Biddeford, Maine

BIDDE FORD , MAINE A resurgent community B iddeford, a city on the Saco River in present-day York County, Maine, was first settled by physician, Richard Vines, in the winter of 1616-17, making it the site of one of the earliest European settlements in the United States, predating the Mayflower landing in Plymouth, Massachusetts, (located 100 miles to the south) by approximately four years. Biddeford was first incorporated as the Town of Saco in 1653, with lumber and fish becoming the community’s chief exports. The town was reorganized in 1718 as Biddeford, after Bideford, a town in Devon, England, from which some settlers had emigrated. In 1762, the land northeast of the river was set off as Pepperellborough, which was renamed Saco in 1805. By the middle of the 18th century, the developing twin mill towns of Saco and Biddeford had granite quarries and brickyards, in addition to lumber and grain mills. Major textile manufacturing facilities were constructed along