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History · Starks

13% of Starks’ homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Thompson's Bridge. Below: maps from 1894 on and the census since 1800.

1on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Starks’ 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 Starks are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18945 editions of the USGS map, 1894 to 1982. Watch Starks change.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,559 in 1840; 593 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Starks’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Starks’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

Starks on the map, 1894 to 1982

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

Starks on the 1894 USGS mapStarks on the 1943 USGS mapStarks on the 1956 USGS mapStarks on the 1975 USGS mapStarks on the 1982 USGS map1894Norridgewock 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 Starks.

People over time

Starks, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,60018001850190019502000Peak: 1,559

Peaked at 1,559 in 1840; 593 people lived here in 2020.

23 censuses, 1800–2020.

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

The story so far

Starks, in brief

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

Starks is a town in Somerset County, Maine, United States. The town was named after General John Stark of the Revolutionary War. The population was 593 at the 2020 census.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 640 to 593 (-7%).

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

Timeline

Starks, 1816 to 1963

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1816Post officeThe Stark post office opens
  3. 1818Born hereAbner Kirby is born here
  4. 1840CensusPopulation peaks at 1,559
  5. 1859Born hereEdwin F. Ladd is born here
  6. 1894On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 20th century
  8. 1963Post officeThe Stark post office closes
By decade

Starks, decade by decade

Today3 recent
Lemon Stream Dam in Starks, Maine, 20242024Lemon Stream Dam in Starks, Maine, 2024Starks, Maine 1914. The home of Earl and Bessie Ultz. Later, it became the home of Leland Ferrand2023Starks, Maine 1914. The home of Earl and Bessie Ultz.…Anson Road sunset2022Anson Road sunset
On the National Register

1 historic place in Starks

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
1991
Thompson's Bridge
Thompson's Bridge
Structures
Thompson's BridgeStructure

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Starks

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Edwin F. LaddAmerican politician · b. 1859
Abner KirbyAmerican mayor · b. 1818
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Another post office, Stark, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Witham Corner
Gone or out of use
Starks Elementary Schoolschool
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Starks
FredericGreenleafLocke

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.

Norridgewock7 historic placesA−Mercer3 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMadison3 historic placesA−Industry1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townNew Sharon2 historic placesA−Anson4 historic placesA

Questions about Starks’ history

What is on the National Register in Starks?

One place: the Thompson's Bridge (listed 1991).

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 (3), 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.