Biddeford

Population of Biddeford: 20942

Biddeford is the site of the earliest recorded permanent settlement in Maine. In the winter of 1616-1617, Richard Vines, a physician, resided at "Winter Harbor," as he called Biddeford Pool. In 1630, the Plymouth Company granted the land to the south of "River Swanekaclocke," as the Saco River was then known, to Vines and John Oldham. In 1653, the town, which then included both sides of the river, was incorporated by the General Court of Massachusetts as "Saco." That same year, Roger Spencer was granted the right to build the first sawmill. Lumber and fish became the community's chief exports. In 1659, Major William Phillips of Boston became a proprietor, and constructed a garrison and mill at the falls.

During King Philip's War in 1675, the town was attacked by Indians. Settlers withdrew to "Winter Harbor" for safety, and their homes and mills upriver at the falls were burned. In 1693, a stone fort was built a short distance below the falls, but it was captured by the Indians in 1703, when 11 colonists were killed and 24 taken captive to Canada. In 1708, Fort Mary was built near the entrance to Biddeford Pool. The town was reorganized in 1718 as "Biddeford," after Bideford, a town in Devon, England from which some settlers had emigrated. After the Fall of Quebec in 1759, hostilities with the Indians ceased. In 1762, the land northeast of the river was set off as "Pepperellborough," which in 1805 would be renamed Saco.

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