Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1792.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives North Yarmouth’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, North Yarmouth is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #117 of 143 in Maine. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of North Yarmouth’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 North Yarmouth’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (10% of Maine towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikipedia alone; no second source gives 1680.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.7 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 North Yarmouth’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost two-thirds of its people between 1820 and 1930, then grew 7-fold.
24 censuses, 1790–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on North Yarmouth’s Wikipedia page.
On the map
North Yarmouth on the map, 1892 to 1970
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of North Yarmouth. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1892Freeport 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 North Yarmouth.
The area embracing North Yarmouth, first settled in 1636, was abandoned twice before successful final settlement in 1713. In 1646, William Royall (c. 1595–1676) purchased a farm on the river that, since, has borne his name. John Cousins (c. 1596–1682), a few years previous, occupied a neck of land between branches of a stream and owned an island, both now bearing his name. These settlements were established in the vicinity, called by the Wabanakis, as "Wescustogo". Yarmouth originally constituted the eastern portion of North Yarmouth; the "North" in the name intended to differentiate it from Yarmouth, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod (Maine then being a part of Massachusetts). North Yarmouth was chartered on September 22, 1680, encompassing the area of the present Town of North Yarmouth and the future towns of Harpswell (until 1750), Freeport (until 1789), Pownal (until 1808, from Freeport…
A discourse whose earliest date was Dec, 1769, appears to have been a favorite with preacher or people, judging from its numerous repetitions. Preached first at North Yarmouth on tiie date mentioned, it reappears "in part" at Kennebunk, Jan., 1770 ; at North Yarmouth again, March, 1774; at '"Harrisicket," Feb., 1777; at Royalsborough, March, 1777; at North Yarmouth the third time, Dec, 1780; at North Yarmouth the fourth time. Mar., 1783 ; at the "New School House, Walnut Hill," Aug., 1791 ; and
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
years ago M' Bartho" Gidney, of Salem, did build one dwelling iiouse, one saw mill & one grist mill, then a building on the first falls in Royall's River, commonly called the First Falls in Royall's River, in the ancient town of North Yarmouth, & that the lands, falls & river where s'' Barth" Gidney then built his house and mills is the same place where the saw mill now stands, and that I saw the saw [same?] mill about 14 3'ears past, and also the laud, river and first falls on both sides of the river from the first falls
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
North Yarmouth, 1680 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.
In 1680, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. North Yarmouth’s post office opened in 1792, and the first U.S. census counted 1,978 people here in 1790.
How does North Yarmouth rank for history?
North Yarmouth is more historic than 60% of U.S. towns, #117 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.
How old are the homes in North Yarmouth?
13% of North Yarmouth’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.7 points), against a typical 19% for a Maine town; the median home was built in 1983.
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 (6), 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 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.
2018
2018
2017