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History · Port Hope

Port Hope’s post office opened in 1860, and 39% of its homes were built before 1940

13 places in town are on the National Register. Below: maps from 1970 on and the census since 1890.

1860first post office
13on the National Register
39%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Port Hope began

When was Port Hope founded?

1860

The Port Hope post office opened in 1860, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 398 in 18902020 census: 293166 years
Founding year: the first Port Hope post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Port Hope’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 Port Hope are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Landmarks on the Register13 places on the National Register.Old housesHalf of Port Hope’s homes were built before 1951.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Port Hope’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Port Hope’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
On the National Register

13 historic places in Port Hope

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

places listed
13
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
13
each building in a district counts

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

The story

How Port Hope came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Port Hope.

Read it all →

In 1851, William Stafford, while living in Lexington, bought the first parcel of land in what is now Port Hope, with Reuben Dimond. Later, Stafford and William Southard invested in buying up forty-acre parcels from the government. These parcels had been set aside as pensions for veterans of the War of 1812.

Traveling to the area by schooner, Southard was let off at some distance from shore, due to a pending storm. Rowing in a skiff in the wind, he vowed that if he made it to shore, he would name the spot Port Hope.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the map

Port Hope on the map, 1970 to 1984

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

Port Hope on the 1970 USGS mapPort Hope on the 1984 USGS map1970Port Hope sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Port Hope.

People over time

Port Hope, census by census

01002003004001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 398

Between 267 and 398 people in every census since 1890.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Gore Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRubicon Township13 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Port Hope’s history

What year was Port Hope founded?

The Port Hope post office opened in 1860, 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 Wikidata (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps and U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.