Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 58% of U.S. towns · #120 of 143 in Maine. What drives it
Most of Naples was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1988. Below: 16 old photos and papers, maps from 1896 on, and the census since 1840.
Naples dates its founding to 1790 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1840.
More historic than 58% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Naples is more historic than 58% of U.S. towns, #120 of 143 in Maine. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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 Naples’ 12.5 sits near the middle of its state (48% of Maine towns have fewer) while its 5 historic buildings outnumber those of 70% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost half of its people between 1860 and 1920, then grew 7-fold.
19 censuses, 1840–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Naples’ Wikipedia page.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Naples. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Naples.
Naples’s post office has been open since 1834. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikipedia’s history of Naples.
The area was settled in 1774. Farming in Naples, Maine was limited by the soil, which consisted of gravelly loam, its surface strewn with glacial erratic boulders. The uplands, however, provided good grazing for livestock, and hay became the principal crop.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
BuiltManor House is built
Born hereKate Tryon is born here
In the archiveThe Green Parrot Tea Room and gift shop
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveAerial View Waterfront, Naples, Maine (79777)2 decades in the archive, from the 1880s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
c. 1930Aerial View Waterfront, Naples, Maine (79777)Postcard
c. 1930Aerial view Naples Causeway, Naples, Maine (91189)Postcard
c. 1930Bathing beach, Sebago Lake State Park, Naples, Maine …Postcard
c. 1930Bay of Naples Inn, Naples, Maine (61202)Postcard
c. 1930Entrance to Naples, Maine (68278)Postcard
c. 1930Long Lake at Bay of Naples, Maine (68281)Postcard
c. 1930Naples, Maine, from Bay of Naples Inn (66233)Postcard
c. 1930Naples, Maine, from the Casino (68276)Postcard
c. 1930Shore line, Long Lake (68277)Postcard
c. 1930Speed Boat on Long Lake at Naples, Maine (79776)Postcard
c. 1930Speed boat and sailing scene on Long Lake at Naples, …Postcard
c. 1930Speed boating on Long Lake at Naples, Maine (79778)Postcard
c. 1930Steamer on the Songo (68275)Postcard
c. 1930Trailer Camp Site at Sebago Lake State Park, Naples, …Postcard
1936NaplesCasinoFlood1936No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Naples’ page.
Retake this view · +15The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1790, according to Wikidata. Naples’ post office opened in 1834, and the census of 1840 counted 758 people here.
Naples is more historic than 58% of U.S. towns, #120 of 143 in Maine. 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.
4 listings: 3 buildings and 1 structure. 5 historic buildings in all.
4% of Naples’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.8 points), against a typical 19% for a Maine town; the median home was built in 1988.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (22), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (4), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
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