Maine Counties and Historical Facts

Maine Counties records vary extensively from county to county in either quality as well as quantity. Some have already been very carefully maintained while some have been substantially neglected and uncared for. Some Maine records have merely disappeared. For genealogists performing research in Maine there’s no effective substitute for an on-site research of county courthouse records. For Definitions of all court terms see the Genealogy Encyclopedia.

County Resources – Maine has similar systems of early record keeping for probates, vitals and deeds to Massachusetts. The county seat has probates and deeds on file and the town offices hold vital records, typically. The Maine legislature mandated that marriages had to be filed with the county clerk beginning in 1828. However, that mandate was never uniformly followed. Many records were held in private homes and were subsequently lost, often in fires. Some holds have records that predate the town, which shows that they hold records for the towns from which they were created (parent towns). If records for a town begin long after the town was established, many records for that town were probably lost. Town Resources – A lot of information about New England ancestors can be found in early town meeting records. Town meeting records for Maine may be a bit difficult to track down, though, since some of them are no longer filed in the offices of the town clerks. The Maine State Archives is continuing to find, organize, and compile town records for the various towns in Maine. These Secretary of State’s office publishes addresses for free on a yearly basis. Some towns keep records in the home of the town clerk, but annual elections mean that records are frequently moved. See also a list of links to county and county seat government run websites.

List of Maine Extinct Counties

Map of Maine Counties
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Map of Maine Counties

Maine has counties that no longer are in existence. They were established by the state, provincial, or territorial government. A lot of these counties were created and disbanded within the 19th century; county borders have changed little since Nineteen hundred in the great number of states. These counties really should be looked at when you are conducting genealogy research. Pay close attention where the courthouse records went to if the county was abolished or combined with a different county.

  • Devonshire County: Devonshire County, District of Maine, Massachusetts Bay Colony was a short-lived county formed during the colonial territorial disputes between the Province of Massachusetts and the Province of Maine. The county existed from 1674 to 1675.
  • Yorkshire County: created in 1639 from Colonial Lands,. It was renamed renamed York County in 1652

List of Maine Counties with Burned Courthouses

Maine burned county courthouse
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The harm to Maine courthouses considerably has a impact on family historians in every way. Not only are a lot of these historic buildings torn from our lifetimes, so are the records they housed: marriage, wills, probate, land records, and others. Once destroyed they’re destroyed permanently. Although they have already been put on mircofilm, computers and film burn up too. The most sad aspect of this is the reason why nearly all of our courthouses are destroyed from arsonist. Although, you cannot assume all records were lost. Numerous Maine counties have dealt with a loss of records due to courthouse fires, floods, and theft.

  • Cumberland County Courthouse, Fire Loss

List of Maine Counties

List of Maine Counties

CountyDate FormedParent CountyCounty Seat
Androscoggin1854Cumberland, Kennebec, and Lincoln CountesAuburn
Aroostook1839Penobscot County, and Washington CountyHoulton
Cumberland1760As Cumberland County, MA from York CountyPortland
Franklin1838Kennebec, Oxford, and Somerset CountesFarmington
Hancock1789As Hancock County, MA, from Lincoln CountyEllsworth
Kennebec1799As Kennebec County, MA from Lincoln CountyAugusta
Knox1860Lincoln and Waldo CountesRockland
Lincoln1760As Lincoln County, MA from York CountyWiscasset
Oxford1805As Oxford County, MA from Cumberland and York CountesParis
Penobscot1816As Penobscot County, MA from Hancock CountyBangor
Piscataquis1838Penobscot and Somerset CountesDover-Foxcroft
Sagahadoc1854 Lincoln CountyBath
Somerset1809As Somerset County, MA from Kennebec CountySkowhegan
Waldo1827Hancock, Kennebec and Lincoln CountesBelfast
Washington1789As Washington County, MA from Lincoln CountyMachias
York1652As Yorkshire County, MA from the southern the District of MaineAlfred