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History · Roxbury

Roxbury dates to 1835

Most of Roxbury was built recently: 4% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1969. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1927 on, and the census since 1830.

1835founded
0on the National Register
4%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Roxbury’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Roxbury began

When was Roxbury founded?

1835

Roxbury dates its founding to 1835 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1830.

First census: 122 in 18302020 census: 361191 years
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1849.The full story ↓

What stands out about Roxbury’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 a third of its people between 1860 and 1870, then more than doubled.Deep rootsEstablished in 1835: 191 years of Roxbury.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Roxbury’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Roxbury’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 viewRocky Point Cove, Silver Lake: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Roxbury, census by census

01002003004001850190019502000251 in 1860Low: 162

Lost a third of its people between 1860 and 1870, then more than doubled.

20 censuses, 1830–2020.

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

Timeline

Roxbury, 1830 to 1990

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1830Born hereMorvalden Angerstoff Taylor is born here
  3. 1835
    FoundingRoxbury is established
  4. 1849Post officeThe Roxbury post office opens
  5. 1881Post officeThe Frye post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1906In the archiveRocky Point Cove, Silver Lake
  8. 1927On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1990CensusPopulation peaks at 437
The story

How Roxbury came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Roxbury.

Read it all →

Originally known as Township No. 7, it was first settled about 1809. It was incorporated as a town on March 17, 1835, and named after Roxbury, Massachusetts. Farmers grew hay and raised livestock. Set on an intervale surrounded by the Western Maine Mountains, Roxbury was noted in the 19th century for abundant forests and mineral deposits. The Swift River falls provided water power for watermills, and industries included a sawmill, gristmill, shingle mill and shoe factory. In 1837, the population was 182. By 1859, it had grown to 246. The Rumford Falls & Rangeley Lakes Railroad was completed in 1896, carrying freight, tourists and "rusticators" up the Swift River valley through Roxbury to Mooselookmeguntic Lake.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Roxbury, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s1 item
Rocky Point Cove, Silver Lake1906Rocky Point Cove, Silver Lake
1910s–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
Today1 recent
Swift River Waterfall2013Swift River Waterfall
On the map

Roxbury on the map, 1927 to 1969

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

Roxbury on the 1927 USGS mapRoxbury on the 1930 USGS mapRoxbury on the 1969 USGS map1927Rumford 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 Roxbury.

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.

Rocky Point Cove, Silver Lake
Retake this viewRocky Point Cove, Silver Lake, 1906

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

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Roxbury’s post office has been open since 1849.

Roxbury
1849–today
Frye
1881–today
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Frye
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Roxbury
Old FryePineviewRoxbury Village

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.

Weld1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMexicoIts storyCByronIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAndover4 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRumford11 historic placesA+

Questions about Roxbury’s history

What year was Roxbury founded?

In 1835, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Roxbury’s post office opened in 1849, and the census of 1830 counted 122 people here.

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 (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.