Poland dates to 1795, and 10% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 78% of U.S. towns · #84 of 143 in Maine. What drives it
8 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 18 buildings. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1908 on, and the census since 1800.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1862.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Poland’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Poland is more historic than 78% of U.S. towns, #84 of 143 in Maine. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Poland’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 Poland’s 45.3 sits above most of its state (73% of Maine towns have fewer) while its 27 historic buildings outnumber those of 81% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1795.
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 (±5.9 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 Poland’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds
Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
South Poland
1862–1939
Empire
1894–1907
Poland Spring
1939–today
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
East PolandEmpireFive CornersHackett MillsMoussamOak HillPoland SpringPromised LandSouth PolandWest Poland
17cemeteries and burying grounds inside Poland
Amos Estes FamilyArel - RobbinsBlack Cat DistrictChipman FarmEmpireHighlandLaneLocustOld Cemetery in the WoodsOld Megquier HillPine GroveRicker FamilyRobert PurintonShakerSummit SpringTripp LakeVerrill Family
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
People over time
Poland, census by census
Lost half of its people between 1800 and 1810, then grew 6-fold.
23 censuses, 1800–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Poland’s Wikipedia page.
Land was granted by the Massachusetts General Court in 1765 to officers and soldiers who served with Sir William Phips in the 1690 Battle of Quebec. It replaced a 1736 grant made to them called Bakerstown (now Salisbury, New Hampshire) which was ruled invalid in 1741 at the separation of New Hampshire from Massachusetts. The new plantation was also called Bakerstown (after Captain Thomas Baker), and included present-day Poland, Minot, Mechanic Falls and the greater part of Auburn.
Passages that mention Poland, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Androscoggin County, Maine ..1891 · page 757Read the page →
Read the text
MINOT was incorporated as the 129th town February 18, 1802, and was set off from the northern part of Poland with these bounds : " Beginning at the southeast corner of the town of Turner, at a place called the Crooked Ripples, in the Great Androscoggin River; thence by a line drawn on the middle of said river to the Great Falls ; thence by the line in the act which incorporates the said town of Poland, until it strikes the Little Androscoggin River; thence by a line drawn on the middle of said river, until it strikes the Little Androscoggin River; thence by a line drawn on the
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Androscoggin County, Maine ..1891 · page 726Read the page →
Read the text
off by high water and soon rebuilt. He was an active, energetic man, just the one to advance a new settlement, kept a ferry across the river until the bridge was built, and was agent for the settlers to the General Court to secure the incorporation of the town of Poland. He died April 28, 1836, aged 92. His son, Moses, born September 20, 1772, received a grant of 50 acres of land from
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
helpers, sufficient to handle the business twenty years ago, there are now employed during the busy season from three hundred to four hundred persons. Then, the total amount of taxes paid was about one hundred dollars per year. To-day, Hiram Ricker's sons pay one-quarter of the tax of the town of Poland. From an annual output of a few hundred barrels— when 87
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
of Portland, by the Maine Central or Grand Trunk Railroad, here parallel, and passing on either side of the picturesque station, we leave the cars, and take a Poland Spring coach for the five-mile cross country 69
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.
Timeline
Poland, 1795 to 1939
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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 1795, according to Wikidata. Poland’s post office opened in 1862, and the census of 1800 counted 2,125 people here.
How does Poland rank for history?
Poland is more historic than 78% of U.S. towns, #84 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 Poland?
8 listings: 7 buildings, among them the Maine State Building (listed 1974, the first), and 1 historic district, the Poland Spring Historic District, with 18 contributing buildings. 27 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Poland?
10% of Poland’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.9 points), against a typical 19% for a Maine town; the median home was built in 1988.
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 (10), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (8), 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 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.
1898
2014
2014
2010
2010
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