Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 51% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: maps from 1935 on and the census since 1830.
The Plymouth post office opened in 1827, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 51% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Plymouth is more historic than 51% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
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 Plymouth’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.
Founding year: the first post office (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 →
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 Plymouth’s history is told.
Lost half of its people between 1860 and 1940, then more than doubled.
20 censuses, 1830–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Plymouth’s Wikipedia page.
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 SurveyWikipedia doesn’t have a history of Plymouth yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Plymouth is a town in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,325 at the 2020 census.
Its first post office opened in 1827. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,380 to 1,325 (-4%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Plymouth, cut from the printed page as they were published.
At the foot of Plymouth Pond and beginning of the outlet is Plymouth village, with a post-office, a Union meeting-house, a public school-house, a saw-mill, gristmill, tannery, and the usual business quarter of a country place. A road comes in here from between the two lakes which form Plymouth Pond, which it reaches by a northwest route from Dixmont and the southeast corner of the town. A road from the south intersects it just be-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
At the foot of Plymouth Pond and beginning of the outlet is Plymouth village, with a post-office, a Union meeting-house, a public school-house, a saw-mill, gristmill, tannery, and the usual business quarter of a country place. A road comes in here from between the two lakes which form Plymouth Pond, which it reaches by a northwest route from Dixmont and the southeast corner 48:.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Originally the town was six miles square. In 1826 a little more than one-third of it wjs taken off on the \ves,t side of the town to help make Plymouth. In 1824 the town voted to build the floating bridge, which was in that part set off to constitute Plymouth, and in making the bridge the town got in debt about $1,200 in 1825. There was no provision made by the Legislature for the payment of this debt, and Etna had to pay' every dollar of
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
of a town for nearer governmental facilities than they en joyed. Finally, however, in the winter of 1825-26, the petition of the people went in for the erection of the municipality; and the town of Plymouth was duly incorporated by the Legislature of Maine on the 21st of February, 1826. Three miles of its breadth from east to west were taken from Etna, in Penobscot county, and two miles from that part of Somerset county which two
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.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Plymouth. 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 Plymouth.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
The Plymouth post office opened in 1827, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Plymouth is more historic than 51% of U.S. towns. 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.
15% of Plymouth’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.0 points), against a typical 19% for a Maine town; the median home was built in 1987.
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).
From 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.
