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–Not graded
History · Ripley

Ripley’s post office opened in 1819, and 22% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1932 on and the census since 1820.

1819first post office
0on the National Register
22%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Ripley began

When was Ripley founded?

1819

The Ripley post office opened in 1819, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, West Ripley (1835) and West Ripley (1878), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 325 in 18202020 census: 484207 years
Founding year: the first Ripley post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Ripley’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Ripley are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 655 in 1860; 484 people lived here in 2020.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Ripley, and 1 old place names are still on the map.Deep rootsA post office since 1819: 207 years of Ripley.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Ripley’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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People over time

Ripley, census by census

01002003004005006007001850190019502000Peak: 655

Peaked at 655 in 1860; 484 people lived here in 2020.

21 censuses, 1820–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Ripley had its own post office from 1819 to 1957. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Ripley
1819–1957
West Ripley
1835–1864
West Ripley
1878–1936
18101920today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Todds Corner
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Ripley
Fern - DaleWest Ripley

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

The story so far

Ripley, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Ripley yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Ripley is a town in Somerset County, Maine, United States. The community was named after Brigadier General Eleazer Wheelock Ripley of the War of 1812. The population was 484 at the 2020 census.

Its first post office opened in 1819. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 488 in 2010, 484 in 2020.

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Ripley, 1819 to 1957

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1819Post officeThe Ripley post office opens
  3. 1835Post officeThe West Ripley post office opens
  4. 1860CensusPopulation peaks at 655
  5. 1864Post officeThe West Ripley post office closes
  6. 1878Post officeThe West Ripley post office opens
  7. 20th century
  8. 1932On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1936Post officeThe West Ripley post office closes
  10. 1957Post officeThe Ripley post office closes
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

Ripley on the map, 1932 to 1982

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

Ripley on the 1932 USGS mapRipley on the 1975 USGS mapRipley on the 1982 USGS map1932Pittsfield 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 Ripley.

Famous people

Famous people close to Ripley

Nobody well known was born in Ripley itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Hiram Stevens MaximAmerican-born inventor · b. 1840
Margaret Chase SmithMember of the United States Senate from Maine · b. 1897
Cooper FlaggAmerican basketball player · b. 2006
C
Corey BeaulieuAmerican guitarist · b. 1983
James S. WhiteAmerican publisher, co-founder of the Seventh-d… · b. 1821
Victor A. McKusickAmerican internist and medical geneticist · b. 1921
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

CambridgeIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSt. AlbansIts storyB−Dexter5 historic placesA−

Questions about Ripley’s history

What year was Ripley founded?

The Ripley post office opened in 1819, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 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.