York dates to 1652, and 22% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 95% of U.S. towns · #22 of 143 in Maine. What drives it
18 places in town are on the National Register, among them 2 National Historic Landmarks and four historic districts with 62 buildings between them. Below: 16 old photos and papers, maps from 1893 on, and the census since 1790.
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1792.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives York’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, York is more historic than 95% of U.S. towns, #22 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 York’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 York’s 60.8 sits above most of its state (79% of Maine towns have fewer) while its 85 historic buildings outnumber those of 88% of U.S. towns.
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 (±4.4 points). Two sources give 1652.
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 York’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Adams Lot · Adams Lot · Albert Perkins Lot · Alfred Perkins Lot · Allen Lot · Andrew Williams Lot · Arthur Came Lot · Austin Lot Cemetery · Barrell Cemetery · Beal Lot · Blaisdell Lot · Blaisdell Lot · Boston Lot · Boston Lot · Bracy Cemetery · Bragdon Cemetery 45 · Breckinridge Lot · Brooks Cemetery · Brooks Lot · Cape Neddick Baptist Church Cemetery · Captain James Nowell Lot · Captain Joseph Junkins Lot · Card Lot · Carter Lot · Caswell Barton Lot · Charles Bragdon Family Lot · Chase - Shaw Lot · Chase Lot · Chase Lot · Chick Lot · Clark Road Cemetery · Cook Lot · Cox Lot · Currier Cemetery · Currier Cemetery · Daniel Junkins Lot · Daniel Lunt Lot · Daniel McIntire Lot · Daniel Shaw Lot · David Fitzgerald Lot · David Moulton Lot · Dixon Lot · Donnell Bridges Lot · Donnell Lot · Donnell Weare Lot · Earle - Welch Lot · Edward Phillips Lot · Elias Perkins Lot · Elijah Junkins Lot · Eliphet Trafton Lot · Farish Lot · First Parish Cemetery · Fitzgerald Lot · Fitzgerald Lot · Francis Plaisted Lot · Francis Staples Lot · Freeman Lot · Freeman Lot · Freethy Cemetery · Furbish Lot · Furbish Lot · Garey Lot · Garey Lot · George Bridges Lot · George Brooks Lot · George Simpson Lot · George Woodward Lot · George Young Lot · Goodwin Lot · Gordon Wilson Lot · Gowen Family Burial Ground 5 · Grant Lot · Grant Lot · Grant Lot · Grover Lot · Hanson Lot · Hutchins Young Lot · Ivory Simpson Lot · James Leavitt Lot · James Weare Lot · Jedediah Perkins Lot · Jefferson McIntire Lot · Jellison Lot · Jeremiah Freeman Lot · Jeremiah Lord Lot · Jeremiah Moulton Lot · Jeremiah Nowell Lot · Jeremiah Weare Lot · John Norton Lot · Johnathan Young Lot · Johnson Lot · Jonathan Young Lot · Joseph Junkins Lot · Joseph Preble Lot · Joseph Thompson Lot · Josiah Shaw Lot · Junkins Cemetery · Junkins Lot · Junkins Lot · Kingsbury Family Cemetery · Knickerbocker Cemetery · Laurent Lot · Leavitt Lot · Leavitt Lot · Leonard Junkins Lot · Lewis Lot · Littlefield Cemetery · Littlefield Lot · Main Goodwin Lot · Mark Hutchins Lot · Matthews Cemetery · McIntire Lot · McIntire Lot · Mendum Lot · Moody Cemetery · Moody Lot · Moore Cemetery · Moore Cemetery · Moore Lot · Moses Grace Lot · Moulton Cemetery · Moulton Family Burying Ground · Moulton Lot · Moulton Lot · Mugridge Lot · Norman Lot · Nowell Linscott Chadbourne Lot · Nowell Lot · O'Connor Cemetery · Old Burying Yard · Old Parish Cemetery · Oliver Norton Lot · Parsons Lot · Parsons Lot · Patch Lot · Paul Lot · Payne Cemetery · Perkins - White Lot · Perkins Lot · Perkins Lot · Perkins Plot · Plaisted Lot · Plaisted Lot · Plaisted Lot · Prebble Lot · Preble Lot · Preble Lot · Preble Lot · Ramsdell Lot · Ramsdell Lot · Ramsdell Lot · Raynes Lot · Redden Lot · Richard Adams Lot · Roberts - Plaisted Lot · Rogers Cook Lot · Saint Georges Cemetery · Samuel Blaisdell Lot · Samuel Grant Lot · Samuel Littlefield Lot · Samuel Lord Cemetery · Samuel McIntire Lot · Samuel Norton Lot · Sayward Lot · Schnable Cemetery · Shaw - Staples - Stevens Lot · Simpson Cemetery · Smith Preble Lot · Solomon Avery Lot · South Side Cemetery · Spinney Lot · Stephen Freeman Lot · Stevens - Pugh Lot · Stewart Lot · Sumner Shaw Lot · Swett Lot · Swett Whittle Lot · Sylvester McIntire Lot · Talpey Lot · Talpey Lot · Theodore Parsons Lot · Theodore Wilson Lot · Thomas Junkins Lot · Thomas Moody Lot · Timothy Young Lot · Todd Lot · Tombs Lot · Town Farm Cemetery · Trafton - Winn Lot · Trafton Cummings Lot · Trafton Lot · Trafton Lot · Vincent Lot · Weare Lot · Weare Lot · Webber - Merrow Cemetery · Welch Lot · William Norton Lot · William Simpson Lot · William Simpson Lot Cemetery · William Weare Lot · Wilson Swett Lot · Winn Lot · Winn Lot · Winn Lot · Winn Lot · Winn Parsons Lot · York Beach Cemetery · York Beach Veterans Memorial Cemetery · Young Lot · Young Lot
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
First settled by Europeans in 1624, the plantation was originally called Agamenticus, the Abenaki term for the York River, which also was the name given to the hill, visible from sea.
In 1638, settlers changed the name to Bristol after Bristol, England, from which they had immigrated. Envisioning a great city arising from the wilderness, Sir Ferdinando Gorges, lord proprietor of Maine under the Plymouth patent, named the capital of his province Gorgeana.
On March 1, 1642, by charter of King Charles I, Gorgeana became the first incorporated city in America.
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 1652, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. York’s post office opened in 1792, and the first U.S. census counted 2,900 people here in 1790.
How does York rank for history?
York is more historic than 95% of U.S. towns, #22 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 York?
18 listings, 2 of them National Historic Landmarks: 14 buildings, among them the McIntire Garrison House (a National Historic Landmark since 1968), and 4 historic districts with 62 contributing buildings. 85 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in York?
22% of York’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.4 points), against a typical 19% for a Maine town; the median home was built in 1977.
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 (16), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (18), 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.
★ Landmark
★ Landmark
c. 1870
c. 1870
c. 1870
c. 1870
c. 1870
c. 1870
c. 1870
1875
1897–1924
1897–1924
1897–1924
1898
