Maine Tax Records
This entry was originally written by Alice Eichholz, Ph.D., CG for Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources.
Maine participated in the U.S. Direct Tax of 1798, although the surviving lists do not cover the entire state. Landowners, renters, land and title boundaries, acreage, dwellings, value, and tax due are included in the lists. These records can substitute for some missing towns on the 1800 census (see Census Records for Massachusetts and Massachusetts Tax Records). What survives is on microfilm with a printed inventory at the New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston and the Maine State Archives.
The Maine State Archives has the 1837 Surplus Tax Census for Bangor, Portland, and the areas that were unincorporated at that time. Other tax lists exist throughout the years of Maine's history, both before and after statehood. No survey has been done to catalog these. Reading through town meeting records may unearth what was recorded in the early nineteenth century. Later tax lists may be located at town offices.
