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History · Smithfield

Smithfield’s post office opened in 1840, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Smithfield was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1983. Its Register listing is the Kromberg Barn.

1840first post office
1on the National Register
9%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Smithfield began

When was Smithfield founded?

1840

The Smithfield post office opened in 1840, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, East Mercer (1834) and East Mercer (1876), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 925186 years
Founding year: the first Smithfield post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Smithfield’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 Smithfield are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Smithfield.Deep rootsA post office since 1840: 186 years of Smithfield.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Smithfield’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Smithfield’s post office has been open since 1840. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

East Mercer
1834–1840
Smithfield
1840–today
East Mercer
1876–1909
18301930today
Gone or out of use
Smithfield Elementary Schoolschool
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Smithfield
GouldSmithfield CityStevensVillageWhitehouse

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

Timeline

Smithfield, 1834 to 1927

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1834Post officeThe East Mercer post office opens
  3. 1840Post officeThe East Mercer post office closes
  4. 1840Post officeThe Smithfield post office opens
  5. 1876Post officeThe East Mercer post office opens
  6. 20th century
  7. 1909Post officeThe East Mercer post office closes
  8. 1927Born hereC. J. Stevens is born here
The story so far

Smithfield, in brief

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

Smithfield is a town in Somerset County, Maine, United States. The population was 925 at the 2020 census. The town was incorporated on February 29, 1840, making it the only town in Maine incorporated on Leap Day. The town was named after the Rev. Henry Smith, an early settler.

Its first post office opened in 1840. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,033 to 925 (-10%).

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

By decade

Smithfield, decade by decade

Today2 recent
SmithfieldME KrombergBarn2022SmithfieldME KrombergBarnSmithfield, Maine Aerial View 20132013Smithfield, Maine Aerial View 2013
On the National Register

1 historic place in Smithfield

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2009
Kromberg Barn
Kromberg Barn
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Late Victorian1
Gambrel Roof Barn1
Kromberg BarnLate Victorian

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

RomeIts storyB−Mercer3 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNorridgewock7 historic placesA−Oakland4 historic placesB−Fairfield9 historic placesABelgrade3 historic placesB+

Questions about Smithfield’s history

What year was Smithfield founded?

The Smithfield post office opened in 1840, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Smithfield?

One place: the Kromberg Barn (listed 2009).

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), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.