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B+History
History · Orrington

Orrington dates to 1788, and 23% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 71% of U.S. towns · #98 of 143 in Maine. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Enterprise Grange, No. 173. Below: maps from 1900 on and the census since 1790.

1788founded
1on the National Register
23%homes built before 1940
4famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Orrington began

When was Orrington founded?

1788

Orrington dates its founding to 1788 (Wikipedia’s history). It appears in the first U.S. census, 1790.

First census: 477 in 17902020 census: 3,812238 years

How historic is Orrington?

B+

More historic than 71% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1812.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Orrington’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Orrington is more historic than 71% of U.S. towns, #98 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 Orrington’s overall grade.
Founding era1788, from Wikipedia: founded 1776–1849, an older era than 75% of U.S. townsA−Homes built before 194022.9% of homes (±7.9) · typical ME town 19.1% · U.S. 8.4%B+National Register1 listing, 2.6 per 10,000 residents · typical ME town 15.9 · U.S. 2.4C+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 71%
NewerOlder
Maine towns of 2,500+ (143)Ahead of 32%

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 Orrington’s 2.6 sits below most of its state (21% of Maine towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 (±7.9 points). Two sources give 1788.

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 Orrington’s past

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

Lost villages5 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Orrington, and 5 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Orrington are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost a third of its people between 1860 and 1930, then grew 3-fold.On the map since 19004 editions of the USGS map, 1900 to 1982. Watch Orrington change.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Orrington’s post office has been open since 1812. Five other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Orrington
1812–today
South Orrington
1829–1959
East Orrington
1836–1903
Goodale's Corner
1856–1903
North Orrington
1873–1909
Orrington Center
1889–1903
18101920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
East OrringtonGoodale CornerNorth OrringtonOrrington CenterSouth Orrington
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Orrington
Dean HillGoodaleNorth OrringtonOak HillPine Hill

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Start Orrington’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Orrington’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

Orrington, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,000180018501900195020001,950 in 1860Low: 1,167

Lost a third of its people between 1860 and 1930, then grew 3-fold.

24 censuses, 1790–2020.

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

The story

How Orrington came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Orrington.

Read it all →

Orrington was originally part of Condustiegg or Kenduskeag Plantation, which also included the present-day cities of Bangor and Brewer. Orrington was incorporated as a town in 1788 with its major village at Brewer, then called "New Worcester". Bangor incorporated three years later in 1791. Brewer broke away from Orrington in 1812 to form a separate town.

The name "Orrington" reportedly resulted from a spelling mistake. The settlers intended to name it "Orangetown" after Orangetown, Maryland, but it was written on the record-books in distant Massachusetts, of which Maine was then a territory, as "Orrington". "Orring" was a reasonable phonetic rendering of "orange" before the standardization of English spelling.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Orrington, 1788 to 2020

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1788
    FoundingOrrington is established
  3. 19th century
  4. 1805Born hereEbenezer M. Chamberlain is born here
  5. 1812Post officeThe Orrington post office opens
  6. 1817Born hereBenjamin Franklin Mudge is born here
  7. 1829Post officeThe South Orrington post office opens
  8. 1836Post officeThe East Orrington post office opens
  9. 1844Born hereJ. Sumner Rogers is born here
  10. 1874Born hereEdward A. Pierce is born here
  11. 20th century
  12. 1900On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  13. 1903Post officeThe East Orrington post office closes
  14. 1959Post officeThe South Orrington post office closes
  15. 21st century
  16. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 3,812
By decade

Orrington, decade by decade

Today18 recent
Bob's Kozy Korner Store image 22019Bob's Kozy Korner Store image 2Bob's Kozy Korner Store image 12019Bob's Kozy Korner Store image 1Roadside tractor, Wiswell Farm, Orrington, Maine image 22018Roadside tractor, Wiswell Farm, Orrington, Maine imag…Roadside tractor, Wiswell Farm, Orrington, Maine image 12018Roadside tractor, Wiswell Farm, Orrington, Maine imag…Non-native species sign at Fields Pond2018Non-native species sign at Fields PondIce Fishermen on Fields Pond2018Ice Fishermen on Fields PondIce Fisherman's Boots on Fields Pond2018Ice Fisherman's Boots on Fields PondFields Pond in Ice image 42018Fields Pond in Ice image 4Fields Pond in Ice image 32018Fields Pond in Ice image 3Fields Pond in Ice image 22018Fields Pond in Ice image 2Fields Pond in Ice image 12018Fields Pond in Ice image 1Audubon Center on Fields Pond2018Audubon Center on Fields PondOrrington Pound internal view2017Orrington Pound internal viewOrrington Pound internal view of gate2017Orrington Pound internal view of gateOrrington Pound distant view2017Orrington Pound distant viewOrrington Pound close up view2017Orrington Pound close up viewOrrignton Pound outside view of gate2017Orrignton Pound outside view of gateGothic Revival - Orrington, ME - Congregational Meeting House (1)2014Gothic Revival - Orrington, ME - Congregational Meeti…
On the map

Orrington on the map, 1900 to 1982

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

Orrington on the 1900 USGS mapOrrington on the 1942 USGS mapOrrington on the 1955 USGS mapOrrington on the 1982 USGS map1900Bucksport 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 Orrington.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Orrington

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
2008
Enterprise Grange, No. 173
Enterprise Grange, No. 173
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Late Victorian1
Italianate1
All 1 listings
Enterprise Grange, No. 173Building · listed 2008

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

Famous people

4 famous people were born in Orrington

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Benjamin Franklin MudgeAmerican geologist, paleontologist, teacher, la… · b. 1817
Ebenezer M. ChamberlainAmerican politician · b. 1805
J. Sumner RogersAmerican educator and U.S. Army officer · b. 1844
E
Edward A. PierceAmerican businessman · b. 1874
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Hampden5 historic placesA−Bucksport9 historic placesA−Winterport2 historic placesA−Holden1 historic placeCBrewer3 historic placesA−

Questions about Orrington’s history

What year was Orrington founded?

In 1788, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Orrington’s post office opened in 1812, and the first U.S. census counted 477 people here in 1790.

How does Orrington rank for history?

Orrington is more historic than 71% of U.S. towns, #98 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 Orrington?

One place: the Enterprise Grange, No. 173 (listed 2008).

How old are the homes in Orrington?

23% of Orrington’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.9 points), against a typical 19% for a Maine town; the median home was built in 1989.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (18), 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.