Editing South Berwick, Maine

{{Short description| Town in the state of Maine, United States}}
{{Redirect|South Berwick|the city known as South Berwick in some old texts|Berwick-Upon-Tweed}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name               = South Berwick
| official_name      = 
| nickname           = The Berwicks
| motto              = 
| image_skyline      = Main Street & Central Square, South Berwick, ME.jpg
| imagesize          = 
| image_caption      = Central Square {{circa|1910}}
| image_seal         = 
| image_flag         = 
| pushpin_map        = Maine
| pushpin_label      = South Berwick
| pushpin_label_position = <!-- the position of the pushpin label: left, right, top, bottom, none -->
| pushpin_map_caption = Location within the state of Maine
| pushpin_mapsize    = 
| image_map          = 
| mapsize            = 
| map_caption        = 
| image_map1         = 
| mapsize1           = 
| map_caption1       = 
| subdivision_type   = Country
| subdivision_name   = United States
| subdivision_type1  = State
| subdivision_name1  = [[Maine]]
| subdivision_type2  = [[List of counties in Maine|County]]
| subdivision_name2  = [[York County, Maine|York]]
| parts_type         = Villages
| parts              = [[South Berwick (CDP), Maine|South Berwick]]<br/>Emerys Bridge<br/>Great Works<br/>Jewett
| established_title  = Settled
| established_date   = 1631
| established_title2 = Incorporated
| established_date2  = 1814
| established_title3 = 
| established_date3  = 
| government_type    = [[Town Council]]
| leader_title       = [[Town Manager]]
| leader_name        = Tim Pellerin
| leader_title1      = Town Council
| leader_name1       = Chair: Mallory Cook<br/>John C. Kareckas<br/>John James<br/>Jessica Cyr<br/>Jeff Minihan
| area_magnitude     = 
| area_footnotes     = <ref name ="Gazetteer files"/>
| area_total_km2     = 84.54
| area_land_km2      = 83.22
| area_water_km2     = 1.32
| area_total_sq_mi   = 32.64
| population_footnotes = <ref name ="wwwcensusgov"/>
| population_as_of   = [[2020 United States census|2020]]
| population_est     = 
| pop_est_as_of      = 
| settlement_type    = [[New England town|Town]]
| population_total   = 7467
| population_density_km2 = 89.7
| population_density_sq_mi = 
| area_land_sq_mi    = 32.13
| area_water_sq_mi   = 0.51
| elevation_m        = 31
| elevation_ft       = 43
| timezone           = [[Eastern Standard Time Zone|Eastern]]
| utc_offset         = -5
| timezone_DST       = [[Eastern Standard Time Zone|Eastern]]
| utc_offset_DST     = -4
| coordinates        = {{coord|43|14|04|N|70|49|30|W|region:US-ME|display=inline}}
| website            = {{URL|www.southberwickmaine.org}}
| postal_code_type   = ZIP code
| postal_code        = 03908
| area_code          = [[Area code 207|207]]
| blank_name         = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]]
| blank_info         = 23-70030
| blank1_name        = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
| blank1_info        = 0582732
| footnotes          = 
}}

'''South Berwick''' is a town in [[York County, Maine]], United States. The population was 7,467 at the [[2020 United States census|2020 census]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/profile?g=0600000US2303170030|title=Census - Geography Profile: South Berwick town, York County, Maine|access-date=January 12, 2022}}</ref> South Berwick is home to [[Berwick Academy (Maine)|Berwick Academy]], a private, co-educational [[university-preparatory school|university-preparatory]] day school founded in 1791.

The town was set off from [[Berwick, Maine|Berwick]] in 1814, followed by [[North Berwick, Maine|North Berwick]] in 1831.  It is part of the [[Portland-South Portland-Biddeford metropolitan area]]. The primary village in the town is the [[South Berwick (CDP), Maine|South Berwick]] [[census-designated place]].

==History==

The area was called Newichawannock by the [[Abenaki]] people, meaning "river with many falls," a reference to the [[Salmon Falls River]]. It was first settled by Europeans about 1631 as a part of [[Kittery, Maine|Kittery]] known as Kittery North Parish. Near the confluence with the [[Great Works River]], Ambrose Gibbons built the Great House at Newichawannock, a [[palisade]]d trading post, to exchange goods with the Indians.<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/n84 53]–54| url = https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_OcoMAAAAYAAJ| quote = coolidge mansfield history description new england 1859.}}</ref>

In 1634, William Chadbourne, James Wall, and John Goddard arrived from England aboard the ship ''Pied Cow'' to build a [[sawmill]] and [[gristmill]] at Assabumbadoc Falls. The first houses built in South Berwick were built by Chadbourne and Wall.  Chadbourne's house was in the northwesterly angle of Brattle Street and Dow Highway (Rt. 236).<ref>Stager, Helen and Stager, Evelyn.  ''A Family Odyssey: The Ancestors and Descendants of Joseph Harrison and Ada Belle (Marsh) Stager,'' p. 269, Nicollet Press, Inc., Pipestone, MN, 1983.</ref><ref>Stackpole, Everett S.  ''Old Kittery and Her Families,'' Scholar's Choice, 2015.</ref><ref>Spencer, Wilbur D.  ''Pioneers on Maine Rivers'', Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1973.</ref>  [[Richard Leader]], an engineer, rebuilt the sawmill in 1651 to handle up to 20 saws. The factory became known as the "Great mill workes," from which the Great Works River derives its name. It was run by 25 [[Scottish people|Scottish]] [[prisoners of war]] captured by [[Oliver Cromwell]]'s forces at the 1650 [[Battle of Dunbar (1650)|Battle of Dunbar]] and transported aboard the ''Unity'' to North America. They were sold as [[indentured servant]]s whose labor would earn them freedom. The community was dubbed the Parish of Unity after the ship.<ref name=Coolidge/>

The village was attacked in 1675 during [[King Philip's War]], then raided again in 1690–1691 during [[King William's War]] by Indians under the command of officers from [[New France]], who burned the Parish of Unity to the ground. It was abandoned, but resettled in 1703 under its Abenaki name, Newichawannock. The [[Massachusetts General Court]] incorporated it in 1713 as [[Berwick, Maine|Berwick]], the 9th oldest town in Maine. It was named after [[Berwick-upon-Tweed]], a town of mixed allegiances on the [[Anglo-Scottish border]]. What evolved into today's [[Berwick Academy (Maine)|Berwick Academy]] opened in 1791.  On February 12, 1814, South Berwick was set off and incorporated.<ref name="Varney 1886">{{Cite web |last=Varney |first=George J. |year=1886 |title=Gazetteer of the state of Maine. South Berwick |url=http://history.rays-place.com/me/s-berwick-me.htm |publisher=Russell |place=Boston}}</ref>

During the 19th century, various [[Watermill|mills]] were erected at the rivers to use their [[water power]]. At the [[head of navigation]], Quampheagan Falls on the Salmon Falls River became the site of the Portsmouth Manufacturing Company. Established in 1831, the cotton textile mill had 7000 [[spindle (textiles)|spindles]] and 216 [[loom]]s, which by 1868 produced 2&nbsp;million yards of sheeting per year.<ref name="Varney 1886" /> The mill closed in 1893, and most of its brick buildings were razed about 1917, but the [[Portsmouth Company Cotton Mills: Counting House|Greek Revival counting house]] is now the Old Berwick Historical Society Museum. South Berwick also made [[woolen]]s, [[shoemaking|shoes]], [[plow]]s, and [[cultivator]]s, as well as sawn and planed [[lumber]]. The town was noted for its apple [[orchard]]s. Some inhabitants worked across the bridge in [[Rollinsford, New Hampshire|Rollinsford]], New Hampshire at the Salmon Falls Manufacturing Company, which closed in 1927.<ref>[http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~dearle/Stackpole.html History of South Berwick, Maine (1926)]</ref> [[South Berwick Village Historic District|The village center]] was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 2010.

In 1901, local author [[Sarah Orne Jewett]] set her historical romance ''The Tory Lover'' at the [[Hamilton House (South Berwick, Maine)|Hamilton House]] in South Berwick. Built about 1785, the [[Federal style architecture|Federal style]] mansion is now a museum operated by [[Historic New England]], which also owns the [[Sarah Orne Jewett House]], built in 1774 overlooking Central Square.

<gallery>
File:Fogg_Memorial_Building,_Berwick_Academy,_South_Berwick,_Maine.jpg|Fogg Memorial at the [[Berwick Academy (Maine)|Berwick Academy]]
Image:Jewett House.jpg|[[Sarah Orne Jewett House]] {{circa|1910}}
Image:Odd Fellows' Block, South Berwick, ME.jpg|Odd Fellows' Block {{circa|1910}}
Image:Shoe Factory, South Berwick, ME.jpg|David Cummings & Co. Shoe Factory {{circa|1910}}
</gallery>

==Geography==
According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the town has a total area of {{convert|32.64|sqmi|sqkm|2}}, of which {{convert|32.13|sqmi|sqkm|2}}  is land and {{convert|0.51|sqmi|sqkm|2}} water.<ref name ="Gazetteer files">{{cite web|title=US Gazetteer files 2010|url=https://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/data/gazetteer2010.html|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=December 16, 2012}}</ref> Located beside the [[New Hampshire]] border, South Berwick is drained by the [[Great Works River]] and [[Salmon Falls River]]. Welch Hill, elevation 370 feet (112.8 m) above sea level, is the town's highest point. The lowest elevation, which is sea level, is located along the Salmon Falls River, from the small hydroelectric dam next to the [[New Hampshire Route 4]] bridge, south to the town's border with Eliot.

==Demographics==
{{US Census population
|1820= 1475
|1830= 1577
|1840= 2314
|1850= 2592
|1860= 2624
|1870= 2510
|1880= 2677
|1890= 3434
|1900= 3188
|1910= 2935
|1920= 2955
|1930= 2650
|1940= 2546
|1950= 2646
|1960= 3112
|1970= 3488
|1980= 4046
|1990= 5877
|2000= 6671
|2010= 7220
|2020= 7467
|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census<ref name="DecennialCensus">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|title=Census of Population and Housing|publisher=Census.gov|access-date=June 4, 2015}}</ref>
}}

===2010 census===
As of the census<ref name ="wwwcensusgov">{{cite web|title=U.S. Census website|url=https://www.census.gov|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=December 16, 2012}}</ref> of 2010, there were 7,220 people, 2,729 households, and 1,979 families residing in the town. The population density was {{convert|224.7|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|1}}. There were 2,911 housing units at an average density of {{convert|90.6|/sqmi|/km2|1}}. The racial makeup of the town was 97.5% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 0.2% [[African American (U.S. Census)|African American]], 0.2% [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]], 0.8% [[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]], 0.2% from [[Race (U.S. Census)|other races]], and 1.1% from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race were 0.8% of the population.

There were 2,729 households, of which 38.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.1% were married couples living together, 9.4% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.0% had a male householder with no wife present, and 27.5% were non-families. 21.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.64 and the average family size was 3.09.

The median age in the town was 40.5 years. 26.6% of residents were under the age of 18; 7.3% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 23.5% were from 25 to 44; 32.4% were from 45 to 64; and 10.1% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 49.4% male and 50.6% female.

===2000 census===
As of the census<ref name="GR2">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=January 31, 2008|title=U.S. Census website}}</ref> of 2000, there were 6,671 people, 2,403 households, and 1,847 families residing in the town.  The population density was {{convert|207.5|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}.  There were 2,488 housing units at an average density of {{convert|77.4|/sqmi|/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}.  The racial makeup of the town was 97.63% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 0.30% [[African American (U.S. Census)|African American]], 0.30% [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]], 0.66% [[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]], 0.27% from [[Race (United States Census)|other races]], and 0.84% from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race were 0.67% of the population.

There were 2,403 households, out of which 44.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.3% were married couples living together, 8.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.1% were non-families. 18.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.  The average household size was 2.76 and the average family size was 3.17.

In the town, the population was spread out, with 30.4% under the age of 18, 5.4% from 18 to 24, 32.8% from 25 to 44, 23.0% from 45 to 64, and 8.4% who were 65 years of age or older.  The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.4 males.  For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.0 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $53,201, and the median income for a family was $59,330. Males had a median income of $40,107 versus $25,729 for females. The per capita income for the town was $21,118.  About 2.8% of families and 2.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.3% of those under age 18 and 7.1% of those age 65 or over.

==Strawberry Festival==
Since 1976, South Berwick has hosted a [[Strawberry Festival]] on the last Saturday in June.  Originally organized to celebrate the [[United States Bicentennial]], its popularity has convinced the festival's organizers to hold it each year since. It includes shops, food, games and rides for children and trolley rides. The festival is held on the grounds of Central School, the primary elementary school for the town of South Berwick.<ref>
{{cite web | url=http://southberwickstrawberryfestival.com | title=South Berwick Strawberry Festival | publisher=South Berwick Strawberry Festival | access-date=March 11, 2011}}</ref>

==Sites of interest==

* [[Portsmouth Company#The Counting House museum|Counting House Museum]], {{circa|1832 or 1850}} – Old Berwick Historical Society
* [[Hamilton House (South Berwick, Maine)|Hamilton House]] – [[Historic New England]]
* [[Jewett-Eastman House]] – Historic New England
* [[Sarah Orne Jewett House]] – Historic New England
* [[Vaughan Woods State Park]]
* [[Punkintown]]

== Notable people ==
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· The article must mention how they are associated with South Berwick, whether born, raised, or residing.
· The fact of their association should have a reliable source cited.
· Alphabetical by last name please.
· All others will be deleted.
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* [[Nicholson Baker]] (born 1957), novelist and non-fiction writer
* [[John H. Burleigh]] (1822–1877), [[United States Congress|U.S. congressman]]
* [[William Burleigh]] (1785–1827), U.S. congressman
* [[Slaid Cleaves]] (born 1964), singer-songwriter
* [[John Noble Goodwin]] (1824–1887), attorney, politician, and U.S. congressman
* [[John Hubbard (admiral)|John Hubbard]] (1849–1932), [[United States Navy]] [[Rear Admiral (United States)|rear admiral]]
* [[Sarah Orne Jewett]] (1849–1909), novelist
* [[J. Harold Murray]](1891–1940), singer and film actor
* [[Rod Picott]] (born 1964), singer-songwriter
* [[Robert M. Pirsig]] (1928–2017), writer, philosopher
* [[Deanna Rix]] (born 1987), [[Wrestling|wrestler]]
* [[Charles Sleeper]] (1856–1924), physician, state legislator, and Collector of the Port of Portland, Maine
* [[Luther C. Tibbets]] (1820–1902), founded California [[Citrus fruit|citrus]] industry with wife [[Eliza Tibbets]]

==Sister cities==
* {{flagdeco|USA}} [[Tuskegee, Alabama|Tuskegee]], [[Alabama|AL]], USA

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* [http://www.southberwickmaine.org/ Town of South Berwick official website]
* [http://www.south-berwick.lib.me.us/ South Berwick Public Library]
* [http://www.southberwickstrawberryfestival.com/ South Berwick Strawberry Festival]
* [http://www.oldberwick.org/ Old Berwick Historical Society]
* [http://www.berwickacademy.org/ Berwick Academy]
* [http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=2348 Epodunk Town Profile]
* [http://www.mainegenealogy.net/individual_place_record.asp?place=south_berwick Maine Genealogy: South Berwick, York County, Maine]
* [http://www.thefallschamber.com The Falls Chamber of Commerce (Historically known as The Greater Somersworth Chamber of Commerce)]

{{Geographic location
 | Centre = South Berwick
 | North = [[North Berwick, Maine|North Berwick]]
 | Northeast = [[Wells, Maine|Wells]]
 | East = [[Ogunquit, Maine|Ogunquit]]
 | Southeast = [[York, Maine|York]]
 | South = [[Eliot, Maine|Eliot]]
 | Southwest = [[Dover, New Hampshire]]
 | West = [[Rollinsford, New Hampshire]]
 | Northwest = [[Berwick, Maine|Berwick]]
}}

{{York County, Maine}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Coord|43|14|04|N|70|48|34|W|type:city_region:US-ME|display=title}}

[[Category:South Berwick, Maine| ]]
[[Category:Populated places established in 1631]]
[[Category:Portland metropolitan area, Maine]]
[[Category:Towns in York County, Maine]]
[[Category:Towns in Maine]]
[[Category:1631 establishments in the Thirteen Colonies]]