Woolwich dates to 1638, and 22% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 94% of U.S. towns · #28 of 143 in Maine. What drives it
4 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 13 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1894 on, and the census since 1790.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1880.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Woolwich’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Woolwich is more historic than 94% of U.S. towns, #28 of 143 in Maine. 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 Woolwich’s overall grade.
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 Woolwich’s 50.7 sits above most of its state (76% of Maine towns have fewer) while its 16 historic buildings outnumber those of 78% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1638.
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 (±10.2 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 Woolwich’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Called Nequasset after Nequasset Lake by the Abenaki people, it was first settled in 1638 by Edward Bateman and John Brown. They would purchase the land in 1639 from the sachem Mowhotiwormet, commonly known as Chief Robinhood, who lived near Nequasset Falls. At Day's Ferry on the Kennebec River, Richard Hammond operated a fortified trading post. His household of 16, including servants, workmen and stepchildren, conducted a lucrative fur trade with the Indians. But in the first blow of King Philip's War in the area, on the evening of August 13, 1676, warriors ingratiated themselves into the stockaded trading post, then killed the elderly Hammond and his stepson as they returned for the night. Others were either slain and scalped or taken into captivity. Buildings were looted and burned, and the cattle slain.
Passages that mention Woolwich, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Bath and environs, Sagadahoc County, Maine. 1607-1894 ..1894 · page 357Read the page →
Read the text
was empowered to call a meeting "for incorporating the Second Parish in Georgetown, in the County of Lincoln, into a separate town by the name of Bath," and " March 19, 1781, Samuel Harnden, of Woolwich, presided at Bath's first town-meeting. Gen. Samuel Harnden's life is of historical character. He lived in Indian times and their warfares, becoming a military man of some distinction, to whom was given the title of "Indian fighter."
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Bath and environs, Sagadahoc County, Maine. 1607-1894 ..1894 · page 36Read the page →
Read the text
The Town Comprised what is now Arrowsic, Georgetown, Phipsburg, Bath, Woolwich, and West Bath. Town meetings were held at the dwelling-house of Samuel Denny until they were held in the "meeting-house at Pleasant Cove," which was at the Noble and afterwards Lithgow and later the Morse farm, immediately south of Fiddlers Reach, March 8, 1742. When the meeting-house on Arrowsic Island was built and completed in 1763, the town meetings were held in that house. If meetings were called in winter, there
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
By decade
Woolwich, decade by decade
One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
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.
In 1638, according to Wikidata. Woolwich’s post office opened in 1880, and the first U.S. census counted 797 people here in 1790.
How does Woolwich rank for history?
Woolwich is more historic than 94% of U.S. towns, #28 of 143 in Maine. 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 Woolwich?
4 listings: 3 buildings and 1 historic district, the Days Ferry Historic District, with 13 contributing buildings. 16 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Woolwich?
22% of Woolwich’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±10.2 points), against a typical 19% for a Maine town; the median home was built in 1982.
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 (9), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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