Census Records for Maine
This entry was originally written by Alice Eichholz, Ph.D., CG for Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources.
Contents
Federal
Population Schedules
• Indexed'1790, 1800, 1810, 1820, 1830, 1840, 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930
• Soundex'1880, 1900, 1920
Ancestry.com has digitized images of the entire U.S. Federal Census Schedules 1790-1930 and created searchable indexes for the images. This collection can be accessed at U.S. Federal Census Collection.
Industry and Agriculture Schedules
• 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880
Mortality Schedules
• 1850, 1860, 1870, 1880
Union Veterans Schedules
• 1890
Although Maine was part of Massachusetts until the 1820 census, for research purposes the National Archives catalogs the 1790, 1800, and 1810 federal censuses under Maine. The 1800 censuses for some towns in Hancock and Kennebec indicate where the person resided before immigrating to Maine. A date of emigration is given for some people in Kennebec although this was not consistently noted for Hancock. See Walter Goodwin Davis, 'Part of Hancock County, Maine, in 1800,' New England Historical and Genealogical Register 105 (1951): 204-13, 276-91. All of the above census records are at the Maine State Archives on microfilm, and are widely available at other repositories and online through Internet subscription databases. York County is incomplete on the 1800 census, half of Oxford County is missing in 1810, and Houlton Plantation returns are missing for Washington County, 1820.
State
In 1837 a state census enumerating heads of households was taken, but only Bangor, Portland, and unincorporated towns survive on microfilm at the Maine State Archives. The Maine Historical Society Library holds the volume enumerating the town of Eliot.
External Links
- Maine Census Records - free up-to-date guide to accessing Maine census records. Identifies federal, state, and colonial censuses, as well as substitute records (FamilySearch Research Wiki).
