Oldest Town in Maine: Kittery, York or Somewhere Else?

Kittery calls itself the oldest town in Maine, and it has the dates for one version of that claim: it was incorporated in 1647. But York was settled at about the same time and was chartered as a city first, and other places were settled earlier than either. Which is oldest depends on whether you count settlement, a charter or incorporation. Here is what each source says and where they disagree.

The Old York Gaol in York, Maine.
The Old York Gaol in York, Maine. Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Kittery: the oldest incorporated town

According to the town of Kittery, Kittery was settled by 1623, its earliest dwelling was built in 1635, and it was incorporated in 1647. The town calls itself the oldest town in the State of Maine.

Wikipedia gives the same dates, with English settlement around the Piscataqua River estuary beginning about 1623. It says Kittery stakes its claim as the oldest incorporated town in Maine, citing the town’s own history, and it does not independently verify the claim. TheTravel puts it more carefully, saying Kittery claims to be Maine’s first incorporated town.

York: settled first, chartered first?

Britannica says York was settled in 1624 at a site called Agamenticus, after Captain John Smith explored the area in 1614. In 1641, it says, Sir Ferdinando Gorges granted a city charter under the name Gorgeana, which it calls “the first English city on the American continent.” In 1652 the Massachusetts Bay Company took over the Gorges property, revoked the charter, reduced Gorgeana to a town and renamed it York.

Down East and the Press Herald, in stories about the long-running York and Kittery boundary dispute, call Kittery Maine’s oldest town and York the second oldest, with York’s town status dating to 1652.

Three ways to count “oldest”

  • Settlement. Kittery by 1623 and York in 1624, per the sources above. WorldAtlas gives Biddeford settlers in 1616, and Scarborough in 1631.
  • A charter. York’s city charter is 1641 in Britannica. TheClio says York was chartered to Sir Ferdinando Gorges in 1639.
  • Incorporation as a town. Kittery 1647, York 1652, Biddeford and Wells 1653 and Scarborough 1658, per WorldAtlas and TheTravel.

Earlier settlements that did not last

The Maine Legislature’s history page says the first settlement in Maine was established by the Plymouth Company at Popham in 1607 and did not survive the winters. The MFShip.org site says the colonists arrived in August 1607 and left in mid-October 1608, about 14 months later. It does not call Popham the first English settlement in the region, and it notes that Jamestown, founded the same year, is regarded as the first permanent English settlement in America.

So Popham is the earliest English settlement attempt the sources describe in Maine, but it is not a town that exists today.

Why the sources disagree

  • Different measures. WorldAtlas ranks Kittery by its 1647 incorporation while listing earlier settlement dates for Biddeford and Scarborough, and it never says which measure it uses. TheTravel’s list mixes founding, settlement, land grant and incorporation years.
  • York’s dates. Britannica gives a 1641 city charter and a 1652 reduction to a town. TheTravel says York was renamed in 1641, and TheClio says it was chartered to Gorges in 1639.
  • Kittery’s age. The town says settled by 1623 and incorporated 1647, with the first dwelling in 1635, so which year is “founded” depends on the measure.
  • Different wording. “Oldest town,” “oldest incorporated town” and “first English city” are three different claims, and each source uses one of them.

Oldest town in Maine: FAQ

What is the oldest town in Maine?

Kittery, if you count incorporation. The town says it was incorporated in 1647, and Down East and the Press Herald both call it Maine’s oldest town.

Is York older than Kittery?

It depends on the measure. Britannica dates York’s settlement to 1624, about the same time as Kittery’s “by 1623,” and its city charter to 1641. But York became a town in 1652, five years after Kittery’s incorporation.

What was the first settlement in Maine?

The Maine Legislature names Popham in 1607, which was abandoned in 1608. WorldAtlas gives Biddeford settlers in 1616.

Our details come from the town of Kittery, Wikipedia, Britannica, TheClio, WorldAtlas, TheTravel, Down East, the Press Herald, the Maine Legislature’s history page and MFShip.org. We have not independently verified these dates, and the towns’ own claims are theirs, not ours.