New Gloucester dates to 1736, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 90% of U.S. towns · #46 of 143 in Maine. What drives it
4 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Shaker Village, a National Historic Landmark, and two historic districts with 47 buildings between them. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1892 on, and the census since 1790.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1794.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives New Gloucester’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, New Gloucester is more historic than 90% of U.S. towns, #46 of 143 in Maine. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of New Gloucester’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 New Gloucester’s 85.0 sits above most of its state (85% of Maine towns have fewer) while its 49 historic buildings outnumber those of 85% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikipedia alone; no second source gives 1736.
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 (±5.5 points).
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 New Gloucester’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
New Gloucester was established in 1736 under a Massachusetts Bay Colony grant of a 6-square-mile (16 km2) tract of land in the Maine Territory to sixty inhabitants of the Gloucester fishing village on Cape Ann. The first settlers followed the road newly bushed out from North Yarmouth and built cabins on Harris Hill between 1739 and 1742. The settlement was abandoned from 1744–1751 due to the heightened native tribe attacks during King George's War.
Passages that mention New Gloucester, cut from the printed page as they were published.
New Gloucester, Maine, centennial, September 7, 18741875 · page 27Read the page →
Read the text
The General Court of the Province lent a willing ear to the petition of the Proprietary, and early in the year 1774 incorporated the town of New Gloucester. A warrant issued to Peleg Chandler, from Col. Willi AxM Allen,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
New Gloucester, Maine, centennial, September 7, 18741875 · page 61Read the page →
Read the text
Some years ago a very venerable man who was our Town Clerk for many years, and who was employed as a Surveyor in New Gloucester more than eighty years ago, told me that he had a very intimate friend among the earlier settlers of New Gloucester, who had besought him very often to make her a visit, but he had never seen an opportunity to do so, until on one occasion he had been visiting Portland and concluded he would spend the Sabbath with his old
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
New Gloucester, 1736 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.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of New Gloucester. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1894Gray 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 New Gloucester.
Every building
New Gloucester, building by building, 1892–1907
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1892Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
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.
Retake this viewSaraplummer-1865 (cropped), 1865
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on New Gloucester’s page.
In 1736, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. New Gloucester’s post office opened in 1794, and the first U.S. census counted 1,358 people here in 1790.
How does New Gloucester rank for history?
New Gloucester is more historic than 90% of U.S. towns, #46 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.
What is on the National Register in New Gloucester?
4 listings: 2 buildings and 2 historic districts, the Shaker Village and the New Gloucester Historic District, with 47 contributing buildings. 49 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in New Gloucester?
11% of New Gloucester’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.5 points), against a typical 19% for a Maine town; the median home was built in 1991.
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 (10), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
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★ Landmark
