The Saco Historic District occupies 103 acres of land running perpendicular to the Saco River with Main Street in the center and extending into and beyond North and Beach Streets. The district consists of 206 buildings with seventeen constructed prior to 1820. The earliest buildings, the Solomon Coit House and Daniel Page House, date to the late eighteenth century. The district encompasses a large variety of architectural styles that reflect the complex history of the city. Saco came into existence with the establishment of the timber industry as early as 1716. As lumber was exported, various sections of land were divided into homesteads and urban planning began by the late 1700s. With the lucrative timber industry came entrepreneurs and merchants who set-up businesses and built affluent Federal-style homes in the area. Notable early nineteenth-century individuals who lived in the historic district include Congressman and U.S. Treasury Controller Richard Cutts, Congressman and Minister to Great Britain General Cyrus King (pictured), Minister to the Netherlands William Pitt Preble, and two Chief Justices of the Maine Supreme Court, Prentiss Mellen and Ether Shepley.
Year Listed: 1998
For more information: https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/AssetDetail?assetID=c92a6753-20b3-4a15-9cff-128abab29aa4