Editing Biddeford, Maine (section)

==History==
[[File:Biddeford Maine Town Hall circa 1855 larger image cropped.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Town hall {{circa|1885}}]]

The first European to settle at Biddeford was physician Richard Vines in the winter of 1616–1617 at Winter Harbor, as he called [[Biddeford Pool]]. This 1616 landing by a European antedates the ''Mayflower'' landing in Plymouth, Massachusetts, (located 100 miles to the south) by about four years, a fact  overlooked in much of New England lore.<ref>State Street Trust Company. [https://books.google.com/books?id=IbJLAAAAMAAJ&dq=richard+vines+landing+1616&pg=PA50 ''Towns of New England and Old England'']. Boston, 1921.</ref> In 1630, the [[Plymouth Company]] granted the land south of the [[Saco River|River Swanckadocke]] to Dr. Vines and John Oldham. In 1653, the town included both sides of the river, and was incorporated by the [[Massachusetts General Court]] as Saco.<ref name=Coolidge>{{Cite book | last = Coolidge | first = Austin J.|author2=John B. Mansfield | title = A History and Description of New England| publisher = A.J. Coolidge | year = 1859| location = Boston, Massachusetts| pages = [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_OcoMAAAAYAAJ/page/n85 54]–56| url = https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_OcoMAAAAYAAJ| quote = coolidge mansfield history description new england 1859. }}</ref>

Biddeford was first incorporated as the Town of Saco in 1653.<!--Not to be confused with current Saco--><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mainegenealogy.net/individual_place_record.asp?place=biddeford|title=Biddeford, York County - Maine Genealogy|website=www.mainegenealogy.net|access-date=2 April 2018}}</ref> Roger Spencer was granted the right in 1653 to build the first [[sawmill]]. [[Lumber]] and [[fish]] became the community's chief exports. In 1659, Major William Phillips of [[Boston, Massachusetts|Boston]] became a proprietor, and constructed a [[garrison]] and [[watermill|mill]] at the falls.  Settlers withdrew to Winter Harbor for safety, and their homes and mills upriver at the falls were burned. In 1693, a stone fort was built a short distance below the falls, but it was allegedly captured by Native Americans in 1703, when 11 colonists were killed and 24 taken captive to [[New France|Canada]]. In 1688, [[Fort Mary (Maine)|Fort Mary]] was built near the entrance to Biddeford Pool.<ref>[http://hillfamilyweb.com/hill/fort%20mary_ii.pdf ''Fort Mary, Biddeford Pool'', ''Down East Magazine'', Vol. 51, Issue 4, Nov. 2004, p. 76] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117072829/http://hillfamilyweb.com/hill/fort%20mary_ii.pdf |date=2015-11-17 }}</ref> The town was reorganized in 1718 as Biddeford, after [[Bideford]], a town in [[Devon, England]], from which some settlers had emigrated. After the [[Fall of Quebec]] in 1759, hostilities with the indigenous people ceased.<ref name="Coolidge"/> During [[King Philip's War]] in 1675, the town, once again, was allegedly attacked by Native Americans.

In 1762, the land northeast of the river was set off as Pepperellborough, which in 1805 was renamed Saco. The first bridge to Saco was built in 1767. The river divides into two falls that drop {{convert|40|ft|m}}, providing [[water power]] for mills. Factories were established to make boots and shoes. The developing [[mill town]] also had [[granite]] [[quarry|quarries]] and [[brickmaking|brickyards]], in addition to lumber and [[gristmill|grain]] mills. Major [[textile]] manufacturing facilities were constructed along the riverbanks, including the Laconia Company in 1845, and the Pepperell Company in 1850. Biddeford was incorporated as a city in 1855.<ref>{{Citation| last = Varney| first = George J.| title = Gazetteer of the state of Maine. Biddeford| place = Boston| publisher = Russell| year = 1886| url = http://history.rays-place.com/me/biddeford.htm| archive-url = https://archive.today/20130104123020/http://history.rays-place.com/me/biddeford.htm| url-status = dead| archive-date = January 4, 2013}}</ref>

The mills attracted waves of immigrants, including the [[Irish people|Irish]], [[History of Albanians in Maine|Albanians]], and [[French-Canadian]]s from  [[Quebec]]. At one time, the [[textile mill]]s employed as many as 12,000 people, but as happened elsewhere, the industry entered a long period of decline. As of 2009, the last remaining textile company in the city, WestPoint Home, closed. The property occupying the mill has been sold and is being redeveloped into housing and new businesses. The last [[log driving|log drive]] down the Saco River was in 1943, with the last log sawed in 1948. Biddeford's name is engraved near the top level of [[Pilgrim Monument|The Pilgrim Monument]], in [[Provincetown, Massachusetts|Provincetown]], [[Massachusetts]], along with the names of some of the oldest cities and towns in New England.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.biddefordmaine.org/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC=%7BE0D8BA08-4BD3-4BF5-9E32-F6AA8A5BBD58%7D |title=In and About Biddeford |access-date=2018-08-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161005044152/http://www.biddefordmaine.org/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC=%7BE0D8BA08-4BD3-4BF5-9E32-F6AA8A5BBD58%7D |archive-date=2016-10-05 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

During [[World War II]], the [[Biddeford Pool Military Reservation]] was established from 1942 to 1945, on what is now the Abenakee Golf Club. It had four circular concrete platforms called "[[Panama mount]]s" for [[155 mm gun M1918|155-mm guns]], three of which remain today.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fortwiki.com/Biddeford_Pool_Military_Reservation|title=Biddeford Pool Military Reservation - FortWiki Historic U.S. and Canadian Forts|website=www.fortwiki.com|access-date=2 April 2018}}</ref>