Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of Otis was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1990. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1911 on, and the census since 1830.
The Otis post office opened in 1852, the earliest record of the town by name.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Otis’s history is told.
Lost two-thirds of its people between 1830 and 1840, then grew 7-fold.
20 censuses, 1830–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Otis’ Wikipedia page.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Otis. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Otis.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Otis yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Otis is a town in Hancock County, Maine, United States. The population was 673 at the 2020 census.
Its first post office opened in 1852. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 672 in 2010, 673 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
In the archiveBeech Hill Pond - David's BoatOne decade in the archive so far: the 1990s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Otis had its own post office from 1852 to 1901.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Otis post office opened in 1852, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (1), 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.
