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History · Swans Island

Swans Island’s post office opened in 1844, and 30% of its homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 3 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1904 on, and the census since 1810.

1844first post office
1on the National Register
30%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Swans Island’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Swans Island began

When was Swans Island founded?

1844

The Swans Island post office opened in 1844, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 51 in 18102020 census: 355182 years
Founding year: the first Swans Island post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Swans Island’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.Boom and bustPeaked at 765 in 1880; 355 people lived here in 2020.On the map since 19043 editions of the USGS map, 1904 to 1983. Watch Swans Island change.Deep rootsA post office since 1844: 182 years of Swans Island.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Swans Island’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 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 viewBurnt Coat Harbor Light Station, At Hac…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Swans Island, census by census

02004006008001850190019502000Peak: 765

Peaked at 765 in 1880; 355 people lived here in 2020.

20 censuses, 1810–2020.

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

On the map

Swans Island on the map, 1904 to 1983

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

Swans Island on the 1904 USGS mapSwans Island on the 1943 USGS mapSwans Island on the 1983 USGS map1904Swan Island 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 Swans Island.

The story

How Swans Island came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Swans Island.

Read it all →

Swan's Island was first charted in 1606 by Samuel de Champlain's expedition, and at the time was used by local Indians as a seasonal hunting ground.

James Swan, a member of the Sons of Liberty and Boston Tea Party participant, purchased the island in 1786. In 1791, David Smith, an American Revolutionary War veteran, became the first settler of European extraction on the island.

The population grew slowly to more than 1,000 by 1900. Fish processing was the dominant industry into the 1930s, when it became no longer profitable in the area. The state-run ferry, which began service in 1960, helped make Swan's Island a popular summer tourism destination. The ferry also is used to carry the mail to the island.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Swans Island, 1844 to 1904

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1844Post officeThe Swans Island post office opens
  3. 1872BuiltBurnt Coat Harbor Light Station is built
  4. 1880CensusPopulation peaks at 765
  5. 1883Post officeThe Atlantic post office opens
  6. 1897Post officeThe Minturn post office opens
  7. 20th century
  8. 1904On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Swans Island, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Burnt Coat Harbor Light Station, At Hackamock Head on Swan's Island opposite Harbor Island at entrance to Burnt Coat Ha…Date?Burnt Coat Harbor Light Station, At Hackamock Head on…
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.

Burnt Coat Harbor Light Station, At Hackamock Head on Swan's Island opposite Harbor Island at entrance to Burnt Coat Ha…
Retake this viewBurnt Coat Harbor Light Station, At Hackamock Head on Swan's Island opposite Harbor Island at entrance to Burnt Coat Ha…

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Swans Island

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts
first listed
1988
Burnt Coat Harbor Light Station
Burnt Coat Harbor Light Station, built 1872
Districts

Architectural styles listings

Light Station1
Burnt Coat Harbor Light StationLight Station · Built 1872

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

Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Swans Island’s post office has been open since 1844.

Swans Island
1844–today
Atlantic
1883–today
Minturn
1897–today
18401930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
AtlanticMinturn
6cemeteries and burying grounds inside Swans Island
Grindle HillHockamock HeadIrish PointNorthRose HillStockbridge Hill

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.

Frenchboro1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townIsle au Haut2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townDeer Isle6 historic placesABrooklin1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Swans Island’s history

What year was Swans Island founded?

The Swans Island post office opened in 1844, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Swans Island?

One place: the Burnt Coat Harbor Light Station (listed 1988).

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 the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, 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.