Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1797.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Shapleigh’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Shapleigh is more historic than 45% of U.S. towns, #131 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 Shapleigh’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 Shapleigh’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (10% of Maine towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1785.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.9 points).
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 →
What stands out about Shapleigh’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
In 1668, Chief Captain Sunday (or Wesumbe) of the Newichawannock Abenaki tribe deeded Francis Small the Ossipee Tract, which included Cornish, Parsonsfield, Newfield, Limerick, Limington and Shapleigh. Small, a trader from Kittery, then sold a half interest to Major Nicholas Shapleigh of Eliot. In 1770, heirs discovered the unrecorded deed and made claim. Shapleigh's heirs took Parsonsfield, Shapleigh and one half of Limerick.
Passages that mention Shapleigh, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of York County, Maine. With illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers1880Read the page →
Read the text
The town of Shapleigh was incorporated March 5, 1785, and named in honor of its original proprietor, Maj. Nicholas Shapleigh. It was previously known by the name of Hubbard's-town, having taken that name from Joshua Hubbard, one of Maj. Shapleigh's heirs, and a leading proprietor. Shapleigh was the thirty -fifth town incorpo- 55 rated in the district of Maine. There were more than 100
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of York County, Maine. With illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers1880 · page 428Read the page →
Read the text
By the act of incorporation, all town lands within the bounds of Acton became the property of the town. All back taxes were collected by the old town, and all appropriations divided equally. The town of Shapleigh retained the records, but any citizen of Actun should have, at all times, free access to examine and make copies or extracts therefrom, free of expense. In April, Reuben Buck, Aaron Hubbard, and Samuel Stacy were appointed a com-
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.
Timeline
Shapleigh, 1785 to 2020
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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.
In 1785, according to Wikidata. Shapleigh’s post office opened in 1797, and the first U.S. census counted 1,320 people here in 1790.
How does Shapleigh rank for history?
Shapleigh is more historic than 45% of U.S. towns, #131 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.
How old are the homes in Shapleigh?
11% of Shapleigh’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.9 points), against a typical 19% for a Maine town; the median home was built in 1980.
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), Wikipedia, 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 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.
2007
2006
2006
2006
