–Not graded

History · Prospect

Prospect’s post office opened in 1868, and 12% of its homes were built before 1940

2 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Fort Knox State Park, a National Historic Landmark. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1900 on, and the census since 1800.

1868first post office

2on the National Register

12%homes built before 1940

1old photo or paper

1famous people

Add an old photo Share a memory

From Prospect’s archive · credits on each photo

Quick answers

How Prospect began

When was Prospect founded?

1868

The Prospect post office opened in 1868, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Prospect Ferry (1850), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 770 in 18002020 census: 698158 years

Founding year: the first Prospect post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Prospect’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Shrank, then grewLost two-thirds of its people between 1840 and 1930, then more than doubled.On the map since 19004 editions of the USGS map, 1900 to 1982. Watch Prospect change.A National Historic Landmark2 places on the National Register, including Fort Knox State Park, a National Historic Landmark.

★ What stands out · Help out

Start Prospect’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Prospect’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos

00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s

1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.

Retake an old viewFort Knox from Bucksport, ME: stand where they stood+15 Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

People over time

Prospect, census by census

Lost two-thirds of its people between 1840 and 1930, then more than doubled.

23 censuses, 1800–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Prospect’s Wikipedia page.

On the map

Prospect on the map, 1900 to 1982

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Prospect. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

1900Bucksport sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Prospect.

The story

How Prospect came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Prospect.

Read it all →

Originally part of Frankfort, it was settled in 1759 when Fort Pownall was completed at Fort Point on Cape Jellison. Prospect was set off and incorporated in 1794. Land was then set off from Prospect in 1845 to form part of Searsport. Stockton (later Stockton Springs) was set off and incorporated in 1857. Shipbuilding was an early industry. By 1859, the town had one gristmill, three sawmills and a shingle mill. Construction on Fort Knox began in 1844, using granite from Mount Waldo in Frankfort. It was built to defend the Penobscot River and the lumber port of Bangor during the Aroostook War. Although never fully completed, work on the huge defense stopped in 1869.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Prospect, 1813 to 1970

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

19th century
1813Born hereEphraim K. Smart is born here
1840CensusPopulation peaks at 3,492
1850Post officeThe Prospect Ferry post office opens
1868Post officeThe Prospect post office opens
1880BuiltMarsh School is built
20th century
1900On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
1904Post officeThe Prospect post office closes
1907Post officeThe Prospect Ferry post office closes
1910In the archiveFort Knox from Bucksport, ME
1970LandmarkFort Knox State Park named a National Historic Landmark

By decade

Prospect, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s1 item

c. 1910Fort Knox from Bucksport, ME

1920s–1990snothing yet

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.

Add from your album

Today10 recent

2012Prospect Harbor, Maine

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Retake this viewFort Knox from Bucksport, ME, c. 1910

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Prospect’s page.

Retake this view · +15

On the National Register

2 historic places in Prospect

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.

places listed

National Historic Landmark

Fort Knox State Park

historic buildings protected

each building in a district counts

first listed

1969

Fort Knox State Park

BuildingsStructures★ landmark

★ Landmark

Fort Knox State ParkStructure

All 2 listings

Marsh SchoolBuilding · listed 2013

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Prospect had its own post office from 1868 to 1904. Another post office, Prospect Ferry, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Prospect Ferry

1850–1907

Prospect

1868–1904

18501940today

Hamlets and corners on the map

Brown CornerProspect Ferry

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Frankfort1 historic placeC Bucksport9 historic placesA⁻Searsport12 historic placesA Stockton Springs5 historic placesB⁺Verona IslandIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Prospect’s history

What year was Prospect founded?

The Prospect post office opened in 1868, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Prospect?

Two places: the Fort Knox State Park (listed 1969) and the Marsh School (2013).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →

Start a conversation

Sources

Where this page comes from

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 (11), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.

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