Dunn's Corners post office opens
- 1833
Born hereLoren Fletcher is born here - 1836Post officeThe West Mount Vernon post office opens
- 1844Post officeThe West Mount Vernon post office closes
- 1855Post officeThe Dunn's Corners post office closes
- 21st century
- 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 1,721
By decade
Mount Vernon, decade by decade
Today9 recent
2022MountVernonMe OldChurch
2022MountVernonME ShawMemorialLibrary
2022MountVernonME OldPostOfficeAndGeneralStore
2022MountVernonME OldGrangeHall
2022MountVernonME MasonicLodge
2022MountVernonME JohnWilliamsHouse
2022MountVernonME FirstBaptistChurch
2022MountVernonME DrSamuelQuimbyHouse
2022MountVernonME BearnstowSignOn the National Register
3 listings protect 17 historic buildings
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
places listed
3
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
17
each building in a district counts
first listed
1984
John Williams House
BuildingsDistricts
Architectural styles listings
Federal2
All 3 listings
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Famous people
See all →3 famous people were born in Mount Vernon
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Mount Vernon’s history
What year was Mount Vernon founded?
In 1792, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Mount Vernon’s post office opened in 1801, and the census of 1800 counted 740 people here.
How does Mount Vernon rank for history?
Mount Vernon is more historic than 91% 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 Vernon?
Three places: the John Williams House (listed 1984), the Dr. Samuel Quimby House (1990) and the Spruce Point Camps (2007).
How old are the homes in Mount Vernon?
24% of Mount Vernon’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.9 points), against a typical 19% for a Maine town; the median home was built in 1978.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (9), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (3), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.