Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 67% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: 2 old photos and papers, maps from 1915 on, and the census since 1820.
Bangor dates its founding to 1806 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1820.
More historic than 67% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Bangor is more historic than 67% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
New York towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical New York town has 12.3 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Bangor’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (10% of New York towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bangor’s history is told.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Born hereWilliam L. Stoughton is born here
Born hereRobert N. Chamberlain is born here
In the archiveBangor (Township); West Bangor (Village)
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyFrom Wikipedia’s history of Bangor.
Settlement commenced around 1806. The town of Bangor was organized from the town of Dickinson in 1812. The town lost some territory upon the later foundation of the town of Brandon in 1828.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Passages that mention Bangor, cut from the printed page as they were published.
preaching was supplied largely by the ministers of neighboring churches. Rev. Isaac Rogers also preached for a time, quite regularly, and in the summer of 1876, Mr. Schurtz, a student of Bangor Seminary, labored in the parish. June 19, 1877, M. J. I. Jones was ordained over the church, and continued pastor for one year. The society having a right to worship in the Union meeting-house but a small part of the time, movements were set on foot to erect a separate
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Charles H. Pope, a graduate of Bowdoin College, of the class of 1862, and of Bangor Theological Seminary, was installed June 5, 1883. The growth of the church since its foundation has been a gradual growth, although it has seen five periods of special religious interest, in 1828, 1834, 1843, 1862, and 1876.
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.
One decade in the archive so far: the 1870s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Bangor. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Bangor.
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Bangor’s page.
Retake this view · +15Between 370 and 2,520 people in every census since 1820.
21 censuses, 1820–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Bangor’s Wikipedia page.
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Bangor had its own post office from 1811 to 1959. Another post office, West Bangor, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1806, according to Wikidata. Bangor’s post office opened in 1811, and the census of 1820 counted 370 people here.
Bangor is more historic than 67% of U.S. towns. 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.
32% of Bangor’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±9.7 points), against a typical 27% for a New York town; the median home was built in 1978.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (2), 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.
1876