Timeline compiled by Town of York Historian James Kences
1800–1809
1800 – York County’s population was 34,284; York’s population was 2,776. Twenty-five Moulton families, twenty Donnell families, and thirteen Bragdon families lived in town.
1800 – Rev. Rosewell Messenger delivered an oration on the death of George Washington.
1800 – Customs revenue in the Piscataqua region reached its peak at $143,000.
1801 – Only Joseph Tucker remained from the previous board of selectmen; Jeremiah Clark, Daniel Raynes, Elihu Bragdon, and Capt. Alexander McIntire were newly elected.
1801 – Twenty-three highway districts were formally defined.
1802 – Elihu Bragdon was re-elected; Maj. Samuel Derby, Joseph Bragdon, Theodore Webber, and Moses Lyman joined the board of selectmen, serving through 1806.
1802–1806 – Alfred repeatedly petitioned the legislature to hold half the county court sessions there; Alfred’s first courthouse and an early jail were built.
1803 – Political controversy arose over Collector of Customs Joseph Tucker; a January town meeting debated his removal, though a majority supported him.
October 13, 1803 – Edward Emerson Jr. died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound after suffering heavy financial losses; about a decade later, his brother Bulkley Emerson also died by suicide.
c. 1803 – County commissioners laid out a new road bypassing Ferry Lane, part of the old Post Road, despite strong local opposition.
1805 – Alexander Rice petitioned to build a toll bridge over the York River (Rice’s Bridge).
1806 – The number of selectmen was reduced to three (Moses Lyman, Elihu Bragdon, and Theodore Webber), who were re-elected the following year.
June 16, 1806 – Charles Came recorded a “very remarkable” total eclipse of the sun, so dark that stars became visible.
The Embargo and Local Impact, 1807–1809
December 22, 1807 – President Jefferson’s Embargo took effect, banning American ships from foreign ports. Coasting and fishing vessels continued under close regulation.
January 1809 – An Enforcement Act tightened controls; the embargo ended in March 1809 when Jefferson left office and Madison became president.
1808 – New Hampshire’s Joseph Whipple reported that York Collector Jeremiah Clark had lost control of enforcement, and embargo-breaking trade used York as a base.
March 8, 1808 – Town meeting appointed a committee to draft a local law preventing horses from running at large in winter, with fines for violators.
August 8, 1808 – Joseph Weare noted the launching of Theodore Weare’s vessel.
September 13, 1808 – Weare recorded Capt. William Avery’s return with 330 quintals of fish.
1809 – The three men first elected as selectmen (Elihu Bragdon, Edward Simpson, Joseph Weare Jr.) all declined to serve; a second election chose Moses Lyman, Theodore Webber, and Jeremiah Paul.
1810–1819
1810–1812 – Elihu Bragdon, Alexander McIntire, and Theodore Webber served as selectmen. In 1811 they also acted as assessors, overseers of the poor, and town treasurers; in 1812 those offices were separated again.
June 1, 1810 – Schooner Speedwell (40 tons), owned by John Nowell and mastered by Joseph Lowe, was licensed for the cod fishery.
February 12, 1811 – York Cotton Factory Company was incorporated; its mill stood about 100 yards below the outlet of Chase’s Pond.
April 9, 1811 – Schooner Exchange (32 tons), owned by William D. Moulton and Joseph Kingsbury, was licensed for the cod fishery.
November 11, 1811 – Town meeting voted to replace the swing bridge on the York River, lost in a freshet.
1812 – Town voted to sell the old courthouse once a new one was completed. Nathaniel Grant Marshall was born.
War of 1812 Era, 1812–1815
June 1812 – The United States declared war on Great Britain. A British naval blockade extended to New England in April 1814, leading to coastal raids.
July 18, 1812 – Schooner Clarissa (68 tons), owned by William D. Moulton, William Simpson, and Samuel Averill, was licensed for the coasting trade.
1813–1814 – York temporarily returned to having five selectmen, likely in response to wartime pressures.
February 5, 1814 – Eighty-three men formed the Volunteer Company of York Sea Fencibles to defend the coast from Wells to Kittery.
June 15–16, 1814 – British warships Bulwark and Endymion raided along the southern Maine coast; local militia mobilized, and a brief incident occurred near the Nubble.
July 25, 1814 – Orders called for Sea Fencibles to man Fort Edward at the entrance to York Harbor.
September 1, 1814 – British forces occupied Castine; Bulwark and Endymion were part of the fleet.
February 13, 1815 – News reached York that the war had ended.
1815 – The number of selectmen was again reduced to three.
1816–1820: Toward Maine Statehood
March 16, 1813 – Town meeting ordered examination of York’s cannon and requested Massachusetts support for harbor defense.
June 9, 1813 – Rev. Rosewell Messenger was the subject of a public hearing over alleged moral infractions, including excessive drinking and improper conduct.
November 18, 1815 – Rev. Moses Dow was ordained as minister of First Parish, succeeding Messenger.
August 1, 1816 – A militia uniform was prescribed: dark blue coats faced with red, and buff waistcoats and trousers.
September 2, 1816 – York voters chose a delegate for the Brunswick convention on separation of Maine from Massachusetts.
September 26, 1816 – Charles Came recorded a devastating frost that destroyed the corn crop.
1817–1820 – Alexander McIntire and Joseph Weare Jr. were repeatedly elected as selectmen; a third member rotated until Joseph Junkins Jr. joined in 1819.
July 16, 1817 – President James Monroe visited Coventry Hall and breakfasted with Judge David Sewall and local dignitaries.
May 1819 – York petitioned the Massachusetts legislature in favor of separation; similar petitions circulated statewide.
July 26, 1819 – York voted 151–136 in favor of Maine’s separation from Massachusetts.
September 20, 1819 – Town chose delegates to the Portland constitutional convention.
December 6, 1819 – York voters unanimously approved the proposed Maine Constitution (91–0).
March 15, 1820 – Maine became the 23rd state in the Union.
April 3, 1820 – York cast 229 votes for William King as Maine’s first governor.
1820–1829: County Seat Lost and Local Change
1820 – Probate and clerk of courts moved to Alfred; registry of deeds had already moved in 1816.
1820 – An agricultural survey reported York as a leading producer of barley and Indian corn, and noted its unusually large number of oxen, cattle, and barns.
January 8, 1821 – Asa Freeman wrote that York’s legal business was in decline and the town had been “on the decline for some years.”
1821–1825 – James Bragdon 3rd, Daniel Bridges Jr., and David Wilcox served as selectmen for consecutive years.
Spring 1823 – York voted overwhelmingly (340 votes) against building a new county prison in Alfred but was overruled.
1824 – A murder trial (Charles Stevens) drew such large crowds it had to be held in the Congregational Church.
1824 – The annual town meeting date shifted from early March to the first week of April.
April–May 1824 – A smallpox outbreak at Cape Neck led to inoculations with cowpox (kine pox).
1825 – Maritime survey showed the York customs district had the smallest tonnage of Maine’s twelve districts.
1827 – Work began on a widened, straightened road from Kittery to Portland, creating the triangular plot at York Corner.
April 25, 1827 – A major freshet swept away mills and bridges at Chase’s Mills and along the river.
March 4, 1829 – The inauguration of President Andrew Jackson was celebrated in York with cannon fire and a large procession.
1830–1839: Temperance, Courts, and Churches
1832 – Theodore Wilson, Solomon Brooks, and William McIntire began several consecutive terms as selectmen.
July 21, 1832 – Town doctors were directed to consult New York and Boston physicians on treating cholera as the epidemic spread in North America.
January 7, 1833 – York protested the removal of judicial courts to Alfred.
1833–1834 – A Methodist church was built in York Village next to the bank building and dedicated in October 1834.
1833 – A large dispute arose between the town and First Parish over ownership of the courthouse site; the town insisted the land belonged to York.
1834 – A triangular tract at York’s western boundary was set off to South Berwick.
April 6, 1835 – The school committee reported serious lack of uniformity in instruction, discipline, and textbooks.
September 1835 – A church council formalized the departure of Rev. Eber Carpenter from First Parish.
April 2, 1836 – George L. Emerson temporarily lost his license to retail spirits under local liquor regulations.
1837–1843 – Frequent turnover in selectmen reflected political and economic instability.
April 3, 1837 – Town leaders urged reform of poor relief and recommended purchasing a town farm to reduce expenses.
1837 – Land behind First Parish Church was set aside for a new burying ground.
1838–1839 – First Parish Church was remodeled and rededicated in 1839.
1840–1849: Reform, Roads, and Schools
July 20, 1841 – York Ledge monument, a 30-foot cast-iron navigation aid, was completed three miles offshore.
1841 – Nathaniel Marshall married Sophia Baker Bragdon; their children Edward Simpson (1842) and George Albert (1843) were born soon after.
1844–1848 – Theodore Wilson, William McIntire, and Alexander Dennett served consecutive terms as selectmen.
April 7, 1845 – Town allowed arrest or forced labor on the poor farm for those refusing to pay poll tax.
April 6, 1846 – Town meeting adopted strong temperance resolutions, refusing licenses for liquor sales.
August 29, 1846 – Voters authorized selling the powder house and military stores, possibly reflecting public sentiment during the Mexican War.
April 3, 1848 – A powerful temperance declaration warned that inaction would bring “idleness, poverty, vice, and crime” to York.
1849–1855 – Charles Came, Joseph Bragdon Jr., and Joseph Weare Jr. served consecutive terms as selectmen.
1849 – Sewall’s Bridge was rebuilt.
December 25, 1849 – Elder Mark Fernald described a rowdy Christmas gathering involving drinking, shooting, and dancing.
1850–1859: Schools, Storms, and Politics
1850 – Nathaniel Marshall sold his store, studied law, and later held local, county, and federal offices, including Collector of Customs.
May 6, 1850 – A great freshet destroyed mills and bridges along the river.
1851 – A militia return listed 276 enrolled men.
April 16, 1851 – A record-breaking tide damaged bridges and wharves.
1852 – Local diaries recorded mumps, lung fever, and dysentery outbreaks, along with enforcement of Maine’s new statewide liquor law.
1853–1854 – The school system underwent a major textbook overhaul.
1856 – A complicated selectmen’s election required additional balloting to fill all three seats.
1857–1859 – John A. Swett, Samuel E. Payne, and Sylvester McIntire served consecutive terms as selectmen.
1859 – The District 1 primary school was described as cold, dark, and poorly furnished; overall, eight schoolhouses were rated good and seven poor.
1860–1869: Civil War and Civic Reorganization
March 8, 1860 – Schooner Gold Hunter was launched at Cape Neddick.
1860 – Hiram Perkins began ringing the bell for town meetings, a duty he maintained through the Civil War.
1860–1863 – Samuel W. Norton and Edmund N. Goodwin served as selectmen through multiple terms.
September 10, 1860 – State elections produced a Republican majority in York.
November 6, 1860 – Presidential election saw a Republican victory in town for the first time in 28 years.
1861–1865 – York supported the Union war effort through militia enrollment, bounties for volunteers, and multiple town meetings on war funding.
April 3, 1865 – News of Richmond’s fall reached York; days later, townspeople learned of Lincoln’s assassination.
April 17, 1865 – Town voted to raise $10,000 to reduce war debt.
March 22, 1869 – Town purchased the former county courthouse and jail, renaming the building the town house.
1870–1879: Town Hall and Emerging Resort
1871 – Town approved improvements to the road at Long Sands Beach; Nathaniel Grant Marshall built the Marshall House hotel on Stage Neck.
February 23, 1874 – The new Town Hall was dedicated; Nathaniel G. Marshall delivered the address and later worked extensively on early town records.
1874–1879 – Town meetings addressed leasing the town house hall, regulating hitching posts, and sale of the town farm; chief of police and policemen (tythingmen) were appointed.
1876–1879 – James A. Bragdon and Josiah D. Bragdon served multiple terms as selectmen.
1879 – A new village schoolhouse was built (later the fire station site). Nubble Lighthouse began operation.
1880–1889: Water, Light, and Rails
1880–1883 – George W. Currier, Rufus Moody, and David Moulton served as selectmen; maritime occupations were still common, with 45 men listed in the census.
1881–1882 – Hobson’s Market opened in York Village; Congregational Church underwent modification and rededication with an address by Joshua Chamberlain.
1882 – Telephone service was introduced in York.
1883 – York Harbor and Beach Railroad Company was incorporated; plans were made for a steam ferry across the Piscataqua.
1884–1896 – George W. S. Putnam served long tenure as selectman; new brickworks and other businesses expanded local industry.
August 8, 1887 – Boston & Maine Railroad spur into York first carried summer visitors, marking a new era of tourism.
1887 – Ellis Park at York Beach was created as a public seaside park.
1888–1889 – Town approved tax incentives for manufacturing, a sewer system for York Beach, and offered a reward for an arsonist; sewer construction began to protect public health.
1890–1899: High Season for the Seaside Resort
1891 – George F. Plaisted began publishing The York Courant. A patriotic flag-raising at the village school emphasized Civil War memory. The town farm opened on Long Sands Road.
1892 – St. Aspinquid Lodge #198 (Masons) was established; Columbus-themed ceremonies were held at Town Hall.
1893 – York County Trust Bank was founded; electric railroad incorporated; a local bicycle club and visiting circus highlighted new leisure pursuits. Town issued $20,000 in bonds.
1894 – Town Hall was rededicated; York adopted summer police regulations, employing seasonal officers.
1895 – Edward S. Marshall built an electric plant; York Shore Water Company organized to pipe water from Chase’s Pond; sidewalks and water mains were extended to York Harbor and York Beach.
1897 – Voters approved the electric railroad; the first electric cars crossed Sewall’s Bridge, and a high school at York Corner and new fire protection (hydrants and firewards) were authorized.
1898 – Lucas Home for Children opened at Long Sands Road; the Spanish-American War briefly raised coastal defense concerns; Marshall House expanded to accommodate more guests.
1899 – Brixham Grange Hall was built; York Harbor train station burned and was later rebuilt; telephone subscriptions grew; repeated fires and rapid building highlighted both risk and growth in the resort community.
1899–1900 – The Old York Historical and Improvement Society formed, and in summer 1900 the Old Gaol museum opened to the public, marking the institutional beginning of historical preservation in York.