Town of York

The plantation of Agamenticus (or Acomenticus), now the town of York, was established on March 25, 1636 and incorporated as a city on April 10, 1641. The name is from the Abnaki meaning small river other side of island. A Native American returning from the sea would find what is now the York River as the smaller one on the other side of an island from the larger Piscataqua River.

Sir Fernando Gorges in 1641 immodestly named the capital city of his province Gorgeana. The town of York, was incorporated on November 22, 1652 from a portion of that city and is the second oldest town in Maine. The oldest is Kittery incorporated only two days earlier.

Most of the town's inhabitants are located between U.S. Route 1 (inland) and U.S. Route 1A which runs along the coast. Its population has more than doubled in the past thirty years, and grew by nearly 31 percent between 1990 and 2000.

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