Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1821.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Old Town’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Old Town is more historic than 92% of U.S. towns, #34 of 143 in Maine. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its National Register listings lowest.
A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Old Town’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 Old Town’s 6.7 sits below most of its state (32% of Maine towns have fewer) while its 5 historic buildings outnumber those of 70% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1774.
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 (±7.5 points).
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 Old Town’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Old Town’s post office has been open since 1825. Five other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Pushaw
1821–1828
Old Town
1825–today
Stillwater
1840–today
Upper Stillwater
1841–1892
Pea Cove
1871–1909
West Oldtown
1886–1919
Pushaw
1899–1906
18201920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
French SettlementGreat WorksOld Town LandingPea CovePushawStillwaterWest Old Town
Gone or out of use
Dufour LandinglocaleGreat Works Damdam
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Old Town
Forest HillLawndaleMaple GroveSaint Joseph's
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Every building
Old Town, building by building, 1884–1921
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.
1884Sheet 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.
On the map
Old Town on the map, 1902 to 1998
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Old Town. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1902Orono 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 Old Town.
The Abenaki people called it Pannawambskek, meaning "where the ledges spread out," referring to rapids and drops in the river bed. The French established a Jesuit Catholic mission here in the 1680s and called the settlement, Panaouamské. Nearly a century later after Great Britain took over French territory following its victory in the Seven Years' War, the area was settled by English pioneers in 1774. The name Old Town derives from "Indian Old Town", which was the English name for the largest Penobscot Indian village, now known as Indian Island.
Located within the city limits but on its own island in the Penobscot River, the reservation is the current and historical home of the Penobscot Nation.
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 1774, according to Wikidata. Old Town’s post office opened in 1821, and the census of 1840 counted 2,342 people here.
How does Old Town rank for history?
Old Town is more historic than 92% of U.S. towns, #34 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 Old Town?
4 listings: 4 buildings, among them the St. Anne's Church and Mission Site (listed 1973, the first). 5 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Old Town?
36% of Old Town’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.5 points), against a typical 19% for a Maine town; the median home was built in 1963.
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 (5), 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 and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
c. 1868![Indian Island, Old Town, Me.Alternate Title: The village of Penobscot Indians. Oldtown [Old Town], Me](https://images.townratings.com/story/7348/bb9453ea9f899da68fec-s.jpg)
c. 1868![Indian Island, Old Town, Me.Alternate Title: The village of Penobscot Indians. Oldtown [Old Town], Me](https://images.townratings.com/story/7348/630caae9df1e7389cb61-s.jpg)
c. 1868
