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History · Waite

Waite’s post office opened in 1837

Most of Waite was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. Below: maps from 1940 on and the census since 1860.

1837first post office
0on the National Register
7%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Smcpike · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Waite began

When was Waite founded?

1837

The Waite post office opened in 1837, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 95 in 18602020 census: 66189 years
Founding year: the first Waite post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Waite’s 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 Waite are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 204 in 1880; 66 people lived here in 2020.Deep rootsA post office since 1837: 189 years of Waite.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Waite’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Waite’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
People over time

Waite, census by census

0100200190019502000Peak: 204

Peaked at 204 in 1880; 66 people lived here in 2020.

17 censuses, 1860–2020.

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

Timeline

Waite, 1837 to 1967

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1837Post officeThe Waite post office opens
  3. 1880CensusPopulation peaks at 204
  4. 20th century
  5. 1940On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1967Post officeThe Waite post office closes
The story so far

Waite, in brief

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

Waite is a town in Washington County, Maine, United States. The town was named after Benjamin Waite, a lumberman and businessman from Calais, Maine. The population was 66 at the 2020 census. Waite is a small community served by one general store. The town is also home to two logging contractors. Waite shares its zip code, 04492, with the neighboring town of Talmadge.

Its first post office opened in 1837. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 101 to 66 (-35%).

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

By decade

Waite, decade by decade

Today1 recent
Waite Maine Congregational Church 20022003Waite Maine Congregational Church 2002
On the map

Waite on the map, 1940 to 1988

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

Waite on the 1940 USGS mapWaite on the 1988 USGS map1940Waite 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 Waite.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and old corners

Waite had its own post office from 1837 to 1967.

Waite
1837–1967
18301930today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Bingo

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.

TalmadgeIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Waite’s history

What year was Waite founded?

The Waite post office opened in 1837, 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 (1), 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.