Maine Town Records

In New England the town clerk is the principal local record keeper. The earliest records are called proprietors' records. Town records generally begin with the founding of a town and are kept to the present.

Town records may contain records of births, marriages, burials, cemeteries, appointments, earmarks, estrays (stray animals), freemen's oaths (men eligible to vote), land, mortgages, name changes, care of the poor, schools, surveys, tax lists, town meeting minutes, voter registrations, and "warnings out" (of town).

The Family History Library has microfilm copies of most of the town records that contain vital records. Town records are also found at the Maine State Archives and at the offices of the town clerks. A list of the town records at the Maine State Archives is in Public Record Repositories in Maine (see Maine Archives and Libraries). To access town records, use the Family History Library Catalog Place Search under MAINE, [COUNTY], [TOWN] - TOWN RECORDS.

Web Sites

 * http://www.freeprf.com/maine.html
 * http://www.maine.gov/sos/arc/