The story so far
Maine, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Maine yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Its first post office opened in 1871.
C+History
History · Maine
Maine’s post office opened in 1871, and 17% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 37% of U.S. towns · #257 of 362 in Wisconsin. What drives it
Below: maps from 1966 on and old-book passages.
1871first post office
0on the National Register
17%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How Maine began
When was Maine founded?
1871
The Maine post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Taegesville (1891), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
2020 census: 2,613155 years
How historic is Maine?
C+
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 37% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Maine post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Maine’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Maine is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns, #257 of 362 in Wisconsin. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Maine’s overall grade.
Founding era1871, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194016.5% of homes (±6.2) · typical WI town 12.1% · U.S. 8.4%BNational RegisterNo listings counted · typical WI town 3.0 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 37%
NewerOlder
Wisconsin towns of 2,500+ (362)Ahead of 29%
Wisconsin towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Wisconsin town has 3.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Maine’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (28% of Wisconsin towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C− to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.2 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Maine’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Maine’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Maine’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.From the old history books
What they wrote about Maine in 1913
Passages that mention Maine, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Marathon County, Wisconsin1913Read the page →
Read the text
The Methodist Church — People adhering to that faith effected an organization more than forty years ago at about the same time that a congregation of that church was formed in the town. of Maine. The services were conducted in the schoolhouse, which served for such purposes without any protest from anybody at that time, and the minister serving the congregation in the town of Maine visited this congregation in Rib Falls at a mission.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Marathon County, Wisconsin1913 · page 938Read the page →
Read the text
daughter of Fred and Frederica Weber, of the town of Rib Falls, and they have had ten children: Annie, wife of Edward Gehrpe of Stettin; Emma, of Wausau ; Louise, wife of Alexander Trantow, of the town of Maine; Ida, a teacher for eleven years in the town of Maine; William, Edwin, Margaret and Arthur, all at home and two that died in infancy. Mr. Krause and family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
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.
Timeline
Maine, 1871 to 1966
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1871Post officeThe Maine post office opens
- 1891Post officeThe Maine post office closes
- 1891Post officeThe Taegesville post office opens
- 20th century
- 1901Post officeThe Taegesville post office closes
- 1901Post officeThe Brokaw post office opens
- 1966
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
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 albumOn the map
Maine on the map, 1966 to 1982
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Maine. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1966Merrill sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Maine.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to Maine
Nobody well known was born in Maine itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
J
Jalen JohnsonAmerican basketball player (born December 2001) · b. 2001
W
Wendy BoglioliAmerican swimmer · b. 1955
T
Thomas T. MoultonAmerican sound engineer · b. 1896Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Maine had its own post office from 1871 to 1891. Another post office, Taegesville, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Maine
Taegesville
Brokaw
18701950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
BrokawTaegesville
Gone or out of use
Brokaw Methodist ChurchchurchBryan Valley SchoolschoolChurchill SchoolschoolPleasant View SchoolschoolRed Granite SchoolschoolRib Mountain QuarrymineRuby Red QuarrymineTaegesville SchoolschoolValley View Schoolschool
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Maine
Faith Cemetery NorthFaith Lutheran Cemetery SouthMaple Grove
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.
Questions about Maine’s history
What year was Maine founded?
The Maine post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Maine rank for history?
Maine is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns, #257 of 362 in Wisconsin. 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.
How old are the homes in Maine?
17% of Maine’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.2 points), against a typical 12% for a Wisconsin town; the median home was built in 1978.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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).
From U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.