Town of Berwick

Berwick, a town in York County on the New Hampshire border, was incorporated on June 9, 1713 having been named for an old English town in Dorsetshire bordering the English Channel.  Originally a much larger town, it set off land to Kittery in 1716, and ceded land to form the town of South Berwick in 1814, and the town of North Berwick in 1831.   After setting off more land to South Berwick (1841 and 1881) and to North Berwick (1875), the town finally stabilized to the borders it has today.

One of Maine's oldest communities, Chadbourne notes that settlements appear to have been made as early as 1624. The titles were derived from Sir Fernando Gorges and from the Indian sagamores. The mid-1600's saw substantial lumbering and the erection of a sawmill. In 1660 a group of Friends or Quakers sought refuge from persecution and settled there.

According to Nicole St. Pierre of the Old Berwick Historical Society, our Scottish roots here in the area of the Berwicks go back more than 350 years.

She noted that in Maine the name Berwick is connected to a group of 17th century indentured servants thought to have originated from the area of the town of Berwick on the Scotch-English border. Captured by the English at the Battle of Dunbar in 1650, they were brought here to build a sawmill known as Great Works on the river that today goes by that name. Many northern New England residents trace their ancestry to this group of Scotsmen. (News release from Old Berwick Historical Society, June 5, 2001)

On October 23, 1785 almost every mill and bridge in the town was destroyed by a flood that also affected Kennebunk and Saco.

From Maine: An Encyclopedia (www.themaineencyclopedia.com)