Editing York Harbor, Maine (section)

==History==
[[Image:York Harbor, Coast of Maine.jpg|thumb|left|''York Harbor, Coast of Maine'', 1877, by [[Martin Johnson Heade]]]]
York was a prosperous [[seaport]] in the 18th century. Its harbor, then known as Lower Town, was lined with [[wharf|wharves]] and [[warehouse]]s to which upriver settlers brought their goods for trade and shipping. The tongue of land at the mouth of the [[York River (Maine)|York River]] was called Gallows Point, where criminals at [[Old York Gaol]] in York Village were hanged. At high tide the tongue became an island, from which a [[ferry]] licensed in 1652 crossed to Seabury.

During the [[American Revolution]], fishermen and their families abandoned the [[Isles of Shoals]] off the coast and floated their homes to the Lower Town waterfront, where they were rebuilt.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=OcoMAAAAYAAJ&dq=coolidge%20mansfield%20history%20description%20new%20england%201859&pg=PA369 Austin J. Coolidge & John B. Mansfield, ''A History and Description of New England;'' Boston, Massachusetts, 1859]</ref> They hauled their boats at Lobster Cove and dried their catch on [[dried fish|fish flakes]], after which the tongue would be named Stage Neck. In 1807, President Thomas Jefferson's [[Embargo Act of 1807|embargo]] crippled local mercantile trade, and by the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], Stage Neck had deteriorated into a ramshackle [[slum]].

After the Union victory, Nathaniel Grant Marshall (1812-1882), a lawyer, had a vision to convert the poorest section of Lower Town into a first-class summer [[Marketplace|emporium]] for wealthy tourists. He bought Stage Neck, razed the fishermen's shacks and in 1871 built a grand hotel called the Marshall House. As part of its upgrade, Lower Town was renamed York Harbor.<ref>[http://history.rays-place.com/me/york-me.htm George J. Varney, ''History of York, Maine;'' Boston, Massachusetts, 1886]</ref> [[Steamboat|Steamers]] began arriving with families drawn to the Maine shore from the heat and pollution in [[Boston]], [[New York City|New York]], [[Chicago]], [[Philadelphia]] and [[Baltimore]]. Many liked the area enough to build summer mansions, characteristically in the [[Shingle Style]], during the 1880-1890 boom. Soon York Harbor joined [[Bar Harbor, Maine|Bar Harbor]] and [[Newport, Rhode Island|Newport]] as fashionable [[East Coast of the United States|East Coast]] summer destinations.

[[Image:The Marshall House, York Harbor, ME.jpg|thumb|left|The Marshall House in 1909]]
Competing hotels were built, including Harmon Hall and the Albracca Hotel. But the Marshall House was the largest, accommodating 325 guests by 1900. It offered [[telephone]] and [[telegraph]] offices, a [[livery stable]], [[equestrianism|riding]] and [[human swimming|bathing]] facilities, [[tennis court]]s, [[barber]]shop, [[billiards]] room, [[ballroom]], [[sailing]], fishing excursions and [[canoe]]s for picnics up the York River. The Marshalls started both an electric and water company, and headed the effort to build the York Harbor & Beach Railroad, opened in 1887.

When the Marshall House burned in 1916, it was rebuilt in fire-resistant brick the following year to designs by noted [[Portland, Maine|Portland]] architect [[John Calvin Stevens]]. It resumed its role as the center of York Harbor social life. At its [[porte-cochère]], [[chauffeur]]-driven [[limousine]]s from the estates deposited their owners in [[evening gown]]s and [[tuxedo]]es, to be joined by hotel patrons for dinner at 7:30&nbsp;p.m. Post-prandial entertainments included [[chamber music]] by a [[Boston Symphony Orchestra|Boston Symphony]] ensemble in the lobby, or Saturday dancing and costume parties in the ballroom.

But a rift grew between York Harbor and [[York Beach, Maine|York Beach]] further up the coast, which catered to the less affluent. The former disapproved of the latter's "cottage and campground" philosophy, and tried to prevent the [[Tram|trolley]] connecting the two. In 1908, York Harbor proposed [[secession]] from York, first as a new town called Yorktown, then as Gorges after [[Ferdinando Gorges|Sir Ferdinando Gorges]], the early proprietor of Maine. Because the split would have deprived remaining York of much of real value within the community, including the town hall, it failed and The Yorks reconciled.<ref>[http://www.yorkharborinn.com/lodging/innhistory.htm History of the York Harbor Inn]</ref>

[[Image:Trinity Church, York Harbor, ME.jpg|thumb|right|Trinity Church in 1913]]
Development here began in the 1870s and virtually ended in the 1920s, leaving York Harbor a [[macrocosm and microcosm|microcosm]] of period resort architecture, now converted for year-round use. The Marshall House was sold in 1957 and demolished in 1972, to be replaced with [[Condominium (living space)|condominium]]s and the [http://www.StageNeck.com Stage Neck Inn] (designed by [[Sasaki Associates|Sasaki, Dawson, DeMay Associates]]). However, the York community retains a wealth of [[Second Empire architecture|Second Empire]], Shingle Style, [[Mission Revival]] and [[Colonial Revival]] architecture.<ref>[http://www.stageneck.com/media/historic.html History of the Stage Neck Inn] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101127220537/http://www.stageneck.com/media/historic.html |date=November 27, 2010 }}</ref> Of particular note are the Lancaster Building designed by E. B. Blaisdell and built in 1895, Trinity Episcopal Church designed by [[Henry Janeway Hardenbergh|H. J. Hardenbergh]] and built in 1908, and the York Harbor Reading Room designed by James Purdon and built in 1910. The Cliff Walk, an ancient shoreline path lined with [[Rosa rugosa|beach roses]], winds along Eastern Point ledges above the [[Ocean surface wave|surf]].