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B+History
History · Sullivan

22% of Sullivan’s homes were built before 1940

More historic than 65% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Its Register listing is the Granite Store. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1932 on, and the census since 1790.

1on the National Register
22%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Sullivan’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

About Sullivan’s history

How historic is Sullivan?

B+

More historic than 65% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
History grade

What drives Sullivan’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Sullivan is more historic than 65% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Sullivan’s overall grade.
Founding eraNo founding year we can rely on, so the grade uses the other two–Homes built before 194022.2% of homes (±4.6) · typical ME town 19.1% · U.S. 8.4%B+National Register1 listing, 8.0 per 10,000 residents · typical ME town 15.9 · U.S. 2.4C+
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 65%
NewerOlder

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 Sullivan’s 8.0 sits near the middle of its state (37% of Maine towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on two of the three inputs, so a change in either one moves the letter more than it would with three. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.6 points).

Founding year: our sources. 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 Sullivan’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.Lost villages1 post office opened and closed inside today’s Sullivan, and 5 old place names are still on the map.Old burying grounds12 cemeteries and burying grounds inside Sullivan.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Sullivan’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewSullivan, Me: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Sullivan had its own post office from 1794 to 1972. Another post office, East Sullivan, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Sullivan
1794–1972
West Sullivan
1848–today
East Sullivan
1849–1975
North Sullivan
1897–today
17901910today
Hamlets and corners on the map
East SullivanNorth SullivanSchoodicTunk LakeWest Sullivan
12cemeteries and burying grounds inside Sullivan
Birch TreeBlaisdellDoyleDyerGordonHallJohnsonSalterSimpsonSumnerUrannYork Hill

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

The story so far

Sullivan, in brief

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

Sullivan is a town in Hancock County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,219 at the 2020 census. The town was named for Daniel Sullivan, an early settler. Colloquially referred to as "Sully" or "the Sullivans"—like many Maine municipalities composed of villages with geographic designations of the town proper—the municipality was incorporated in 1789. Located in the Upper Schoodic Peninsula sub-region of Maine's Downeast Acadia region, the municipality has been known as "Waukeag", "New Bristol", and later Sullivan; and once included the nearby communities of Hancock, Sorrento, and what would later be (parts of Gouldsboro Point TWP, Tunk Lake TWP, the Schoodic Foothills, Hog Bay, and …

Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 1,236 in 2010, 1,219 in 2020.

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

Timeline

Sullivan, 1794 to 1975

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1794Post officeThe Sullivan post office opens
  3. 19th century
  4. 1848Post officeThe West Sullivan post office opens
  5. 1849Post officeThe East Sullivan post office opens
  6. 1860Born hereAlice Turner Curtis is born here
  7. 1870In the archiveSullivan, Me
  8. 20th century
  9. 1932On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  10. 1972Post officeThe Sullivan post office closes
  11. 1975Post officeThe East Sullivan post office closes
By decade

Sullivan, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1870s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1870s2 items
Sullivan, Mec. 1870Sullivan, MeSullivan, Mec. 1870Sullivan, Me
Today2 recent
Sullivan, Maine2026Sullivan, MaineSullivanME GraniteStore2013SullivanME GraniteStore
On the map

Sullivan on the map, 1932 to 1982

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

Sullivan on the 1932 USGS mapSullivan on the 1942 USGS mapSullivan on the 1957 USGS mapSullivan on the 1982 USGS map1932Tunk Lake 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 Sullivan.

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.

Sullivan, Me
Retake this viewSullivan, Me, c. 1870

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Sullivan

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
1974
Granite Store
Granite Store
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Greek Revival1
Granite StoreGreek Revival

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

People over time

Sullivan, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,40018001850190019502000Peak: 1,379

Between 504 and 1,379 people in every census since 1790.

24 censuses, 1790–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Sorrento1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHancock3 historic placesAGouldsboro4 historic placesB+Franklin1 historic placeB+

Questions about Sullivan’s history

How does Sullivan rank for history?

Sullivan is more historic than 65% of U.S. towns. 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.

What is on the National Register in Sullivan?

One place: the Granite Store (listed 1974).

How old are the homes in Sullivan?

22% of Sullivan’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.6 points), against a typical 19% for a Maine town; the median home was built in 1981.

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).

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.