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History · New Portland

New Portland’s post office opened in 1819, and 26% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the New Portland Wire Bridge. Below: maps from 1930 on and the census since 1810.

1819first post office
1on the National Register
26%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How New Portland began

When was New Portland founded?

1819

The New Portland post office opened in 1819, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, East New Portland (1830), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 421 in 18102020 census: 765207 years
Founding year: the first New Portland post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about New Portland’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of New Portland are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,620 in 1840; 765 people lived here in 2020.Deep rootsA post office since 1819: 207 years of New Portland.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start New Portland’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

New Portland, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,6001,8001850190019502000Peak: 1,620

Peaked at 1,620 in 1840; 765 people lived here in 2020.

22 censuses, 1810–2020.

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

Timeline

New Portland, 1819 to 1988

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1819Post officeThe New Portland post office opens
  3. 1830Post officeThe East New Portland post office opens
  4. 1832Born hereAbram Williams is born here
  5. 1833Post officeThe North New Portland post office opens
  6. 1840CensusPopulation peaks at 1,620
  7. 20th century
  8. 1930On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1967Post officeThe East New Portland post office closes
  10. 1988Post officeThe New Portland post office closes
The story so far

New Portland, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of New Portland yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

New Portland is a town in Somerset County, Maine, United States. It is perhaps best known for its Wire Bridge, a cable suspension bridge completed in 1866 that is the last remaining bridge of its type in Maine, and possibly the U.S. Much of North New Portland's Main Street burned to the ground in the fire of 1919, including a hotel. The annual town fair draws large crowds from around, and is held in September. The population was 765 at the 2020 census. The town was given to the residents of Falmouth (now Portland) by the Massachusetts legislature to repay them for their loss when the British fleet burned Falmouth in 1775.

Its first post office opened in 1819. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 718 to 765 (+7%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

By decade

New Portland, decade by decade

Today12 recent
Old Mill Site - North2010Old Mill Site - NorthOld Mill Site - North2010Old Mill Site - NorthOld Mill Site - North2010Old Mill Site - NorthOld Mill Site - North2010Old Mill Site - NorthOld Mill Site - North2010Old Mill Site - NorthOld Mill Site - North2010Old Mill Site - NorthOld Mill Site - North2010Old Mill Site - NorthOld Mill Site - North2010Old Mill Site - NorthOld Mill Site - North2010Old Mill Site - NorthOld Mill Site - North2010Old Mill Site - NorthOld Mill Site - North2010Old Mill Site - NorthWirebridge2007Wirebridge
On the map

New Portland on the map, 1930 to 1989

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

New Portland on the 1930 USGS mapNew Portland on the 1979 USGS mapNew Portland on the 1989 USGS map1930Kingfield 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 Portland.

On the National Register

1 historic place in New Portland

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1970
New Portland Wire Bridge
New Portland Wire Bridge
Structures
New Portland Wire BridgeStructure

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

New Portland had its own post office from 1819 to 1988. Another post office, East New Portland, opened and closed inside today’s town.

New Portland
1819–1988
East New Portland
1830–1967
North New Portland
1833–today
18101920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
East New PortlandNorth New Portland
Gone or out of use
Central Elementary SchoolschoolHogans Fieldairport
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside New Portland
CarsleyEast New PortlandGreenleafNorth New PortlandWest New Portland

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.

Embden2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAnson4 historic placesANew VineyardIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townKingfield4 historic placesA

Questions about New Portland’s history

What year was New Portland founded?

The New Portland post office opened in 1819, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in New Portland?

One place: the New Portland Wire Bridge (listed 1970).

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 (12), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.