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46-622: The First Parish Congregational Church is a historic church at 116 Main Street in Yarmouth, Maine . The congregation was established in 1730, as the ninth church founded in what is now Maine. The current Italianate meeting house was constructed in 1867–68, and is an important surviving design of Portland architect George M. Harding . The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1995. The present congregation

92-495: A Patriot Insurance building at 701 Route One. The Down-East was, in 1950, the second motel built in Maine and eventually became the oldest. The Royal River Cabins was in business between 1934 and 1950 on the ocean side of Spring Street, at its split with East Main Street. The enterprise began as an inn in the property at 51 East Main Street , which now houses W. M. Schwind Antiques. Eleanor Roosevelt and her entourage once stayed in

138-460: A Welshman, in 1643. In 1652, John Cousins sold "sixty acres of lands with fenced fields" to John Maine, from whom the western end of town took the name of Maine's Point. In June 1675, the local Native Americans began a "war of extermination" against the settlers who were encroaching on their fishing ground. What is now known as Lanes Island, the first island at the mouth of the Royal River,

184-760: A brief period of peace, the Second Indian War broke out in 1688 and lasted for nine years. This unrest continued periodically until around 1756, ending with the Means massacre at Flying Point . Around 1715, the third, and the earliest permanent, settlement in Yarmouth began. Seven years later, a "Committee for the Resettlement of North Yarmouth" was formed in Boston , Province of Massachusetts Bay . By 1764, 1,098 individuals lived in 154 houses. By 1810,

230-611: A cabin here because the Eastland Park Hotel in Portland would not permit her dog, Fala, to stay in the hotel. The president's wife chose to dine at the Westcustogo Inn . Also at this fork in the road once stood Jim Brewer Dennison's blacksmith shop, which he set up in 1863. His son, William, worked with him. Adjacent to the forge was Florence Sewing Machines repair shop. A drive-in theater once stood where

276-432: A gabled entry vestibule projecting further in front of it. The entry consists of a pair of doorways, each flanked by thin composite columns and set in round-arch openings. A larger three-part round-arch window stands above them, with a banded frieze along the raking gable edge of the vestibule. The tower has four stages, and is elaborately decorated, with an open belfry and an octagonal spire. The First Parish congregation

322-492: A left onto Pleasant Street, before continuing its way north to Machias. In 1813, down at the First Falls, "the old road which clambered laboriously over the crest of the hill was replaced by a new street along the head of the wharves below the hill". This is today's Lafayette Street hill, which drops about fifty feet from its crest to its base. (It was named Lafayette Street in honor of General Lafayette , who once stayed in

368-508: A male householder with no wife present, and 34.2% were non-families. 27.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 2.87. The median age in the town was 45.9 years. 22.8% of residents were under the age of 18; 5.6% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 20% were from 25 to 44; 34.9% were from 45 to 64; and 16.7% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of

414-675: A mile of navigable water, each provided potential waterpower sites. In October 1674, the first sawmill , of Englishman Henry Sayward and Colonel Bartholomew Gedney , was built on the East Main Street (Maine State Route 88) side of the First Falls , where Grist Mill Park is today. (It was abandoned two years later, however, due to conflicts with the Native Americans during the early stages of King Philip's War .) The Second Falls are just west of Bridge Street ;

460-504: A mile of each other: Yarmouth Elementary and Harrison Middle are both on McCartney Street, while the high school is located across the adjoining West Elm Street. Rowe is located about two miles to the north east, on School Street. The two elementary schools are unique in that the William H. Rowe School caters to students in kindergarten and the first grade, while Yarmouth Elementary educates second through fourth graders. Yarmouth High School

506-556: A northern extension of King's Highway . It was established to address the need for a reliable route between New York and Boston initially, and later between Boston and northern locations. There are six of these stones within Cumberland County, three of which (numbers 137, 138 and 139) are in Yarmouth: one on Route 88, just south of Ravine Drive on the western side of the road, and one "1.1 miles" away (due to today's curve in

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552-474: Is affiliated with the United Church of Christ . Yarmouth's First Parish Congregational Church is located to the east of the town center, on the south side of Main Street ( Maine State Route 115 ). It is a tall single-story wood-frame structure, with a gabled roof, an exterior sheathed in clapboard and flushboarded siding, and a granite foundation. A square tower projects slightly from the front, with

598-792: Is bridged twice more by the Maine Central Back Road in Gray. In North Yarmouth, the river is bridged again by State Route 231 and by State Route 9 , and in Yarmouth it is crossed by the Maine Central Railroad "Lower Road", again by the Grand Trunk Railway, by U.S. Route 1 and, at its mouth at Yarmouth Marina , by State Route 88 (carried by the East Main Street Bridge ) and, finally, Interstate 295 . The Native Americans called

644-533: Is located approximately 0.35 miles (0.56 km) upstream at the Second Falls. The Third (or Baker ) Falls were, by far, the most industrious of the four. Forest Paper Company was in operation there between 1874 and 1923. In 1901, it was the largest pulp and paper mill in the world. Also known as Upper Falls or Gooch's Falls , the Fourth Falls are located around 0.4 miles (0.64 km) upstream of

690-622: Is water. Yarmouth is nearly square in form and is bisected by the Royal River . The town is bounded by Freeport to the north (with the Cousins River separating them), North Yarmouth to the northeast, Cumberland to the west and Casco Bay to the south. Also included as part of the town are Cousins Island , Lanes Island, Great and Little Moshier Islands, and Littlejohn Island . The Royal River appealed to settlers because its four waterfalls and 45 feet (14 m) rise, within

736-536: The Atlantic Ocean , and its location on the banks of the Royal River (formerly Yarmouth River ), which empties into Casco Bay less than 1 mile (1.6 km) away, means it is a prime location as a harbor. Ships were built in Yarmouth's harbor mainly between 1818 and the 1870s, at which point demand declined dramatically. Meanwhile, the Royal River's four waterfalls within Yarmouth, whose Main Street sits about 90 feet (27 m) above sea level, resulted in

782-491: The Greek Revival style, Russell Hall (1841) and Academy Hall (1847). They are built of brick with granite and wood trim. Russell Hall was originally a dormitory and Academy Hall a classroom; they are now both of the latter use. By the early 1930s, the academy expanded into new facilities across the street. NYA became a private school in 1961, when Yarmouth High School was built on West Elm Street. On October 17, 1998,

828-679: The Hannaford plaza now is. In 2019, the town approved a final draft of a "streetscape improvement plan" for the Main Street village first discussed in July the previous year. Phase 1 (between Elm and Mill Streets) was begun in April 2021; phase 2 (Center Street to Yarmouth Crossing) was in development in May 2023. The town has four public schools: Three of the four schools are located within half

874-598: The Third Falls are within the bounds of Royal River Park ; and the Fourth Falls are near the intersection of East Elm Street and Melissa Drive. The first of the waterfalls are located less than a mile from the mouth of the Royal River at Yarmouth's harbor . One of the town's two remaining mill buildings stands near here, at 1 Main Street , at the foot of the Staples Hill . The other, Sparhawk Mill ,

920-409: The census of 2010, there were 8,349 people, 3,522 households, and 2,317 families residing in the town. The population density was 625.4 inhabitants per square mile (241.5/km ), which put Yarmouth fourth behind Portland, South Portland and Westbrook in population density. There were 3,819 housing units at an average density of 286.1 units per square mile (110.5 units/km ). The racial makeup of

966-526: The Third Falls. Since 1674, fifty-seven mills and several factories have stood on the banks of the river, producing grain , lumber , pulp and cotton . The factories manufactured paper , shoes , bricks and, in 1908, power, courtesy of Yarmouth Electric Company. Yarmouth's coastline is composed of two main coves: White's Cove (north of Cousins Island's Snodgrass Bridge ) and Broad Cove (from Sunset Point due east to State Route 88). As of

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1012-460: The academy's ice arena was renamed in honor of Travis Roy , an alumnus of NYA who was rendered a quadriplegic after an injury he sustained while playing for Boston University men's ice hockey team in 1995. He died in 2020, aged 45. A former school, District Number 3, still stands at 12 Portland Street . It is now a business. In 1727, five local men—Samuel Seabury, James Parker , Jacob Mitchell, Gershom Rice and Phineas Jones—were tasked with

1058-731: The area, calling it Westcustogo . Englishman William Royall ( c.  1595 –1676), for whom the Royal River is named, emigrated to Salem in 1629. After serving seven years in the Massachusetts Bay Colony Company, he was provided with a land grant in North Yarmouth. He purchased a farm there in 1636, becoming one of the first European settlers of the town, along with John Cousins . Another Englishman, George Felt , who had emigrated to Charlestown , Massachusetts Bay Colony, eleven years earlier, purchased 300 acres of land at Broad Cove from John Phillips,

1104-403: The average family size was 2.96. In the town, the population was spread out, with 24.6% under the age of 18, 5.4% from 18 to 24, 26.3% from 25 to 44, 29.0% from 45 to 64, and 14.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.6 males. The median income for a household in the town

1150-562: The east. Dabney was a town selectman in 1737. Felt had a lot at the foot of the northern end of Pleasant Street, adjacent to Stony Brook. Royall's farm, meanwhile, occupied the entire area bisected by Bayview Street. Some of Royall's land at the point was later transferred to the Browns, in whose family it remained for over three hundred years. It is now known as Brown's Point . Smith Street became an uninterrupted offshoot from Pleasant Street, eventually leading to Riverside Cemetery when it

1196-510: The foundation of almost sixty mills between 1674 and 1931. The annual Yarmouth Clam Festival attracts around 80,000 people (around ten times the town's population) over the course of the three-day weekend. According to the United States Census Bureau , the town has a total area of 22.94 square miles (59.41 km ), of which 13.35 square miles (34.58 km ) (58%) is land and 9.59 square miles (24.84 km ) (42%)

1242-650: The horses. It ran two services in each direction: southbound at 7:30 and 11:30   am and northbound at 3:00 and 5:00   pm. Royal River The river is bridged by Interstate 95 and U.S. Route 202 before leaving New Gloucester, then by the Maine Central Railroad "Back Road" and the Grand Trunk Railway in Auburn, and then again by the Grand Trunk Railway and by State Route 231 when it returns to New Gloucester. The river

1288-712: The management of the new town. Their affairs included laying out the highways. Roads (or, at least, routes) that appeared on subsequent maps are mentioned below with today's names. In 1732, "a good road (today's Pleasant Street ) was built over the ledge from the meeting-house to the mills at the first falls which, although it was abandoned about 1800 for a less hilly course, may still be easily traced." Other roads introduced included Atlantic Highway (now State Route 88), Gilman Road, Princes Point Road , Highlands Farm Road (leading to Parker's Point), Drinkwater Point Road (which led to two wharves), Morton Road and Old Town Landing Road (which led to another wharf). Large lot owners at

1334-514: The most recent (the Grand Trunk Railway Station ) was built in 1906, replacing a structure built in 1848. They are ranked in chronological order below. Yarmouth was home to DeLorme , the large map-making company, with its headquarters, located on Route 1 to the north of the town, housing Eartha , the world's largest revolving and rotating globe . In 2016, DeLorme was purchased by Garmin . A notable former establishment

1380-629: The population was 3,295. During a time of peace, settlement began to relocate along the coast and inland. The town's Main Street gradually became divided into the Upper Village (also known as the Corner) and Lower Falls , the split roughly located around the present-day U.S. Route 1 overpass ( Brickyard Hollow , as it was known). Among the new proprietors at the time were descendants of the Plymouth Pilgrims . The Town of Yarmouth

1426-406: The population. There were 3,402 households, out of which 33% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.2% were married couples living together, 7.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.8% were non-families. 27.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.41 and

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1472-612: The river Westcustogo River (meaning muddy ) or Pumgustuck River ( falls at mouth of river ). During the 1700s and 1800s, Yarmouth River, as it was then known, was a source of great economic growth for Yarmouth as it provided the power for the many mills. One such mill was erected in 1872 by the Forest Paper Company on the current site of the Royal River Park . The river is mentioned in several of Maine-native Stephen King 's novels, including The Body , when

1518-467: The road), outside 148 Pleasant Street and one in front of 51 East Main Street . The local section of King's Highway was (heading north) today's Middle Road (where markers 135 and 136 are located, the former in front of the property known as Top Knot Farm), in Cumberland, then a right onto Tuttle Road, left onto Foreside Road (where a short section of road preserves the name of the original route), then

1564-523: The three-storey building at 51 East Main Street .) By 1847, Portland Street was in full swing, including the Elm Street offshoot that headed directly into the Upper Village. Main Street was, by now, well established. Roswell P. Greeley established an express service between Portland and Yarmouth, employing a span of horses and large wagons. Azel H. Kingsley ran a supplemental service minus

1610-457: The time included Walter Gendall , whose farm incorporated Duck Cove, beyond Town Landing Road in today's Cumberland Foreside (Cumberland was not incorporated as its own town until 1821). Its dry-stone boundary is still intact. Gendall lived there with his wife, Joane. This large farm remained in his possession until his death in 1688. Welshman John Powell had a farm where today's Schooner Ridge Road is. John Dabney's 60-acre lot abutted this to

1656-600: The town was 47.1% male and 52.9% female. As of the census of 2000, there were 8,360 people, 3,432 households, and 2,306 families residing in the town. The population density was 626.7 inhabitants per square mile (242.0/km ). There were 3,704 housing units at an average density of 277.7 units per square mile (107.2 units/km ). The racial makeup of the town was 98.49% White , 0.37% Black or African American , 0.04% Native American , 0.36% Asian , 0.02% Pacific Islander , 0.22% from other races , and 0.50% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.59% of

1702-419: The town was 96.9% White , 0.5% African American , 0.2% Native American , 1.2% Asian , 0.2% from other races , and 1.0% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.2% of the population. There were 3,522 households, of which 30.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.6% were married couples living together, 8.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 2.7% had

1748-516: Was $ 35,000. The church was designed for the congregation by Portland architect George M. Harding , one of Maine's leading architects of the mid-19th century. It is one of only three church designs of his to survive in the state. Yarmouth, Maine Yarmouth is a town in Cumberland County, Maine , United States, twelve miles north of the state's largest city, Portland . When originally settled in 1636, as North Yarmouth , it

1794-466: Was $ 58,030, and the median income for a family was $ 73,234. Males had a median income of $ 48,456 versus $ 34,075 for females. The per capita income for the town was $ 34,317. About 4.0% of families and 4.4% of the population were below the poverty line , including 5.2% of those under age 18 and 4.3% of those age 65 or over. North Yarmouth , Massachusetts Bay Colony (as it then was), was settled in 1636, although Native Americans had already been living in

1840-496: Was Bill's Home Style Sandwiches. It was a lunchtime mainstay for many locals for 35 years (from 1974 to 2009), run by Bill Kinsman. The oil-powered Wyman Power Station , located on the southwestern tip of Cousins Island, is part of Central Maine Power (CMP). Yarmouth has no hotel or motel accommodation. The last one, the Down-East Village Restaurant & Motel , was demolished in 2017 to make way for

1886-573: Was established in 1730, and first met in a meetinghouse, known as the Meetinghouse under the Ledge , about 1 mile (1.6 km) south of this location. In 1818, they moved to a new building, known as the Old Sloop, across the street from its current location. That building was turned into a public hall after the congregation moved out in 1868, and was demolished in 1879. The cost of the new church

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1932-580: Was established in 1869, until the Lafayette Street hill was built in the early 19th century. In 1756, "to accommodate the teams hauling lumber from the great pine forests inland to the seaboard, a new, more convenient way was laid out by the way of Walnut Hill and the road constructed." In 1761, then-Postmaster General Benjamin Franklin ordered milestones placed along the 1673-established route from Boston, Massachusetts, to Machias, Maine , as

1978-485: Was incorporated on August 8, 1849 (175 years ago)  ( 1849-08-08 ) . Maritime activities were important from the beginning of the third settlement. Almost three hundred vessels were launched by Yarmouth's shipyards in the century between 1790 and 1890. Twelve properties in Yarmouth are listed on the National Register of Historic Places . The oldest (the Cushing and Hannah Prince House ) dates from 1785;

2024-455: Was named #297 in the 1,000 Best High Schools in the US by Newsweek in 2005 and #289 in 2006. In 2013, U.S. News & World Report ranked Yarmouth High School first in Maine and 198th in the country. On the southern side of Main Street, near its junction with Bridge Street, is North Yarmouth Academy (NYA), a private college preparatory school established in 1814. Across the street stand, in

2070-685: Was part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony , and remained part of its subsequent incarnations for 213 years. In 1849, twenty-nine years after Maine 's admittance to the Union as the twenty-third state , it was incorporated as the Town of Yarmouth. Yarmouth is part of the Portland–; South Portland – Biddeford Metropolitan Statistical Area . The town's population was 8,990 in the 2020 census . The town's proximity to

2116-471: Was their council ground, and its western end their burial ground. James Lane was the first of their victims, followed the next day by two sons of Mr. Hazelton, who had recently purchased the remaining half of Cousins Island. They were hunting cattle in the woods when they were captured. Locally, William Royall's fort was destroyed and the mills were burned. More broadly, King Philip's War (1675–1678) caused settlers to abandon their homes and move south. After

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