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History · Vanceboro

Vanceboro’s post office opened in 1871, and 30% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1930 on, and the census since 1830.

1871first post office
0on the National Register
30%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Vanceboro’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Vanceboro began

When was Vanceboro founded?

1871

The Vanceboro post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Shawville (1870), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

First census: 17 in 18302020 census: 102155 years
Founding year: the first Vanceboro post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Vanceboro’s past

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

Boom and bustPeaked at 870 in 1890; 102 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Vanceboro’s homes were built before 1958.
★ What stands out · People over time

Vanceboro, census by census

02004006008001850190019502000Peak: 870

Peaked at 870 in 1890; 102 people lived here in 2020.

17 censuses, 1830–2020.

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

The story

How Vanceboro came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Vanceboro.

Read it all →

Vanceboro was selected as the border crossing for the European and North American Railway (E&NA) between Bangor, Maine, and Saint John, New Brunswick, during surveys in the 1860s.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Vanceboro, 1870 to 1930

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1870Post officeThe Shawville post office opens
  3. 1871Post officeThe Shawville post office closes
  4. 1871Post officeThe Vanceboro post office opens
  5. 1890CensusPopulation peaks at 870
  6. 20th century
  7. 1917In the archiveCommission - From Foreign Nations - Britain - American Commission to greet the British Co…
  8. 1930On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Vanceboro, decade by decade

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

1910s5 items
Commission - From Foreign Nations - Britain - American Commission to greet the British Commission at1917Commission - From Foreign Nations - Britain - America…Commission - From Foreign Nations - Britain - Assistant Secretary of State, Breckinridge Long greets Sir Arthur Balfour…1917Commission - From Foreign Nations - Britain - Assista…Commission - From Foreign Nations - Britain - Balfour party at Vanceboro, Maine, start for Washington1917Commission - From Foreign Nations - Britain - Balfour…Commission - From Foreign Nations - Britain - Secretary of State Long greeting Arthur Balfour at1917Commission - From Foreign Nations - Britain - Secreta…Enemy Activities - Destruction by Enemy in U.S. - Werner Van Horne, German agent in America. Mill showing shattered win…1917Enemy Activities - Destruction by Enemy in U.S. - Wer…
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
Today2 recent
Canada - United States border crossing at Vanceboro, Maine from St. Croix, New Brunswick2017Canada - United States border crossing at Vanceboro, …On the Saint Croix2016On the Saint Croix
On the map

Vanceboro on the map, 1930 to 1988

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

Vanceboro on the 1930 USGS mapVanceboro on the 1988 USGS map1930Vanceboro 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 Vanceboro.

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.

Commission - From Foreign Nations - Britain - American Commission to greet the British Commission at
Retake this viewCommission - From Foreign Nations - Britain - American Commission to greet the British Commission at, 1917

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

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Vanceboro’s post office has been open since 1871. Another post office, Shawville, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Shawville
1870–1871
Vanceboro
1871–today
18701950today
Gone or out of use
Coldwater TavernlocaleVanceboro Post Officepost office

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

Help out

Finish Vanceboro’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewCommission - From Foreign Nations - Bri…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Vanceboro’s history

What year was Vanceboro founded?

The Vanceboro post office opened in 1871, 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 (7), 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.