Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns · #2 of 143 in Maine. What drives it
98 places in town are on the National Register, among them 7 National Historic Landmarks and ten historic districts with 744 buildings between them. Below: 9 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1790.
Portland dates its founding to 1632 (Wikidata). It appears in the first U.S. census, 1790.
Among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Portland is among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns, #2 of 143 in Maine. All 2 inputs put Portland near the top nationally; its share of homes from before 1940 ranks highest.
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 Portland’s 122 sits above most of its state (89% of Maine towns have fewer) while its 842 historic buildings outnumber those of 98% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. 7 are National Historic Landmarks, the highest tier. Boundary changes and added documentation are counted with their listing.
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National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
In the archiveFalmouthBurning1775BuiltPortland Observatory is built
In the archiveRachel Dyer Spine Label
In the archivePortland, Maine, U.S.A
In the archivePrince of Wales at Portland [Maine]
BuiltWoodman Building is built
BuiltThompson Block is built
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
BuiltPortland City Hall is builtFrom Wikipedia’s history of Portland.
The original Algonquin-speaking Eastern Abenaki residents called the Portland peninsula Machigonne ("great neck"). It is also called Məkíhkanək ("at the fish hook") in Penobscot.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Portland, cut from the printed page as they were published.
Madam Deering, widow of Nathaniel Deering, which was largely increased by subscriptions from other members of the society. In 1818 a charter was granted to " Trustees of the Charity Fund of the First Parish in Portland," who have ever since managed the fund, making annual distribution of the income, which amounts to four or five hundred dollars a year, to sucli of the parish as need assistance. In 1817, Miss Martha Hale bequeathed her property about six thousand dollars to
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
In addition to these banks, there are two savings banks in the city, one, Portland Savings' Bank, incorporated in 1852, the other, the Portland Five Cents Savings Bank, incorporated in 1859. These, in 1863, had an aggregate amount of deposits of eight hundred and sixty-six thousand three hundred and twenty-two dollars, from five thousand and twenty-five depositors, to whom they pay six per cent interest per annum.
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.
4 decades in the archive, from the 1780s to the 1860s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
1828Rachel Dyer Spine LabelDocument
1828Rachel Dyer by John Neal Title PageDocument1854Portland, Maine, U.S.A1860Prince of Wales at Portland [Maine]
1860Portland star match factory![Bosworth Post, G.A.R. [Grand Army of the Republic], Portland, Maine](https://images.townratings.com/story/7343/1584ae3f00e6d42a5560-s.jpg)
c. 1865Bosworth Post, G.A.R. [Grand Army of the Republic], P…![Bosworth Post, G.A.R. [Grand Army of the Republic], Portland, Maine](https://images.townratings.com/story/7343/4f8cbb1bb046549805ac-s.jpg)
c. 1865Bosworth Post, G.A.R. [Grand Army of the Republic], P…
c. 1865City Fire Engine House.Alternate Title: American Ster…Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Portland. 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 Portland.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1886Sheet 2 of 35Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Portland’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 2,240 and 77,634 people in every census since 1790.
24 censuses, 1790–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Portland’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Portland’s post office has been open since 1786. 12 other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1632, according to Wikidata. Portland’s post office opened in 1764, and the first U.S. census counted 2,240 people here in 1790.
Portland is among the most historic 1% of U.S. towns, #2 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.
98 listings, 7 of them National Historic Landmarks: 73 buildings, among them the Wadsworth-Longfellow House (a National Historic Landmark since 1962), 16 historic districts with 744 contributing buildings, 3 sites, 4 structures, and 2 objects. 842 historic buildings in all.
46% of Portland’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.0 points), against a typical 19% for a Maine town; the median home was built in 1946.
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 Wikimedia Commons (6), the Library of Congress (3), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (98), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) 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.
