Presque Isle’s post office opened in 1843, and 15% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 70% of U.S. towns · #103 of 143 in Maine. What drives it
3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 3 buildings. Below: 11 old photos and papers, maps from 1893 on, and the census since 1860.
From Presque Isle’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers
How Presque Isle began
When was Presque Isle founded?
1843
The Presque Isle post office opened in 1843, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1859. Another post office, Phair (1900), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 723 in 18602020 census: 8,797183 years
How historic is Presque Isle?
B+
More historic than 70% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Presque Isle post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1859.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Presque Isle’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Presque Isle is more historic than 70% of U.S. towns, #103 of 143 in Maine. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Presque Isle’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 Presque Isle’s 5.7 sits below most of its state (29% of Maine towns have fewer) while its 5 historic buildings outnumber those of 70% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.7 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1859.
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 →
What stands out about Presque Isle’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
People over time
Presque Isle, census by census
Peaked at 12,886 in 1960; 8,797 people lived here in 2020.
17 censuses, 1860–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Presque Isle’s Wikipedia page.
Every building
Presque Isle, building by building, 1893–1917
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.
The first European settlers were British Loyalists who reached the area in 1819 hoping to obtain land for lumber. Border disputes between the United States and the United Kingdom over the area, however, made it impossible for pioneers to gain title to the land. In response, the government of the neighboring British colony of New Brunswick (now a Canadian province) gave out patents for pioneers to live on the land but not claim ownership or sell it. By 1825, surveyors traveling along the Aroostook River noted that twenty families lived along it and noted that while agriculture was present, all of the families employed most of their time towards wood production.
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.
The Presque Isle post office opened in 1843, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1859.
How does Presque Isle rank for history?
Presque Isle is more historic than 70% of U.S. towns, #103 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 Presque Isle?
Three places: the US Post Office-Presque Isle Main (listed 1986), the Presque Isle National Bank (1986) and the Beecher H. Duncan Farm (2009).
How old are the homes in Presque Isle?
15% of Presque Isle’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.7 points), against a typical 19% for a Maine town; the median home was built in 1971.
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 (11), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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 Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
c. 1912
1917
1917
1917
1917
1920s
c. 1920
