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AHistory
History · Tremont

Tremont dates to 1762, and 18% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 92% of U.S. towns. What drives it

5 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 3 buildings. Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1904 on, and the census since 1850.

1762founded
5on the National Register
18%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
4famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Tremont’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Tremont began

When was Tremont founded?

1762

Tremont dates its founding to 1762 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1850.

First census: 1,425 in 18502020 census: 1,544264 years

How historic is Tremont?

A

More historic than 92% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1833.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Tremont’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Tremont is more historic than 92% of U.S. towns. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.

A
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Tremont’s overall grade.
Founding era1762, from Wikidata: founded before 1776, an older era than 96% of U.S. townsA+Homes built before 194018.3% of homes (±4.7) · typical ME town 19.1% · U.S. 8.4%B+National Register5 listings, 8 historic buildings, 53.1 per 10,000 residents · typical ME town 15.9 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 92%
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 Tremont’s 53.1 sits above most of its state (76% of Maine towns have fewer) while its 8 historic buildings outnumber those of 74% of U.S. towns.

NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1762.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A− to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.7 points).

Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). 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 Tremont’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Tremont, and 7 old place names are still on the map.A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.A town of family graveyards27 cemeteries and burying grounds inside Tremont.Older than the countryEstablished in 1762, 14 years before the Declaration of Independence.
★ What stands out · Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Tremont had its own post office from 1849 to 1928. Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Seal Cove
1833–today
Tremont
1849–1928
West Tremont
1872–today
Center
1884–1921
McKinley
1897–1966
Gotts Island
1902–1927
Bernard
1906–today
Bass Harbor
1966–today
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Baldwin CornersBass HarborBernardCenterRichtownSeal CoveWest Tremont
27family graveyards and cemeteries inside Tremont
Babbidge MurphyBenjamin NorwoodBensonBernardCenterCrockett PointFlyeGreat Gott IslandHead of the HarborHillrestHodgdonJames ReedKelleyLangleyMcKinleyMurphyMurphy HillNorwoodOberPomroyReed PointRichRichtownRobbinsRumill DodgeSeal CoveTinker Island
See all 27

Babbidge Murphy Burial Ground · Benjamin Norwood Cemetery · Benson Cemetery · Bernard Cemetery · Center Cemetery · Crockett Point Cemetery · Flye Cemetery · Great Gott Island Cemetery · Head of the Harbor Cemetery · Hillrest Cemetery · Hodgdon Cemetery · James Reed Cemetery · Kelley Cemetery · Langley Cemetery · McKinley Cemetery · Murphy Cemetery · Murphy Hill Cemetery · Norwood Cemetery · Ober Cemetery · Pomroy Cemetery · Reed Point Cemetery · Rich Cemetery · Richtown Cemetery · Robbins Cemetery · Rumill Dodge Cemetery · Seal Cove Cemetery · Tinker Island Cemetery

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

Help out

Start Tremont’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewBass Harbor Head Light, Mount Desert Is…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Tremont came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Tremont.

Read it all →

Settled in 1762, it was incorporated on June 3, 1848, as Mansel, the name given the island by Isaac Young Ellis company of emigrants to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630. Two months later, on August 8 it was renamed Tremont, which means "three mountains" in French. By 1880, when the population was 2,011, the town had a sawmill, shipyard, gristmill, shingle mill and brickyard. Fishing and fish curing were the principal industries. Today, tourism is important to the economy.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Tremont, 1762 to 1947

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

  1. 18th century
  2. 1762
    FoundingTremont is established
  3. 19th century
  4. 1831Born hereGeorge Ward Nichols is born here
  5. 1833Post officeThe Seal Cove post office opens
  6. 1843Born hereJohn F. Bickford is born here
  7. 1849Post officeThe Tremont post office opens
  8. 1858BuiltBass Harbor Head Light Station is built
  9. 1872Post officeThe West Tremont post office opens
  10. 20th century
  11. 1903Born hereRuth Moore is born here
  12. 1904On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  13. 1908In the archiveBass Harbor Head Light, Mount Desert Island, ME
  14. 1914Born hereElaine Lorillard is born here
  15. 1922BuiltBass Harbor Memorial Library is built
  16. 1928Post officeThe Tremont post office closes
  17. 1947BuiltMoore-Mayo House is built
By decade

Tremont, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s2 items
Bass Harbor Head Light, Mount Desert Island, MEc. 1908Bass Harbor Head Light, Mount Desert Island, MEBass Harbor, McKinley, MEc. 1908Bass Harbor, McKinley, ME
1910s–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
Today9 recent
Marshall Brook - Tremont, Maine, USA - September 27, 3023 012023Marshall Brook - Tremont, Maine, USA - September 27, …Bass Harbor Memorial Library2018Bass Harbor Memorial LibraryThurston's Lobster Pond, Tremont, ME IMG 22182014Thurston's Lobster Pond, Tremont, ME IMG 2218Sea Memorial, Tremont, ME IMG 22152014Sea Memorial, Tremont, ME IMG 2215Boats at Tremont, ME IMG 22192014Boats at Tremont, ME IMG 2219Bass Harbor U.S. Coast Guard Light House, Mt Desert, ME2014Bass Harbor U.S. Coast Guard Light House, Mt Desert, …BernardMEPostOffice02009BernardMEPostOffice0BernardMEPostOffice2009BernardMEPostOfficeFARO ENTRE LA NIEBLA2007FARO ENTRE LA NIEBLA
On the map

Tremont on the map, 1904 to 1942

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

Tremont on the 1904 USGS mapTremont on the 1942 USGS map1904Mount Desert 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 Tremont.

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.

Bass Harbor Head Light, Mount Desert Island, ME
Retake this viewBass Harbor Head Light, Mount Desert Island, ME, c. 1908

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

5 historic places in Tremont

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

places listed
5
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
8
each building in a district counts
first listed
1988
Bass Harbor Head Light Station
Bass Harbor Head Light Station, built 1858Bass Harbor Memorial Library, built 1922Dix Family StableMoore-Mayo House, built 1947Old Red Store
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Light Station1
Late 19th and Early 20th Century Revivals: Colonial Revival1
Queen Anne1
Bass Harbor Head Light StationLight Station · Built 1858
Bass Harbor Memorial LibraryLate 19th and Early 20th Century Revivals: Colonial Revival · Built 1922
All 5 listings
Dix Family StableBuilding · listed 1990Moore-Mayo HouseBuilding · listed 2004Old Red StoreBuilding · listed 2019

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

People over time

Tremont, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0001850190019502000Peak: 2,036

Between 954 and 2,036 people in every census since 1850.

18 censuses, 1850–2020.

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

Famous people

4 famous people were born in Tremont

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

See all →
George Ward NicholsAmerican journalist · b. 1831
E
Elaine LorillardAmerican socialite · b. 1914
R
Ruth MooreAmerican fiction writer · b. 1903
John F. BickfordUnited States Navy Medal of Honor recipient · b. 1843
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Southwest Harbor4 historic placesAFrenchboro1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMount Desert11 historic placesA+Brooklin1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townBlue Hill7 historic placesA

Questions about Tremont’s history

What year was Tremont founded?

In 1762, according to Wikidata. Tremont’s post office opened in 1833, and the census of 1850 counted 1,425 people here.

How does Tremont rank for history?

Tremont is more historic than 92% 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 Tremont?

5 listings: 4 buildings and 1 historic district, the Bass Harbor Head Light Station, with 3 contributing buildings. 8 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Tremont?

18% of Tremont’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.7 points), against a typical 19% for a Maine town; the median home was built in 1986.

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 (11), the National Register of Historic Places (5), Wikipedia, 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.