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Sorrento, Maine (8187330732) (cropped)Photo: Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0
–Not graded
History · Sorrento

Sorrento’s post office opened in 1888, and 19% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Sorrento Library. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1904 on, and the census since 1900.

1888first post office
1on the National Register
19%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0
Quick answers

How Sorrento began

When was Sorrento founded?

1888

The Sorrento post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1895.

First census: 117 in 19002020 census: 279138 years
Founding year: the first Sorrento post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1895.

What stands out about Sorrento’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.On the map since 19044 editions of the USGS map, 1904 to 1982. Watch Sorrento change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Sorrento’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Sorrento’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
On the map

Sorrento on the map, 1904 to 1982

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

Sorrento on the 1904 USGS mapSorrento on the 1942 USGS mapSorrento on the 1956 USGS mapSorrento on the 1982 USGS map1904Bar Harbor 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 Sorrento.

The story so far

Sorrento, in brief

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

Sorrento is a town in Hancock County, Maine, United States. The population was 279 at the 2020 census.

Its first post office opened in 1888. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 274 in 2010, 279 in 2020.

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

Timeline

Sorrento, 1887 to 1918

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1887In the archive1887 Plan of Sorrento, Maine, by Hermann Grundel, from the Digital Commonwealth - commonw…
  3. 1888Post officeThe Sorrento post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1904On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1918Born hereJohn Howland Rowe is born here
By decade

Sorrento, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1880s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1880s1 item
1887 Plan of Sorrento, Maine, by Hermann Grundel, from the Digital Commonwealth - commonwealth cj82m711n18871887 Plan of Sorrento, Maine, by Hermann Grundel, fro…Map
1890s–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
Today3 recent
Sorrento, Maine2012Sorrento, MaineSorrento, Maine (8187330732) (cropped)2012Sorrento, Maine (8187330732) (cropped)Sorrento Community Church, Maine2012Sorrento Community Church, Maine
On the National Register

1 historic place in Sorrento

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
1995
Sorrento Library
Sorrento Library
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Colonial Revival1
All 1 listings
Sorrento LibraryBuilding · listed 1995

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

People over time

Sorrento, census by census

01002003001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 295

Between 117 and 295 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Hancock3 historic placesAGouldsboro4 historic placesB+Sullivan1 historic placeB+

Questions about Sorrento’s history

What year was Sorrento founded?

The Sorrento post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1895.

What is on the National Register in Sorrento?

One place: the Sorrento Library (listed 1995).

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 (4), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.