Patten’s post office opened in 1842, and 25% of its homes were built before 1940
1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 6 buildings. Below: 2 old photos and papers from 1800 on and old-book passages.
The Patten post office opened in 1842, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Fish's Mills (1839), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 881184 years
Founding year: the first Patten post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Patten’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The town was named for Amos Patten, a resident of Bangor, Maine, who about 1828 purchased Township No. 4, Range 6, as it was then designated, for its vast timber supply. In 1829 Amos Patten hired Ira Fish and Eli Kellogg to survey the land. The surveyors soon asked permission to establish their homes in Patten. The town was incorporated on April 16, 1841, and given its present name at that time. By 1850 the population numbered 470, reaching 704 in 1870, and 716 residents in 1880. The town's infrastructure gradually appeared. In March 1841 the Congregational Church was organized. Within a few years, citizens began agitating for local education. A bill to appoint Trustees of the Patten Academy passed the Maine legislature and was signed by the governor in 1847. The Patten Academy opened its doors with 61 students in September 1848, and educated its residents for more than a century.
Passages that mention Patten, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Penobscot County, Maine1882 · page 510Read the page →
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Stacyviile is the northernmost organized plantation in the county. It is a regular township (No 3) in the Sixth Range, the same range to which belong the town of Patten, its next neighbor on the north, and the town of Mt. Chase above that. It is bounded on the east by Sherman, Aroostook county; on the south by Township No. 2, Sixth Range; and on the west by No. 3, Seventh Range. It is sixty-six miles east of north from Bangor.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Penobscot County, Maine1882 · page 510Read the page →
Read the text
Stacyville is the northernmost organized plantation in the county. It is a regular township (No 3) in the Sixth Range, the same range to which belong the town of Patten, its next neighbor on the north, and the town of Mt. Chase above that. It is bounded on the east by Sherman, Aroostook county; on the south by Township No. 2, Sixth Range; and on the west by No. 3, Seventh Range. It is sixty-six miles east of north from Bangor.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The manufactures in Patten of late have comprised one saw-mill, one cardingand grist-mill, one manufactory of furniture, one of sash, doors, and blinds, one of harness, one of boots and shoes, and one of tinware. There are two blacksmith shops and one wheelwright, one milliner, and five general stores; also three resident physicians, one lawyer, and one notary. There is one hotel — the Patten House.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
The manufactures in Patten of late have comprised one saw-mill, one cardingand grist-mill, one manufactory of furniture, one of sash, doors, and blinds, one of harness, one of boots and shoes, and one of tinware. There are two blacksmith shops and one wheelwright, one milliner, and five general stores; also three resident physicians, one lawyer, and one notary. There is one hotel — the Patten House.
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.
By decade
Patten, decade by decade
2 decades in the archive, from the 1800s to the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.
2014
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2010