Discover Maine’s Most Remote Towns Based on 1950 Census Numbers

We all know the internet is a bit of a double-edged sword.

While it certainly has its negative side, let’s keep things light and focus on all the wonderful aspects it brings to society—specifically, the ability to spend countless hours on near-meaningless deep dives. I mean, who doesn’t love spending an entire afternoon learning about who invented the toothpick or why Uranus is named Uranus?

Sometimes, when you're surfing the net, you stumble across some truly unique stuff. One of those for me was some old Census data, which ended up being surprisingly significant. The form I found was the official 1950 Census preliminary population chart for every county and town in Maine. It’s a fascinating snapshot of where Mainers called home—and how different those pockets look today.

Maine Was Quite Different Back in the 1950's

A lot has changed in the past 70+ years. And many of those changes directly impacted county and town populations. Whether it was mill closures, the birth of suburbia, revitalization, commercial development, economic recessions, shifts in manufacturing, or military base openings and closures—each played a role in shaping growth.

I decided to chart the Top 20 least populated towns from 1950. I was curious to see how different things looked compared to today.

My conclusion? Well… not much. With the exception of literally none, these are still very small towns. Honestly, there were very few surprises. The fact that most of the towns come from more remote counties like Washington and Oxford was fully expected. The most interesting fact from the list? Two of the towns—Centerville and Greenfield—aren’t even officially towns anymore.

What Were the Least Populated Towns in Maine in 1950?

You can find the complete Top 20 below. Current populations are listed as well, to show the positive (and sometimes negative) growth these municipalities have experienced over the generations.