[EL-ee-ut] is a town in York County, on the east side of the Piscataqua River dividing Maine from New Hampshire.

It was incorporated on March 1, 1810 from a portion of Kittery. Settled in the 1630’s it was part of the Piscataqua Plantation created in 1647. Nicholas Frost was one of the earliest settlers, arriving at Sturgeon Creek about 1636. Its many historic sites include Maine’s first Quaker Meetinghouse built in 1776.

Kittery-Portsmouth Bridge from Eliot (2001)

The Frost garrisons and house were built for a single family’s defense against the Indians.

Later a garrison was erected for group defense, including the sheltering of livestock.  At one time the buildings were connected by tunnels.

(See more on the Frost Garrisons below.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 1886 Eliot was described as follows in the Gazetteer of Maine: The farm-houses and buildings are generally neat and in good repair; while the western part adjacent to the river is adorned with handsome cottages, with gardens and fine orchards. The west branch of York River gives several small water-powers, which are improved by one grist mill and two saw-mills.  A small tide-power on Sturgeon Creek was also utilized in earlier times.

At the time it had eight schoolhouses and a population, in 1880, of 1,640.

The current Eliot Elementary School could have held all the students of 1880.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A growing residential community serving the Kittery and Portsmouth areas, its population expanded by almost 12 percent in the 1990-2000 decade

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Form of Government: Town Meeting-Select Board-Administrative Assistant.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Additional resources

Bartlett, Ralph Sylvester. The History of York County, Maine, and a rambling narrative about the town of Eliot and its mother-town old Kittery with personal reminiscences . . . . Boston. Jerome Press. c1938.

Beard, Frank A. and Bette A. Smith. Maine’s Historic Places: Properties on the National Register of Historic Places. Camden, Me. Down East Books. c1982.

Eliot Farmers’ Union (Maine). Records, 1915-1946. (bulk 1916-1936). (Cataloger Note: The collection contains records of the Eliot Farmers’ Union, a store in Eliot, Maine, owned and operated by John W. Staples. The store seems to have been in existence from 1915 to 1946 and sold grain, flour and groceries.) [Orono. University of Maine. Raymond H. Fogler Library. Special Collections.]

*Maine. Historic Preservation Commission. Augusta, Me.  Text and photo from National Register of Historic Places.

Old Eliot: A Reprinting in Three Books of the Sixty Historical and Genealogical Magazines Published in Eliot, Maine, between 1897 and 1909. Somersworth N.H. New England History Press. [Maine State Library]

Paul Family. Papers, 1771-1917. (Cataloger Note: The collection contains personal papers of various members of the Paul family of Eliot, including letters to and from Civil War soldiers.) [Orono. University of Maine. Raymond H. Fogler Library. Special Collections.]

Remick, Oliver Philbrick. A Record of the Services of the Commissioned Officers and Enlisted Men of Kittery and Eliot, Maine: who Served in the American Revolution. Somersworth, N.H. New England History Press. 1986.

Spinney, Alfred, 1855-1939. Papers, 1883-1921. (Cataloger Note: The papers of a bridge builder in Eliot, Maine. Included are 15 diaries from 1883-1892, 1894, and 1898-1901; 2 weekly time books covering 1895-1897; receipts; lists of goods purchased; lists of materials for bridge construction; and notices of sale of lands for unpaid taxes in Eliot in 1920 and 1921.) [Orono. University of Maine. Raymond H. Fogler Library. Special Collections.]

Varney, George J. A Gazetteer of the State of Maine. 1886. p2. 217-218.

National Register of Historic Places – Listings

Fogg, William, Library

[Old Road] The 1907 Fogg Library, designed by Boston architect C. Howard Walker, illustrates the pattern of philanthropic efforts to establish Maine public libraries as local institutions at the turn of the 20th century. The library was given to the town by Dr. John S.H. Fogg as a memorial to his father William Fogg. Dr. Fogg was born in Eliot in 1826, graduated from Bowdoin College and Harvard Medical School and settled in South Boston.

At his death in 1893, he willed his collection of 5,000 autographs and books to the Maine Historical Society and funds for the library’s construction and maintenance. Although a Library Association had been established, public financial support of the library became unnecessary. At its opening, the Library contained 6,000 volumes: Fogg’s collection, the association’s holdings and new books purchased by the library trustees.*

Frost Garrison and House

[On Frost’s Hill] Southern Maine people were involved in a great many blood skirmishes with the local Indians during much of the French and Indian War. In order to protect themselves, it was necessary to build many strong garrison houses. Col John Frost joined citizens who built garrisons in the Eliot area. In about 1733 he built a house on Frost’s Hill, the second to be erected on the Frost Hill land that the Frosts had owned since 1660.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Within a few years, Frost erected a small garrison about 30 feet behind the house. This small building was later used as a powder house. The large garrison was erected for neighborhood use in 1738. Many other families had garrison houses. At one time there were 28 in Eliot. The arrowhead marks found around the large garrison’s portholes indicate that Indians had attacked it on at least one occasion.

The old Frost Family home built about 1778 replaced an earlier garrison house built in 1733 and which was destroyed in 1760.* [No photographer credited]

ELIOT, Maine — The Frost Garrison and House on Frost Hill is being sold in an online auction. Originally built and occupied by Col. John Frost in the early 1700s, this homestead includes a 2.5-story Colonial built in 1732. American poet Robert Frost was a descendant of the family who built this property and is reported to have visited family members at the home often. Also on the property are a timber-framed Powder House built in 1734 and the two-story Garrison built in 1738. [Reported by Fosters Daily Democrat newspaper based in New Hampshire. March 23, 2021.]

Paul Family Farm

[106 Depot Road] The Paul Family Farm is comprised of a two-story frame dwelling with Federal and Greek Revival style elements believed to have been built (but not fully completed) in 1804-05, a mid-19^th century detached barn and a group of three early twentieth century outbuildings including a garage/woodshed, work shop, and a second garage. The property is noteworthy for the architectural significance of the house and the ancillary buildings which are representative examples of their type and method of construction. In addition, the house has artistic significance by virtue of the extant “Eaton School” stenciling that survives in one of the first floor rooms.

The property was initially settled by Moses Paul (1753-1812) and his wife Jane Tucker Paul (1757-1811). They occupied a two-story frame dwelling built about 1780 that is thought to have stood to the east of the existing house. Hugh Tucker Paul (1781 -1852) was one of four children born to Moses and Jane. In 1808, he married Dorcass Shapleigh (1780- 1840) and  the existing house was largely completed by then. Although it would appear that they farmed the land, given by his father, Hugh was a shipbuilder by trade and is known to have constructed at least four vessels in the period between 1806 and 1820. The largest of these was the Brig Florida of 268 tons displacement built at Somersworth, New Hampshire in 1818. At the taking of the 1850 census Hugh Tucker Paul is listed as residing in the household of his son Moses Paul, Jr., both of whom gave their occupations as “Farmer.”* [Kirk F. Mohney photo]