Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to South Windham

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · South Windham

South Windham’s post office opened in 1828, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register. Below: 2 old photos and papers and maps from 1891 on.

1828first post office
1on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From South Windham’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How South Windham began

When was South Windham founded?

1828

The South Windham post office opened in 1828, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 1,215198 years
Founding year: the first South Windham post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about South Windham’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 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18915 editions of the USGS map, 1891 to 1970. Watch South Windham change.Deep rootsA post office since 1828: 198 years of South Windham.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start South Windham’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewMain Street: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

South Windham on the map, 1891 to 1970

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

South Windham on the 1891 USGS mapSouth Windham on the 1916 USGS mapSouth Windham on the 1944 USGS mapSouth Windham on the 1950 USGS mapSouth Windham on the 1970 USGS map1891Portland 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 South Windham.

The story

How South Windham came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of South Windham.

Read it all →

The Presumpscot River was an early transportation corridor to interior Maine; and provided reliable water power at Little Falls. Major William Knight was operating a sawmill at the falls in 1756. As the local forests were cleared, the sawmill was replaced by William Johnson's grist mill and a wool carding mill operated by Leonard Bacon and Lathrop Crockett. Locks were constructed around the falls to complete the Cumberland and Oxford Canal in 1832. The canal fell into disuse after the Portland and Ogdensburg Railway was completed through South Windham in 1875. Maine Central Railroad leased the railway as their Mountain Division in 1888. Availability of year-round transportation encouraged C.A. Brown and Company to build a large brick wood-paper board factory at South Windham in 1875. Androscoggin Pulp Company purchased the factory, and the industrial village of South Windham deve…

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

South Windham, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s1 item
Main Streetc. 1910Main Street
1920s–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
Date unknown1 to date
Covered Bridge, Harry Cane Road spanning Presumpscot RiverDate?Covered Bridge, Harry Cane Road spanning Presumpscot …
Today1 recent
South Windham Community Church and Center2017South Windham Community Church and Center
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.

Main Street
Retake this viewMain Street, c. 1910

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in South Windham

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

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

Famous people

Famous people close to South Windham

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

See all →
S
Stephen KingAmerican novelist and writer · b. 1947
Anna KendrickAmerican actress · b. 1985
Ellen G. WhiteAmerican author, co-founder of the Seventh-day … · b. 1827
E
Elizabeth StroutAmerican novelist · b. 1956
Edwin HallAmerican physicist · b. 1855
A
Andrea MartinAmerican actress · b. 1947
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Little FallsIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGorham9 historic placesAWindham5 historic placesB−

Questions about South Windham’s history

What year was South Windham founded?

The South Windham post office opened in 1828, 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 Wikimedia Commons (2), the Library of Congress (1), Wikipedia and U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.