1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 6 buildings. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1891 on, and the census since 1800.
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1804.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Newfield’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Newfield is more historic than 75% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Newfield’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 Newfield’s 38.0 sits above most of its state (69% of Maine towns have fewer) while its 6 historic buildings outnumber those of 72% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.4 points). Two sources give 1794.
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 Newfield’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
This was part of the large tract sold on November 28, 1668, by Newichawannock Chief Sunday (or Wesumbe) to Francis Small, a Kittery trader. The price was two large Indian blankets, two gallons of rum, two pounds of gunpowder, four pounds of musket balls and twenty strings of beads. The township was surveyed and first settled as Washington Plantation in 1778. A number of settlers had been soldiers in the Revolutionary War. It was incorporated as Newfield on February 25, 1794, and by 1859, the population was 1,418.
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 1794, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Newfield’s post office opened in 1804, and the census of 1800 counted 556 people here.
How does Newfield rank for history?
Newfield is more historic than 75% 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 Newfield?
One place: the Newfield (Willowbrook) Historic District (listed 1985).
How old are the homes in Newfield?
10% of Newfield’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.4 points), against a typical 19% for a Maine town; the median home was built in 1977.
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 (7), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.
1915
c. 1915
Date?
2019
2015
2015