North Yarmouth

[North YAR-muth] is a town in Cumberland County, incorporated on June 17, 1683 from what is known as the “ancient territory of Westcustigo,” the Indian term for “mouth of the river,” in this case the Royall (now Royal) River, named for William Royall an early proprietor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Originally a large tract of land, North Yarmouth ceded land to Brunswick (1739, 1740) and to Georgetown (Small Point in 1741).

It set off land to form the towns of Freeport (1789), Pownal (1816), Cumberland (1821), and finally Yarmouth (1849). Thus, the early history of these towns is that of North Yarmouth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What is now known as “Ancient North Yarmouth” once encompassed the seven present-day towns of North Yarmouth, part of Harpswell, Freeport, Pownal, Cumberland, Yarmouth, and Chebeague Island.

Author, women’s rights activist, and abolitionist Elizabeth Oakes Smith was born in 1806 in what was then North Yarmouth, but is now Cumberland.

The first action in King William’s War occurred when Indians attacked the settlement here in the late 1680’s.  The war, widespread in southern Maine, lasted about ten years.

The town was one of the recipients of a copy of the Declaration of Independence, dated July 17, 1776, and ordered read by the Massachusetts authorities as a means of informing Maine towns that independence had been declared.

Over 200 years later, the copy was found in the estate of a prominent local resident. A legal battle ensued until its ownership was once again restored to the town in 2001.

A newspaper report in 1978 described a discovery of a meteorite in the town. The Walnut Hill meteorite is completely covered by a thin black fusion crust formed by melting of the outer layer as it fell through the atmosphere.

The well-known North Yarmouth Academy is actually in the town of Yarmouth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

North Yarmouth’s rapidly growing community is within easy reach of Yarmouth, Brunswick, and the greater Portland area via Maine Routes 9, 115, and 231, and by nearby Interstate 95 and U.S. Route 1. It has nearly tripled its population since 1970.

The Memorial Highway covers a section of Maine Route 9 from the Walnut Hill area northeast to Dunns Corner.  Dedicated in the early 1920’s, it honors North Yarmouth’s Civil War servicemen.

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

Additional resources

Baier, Ursula., ed. North Yarmouth, 1680-1980: An Illustrated History. North Yarmouth, Me. North Yarmouth Historical Society. 1980.

Collins, Robert S. Wescustogo & Aucocisco: True Tales of Maine Coast People Since 1636: History and Tales of North Yarmouth and Casco Bay. South Portland, Me. Pilot Press. c1975.

Merrill, Lincoln J. Around North Yarmouth. Charleston SC. Arcadia Publishing. c2006.

Merrill, Linc. “North Yarmouth’s Memorial Highway.” The Gazette. c. 2004. http://www.northyarmouthhistorical.org/PDFs/MemHwy.pdf (accessed February 4, 2012)

Old Times of North Yarmouth, Maine. A facsimile of the thirty-two quarterly magazines edited and published by Augustus W. Corliss as well as the single issue of The Westcustogo Chronicle, 1877-1885. Somersworth, NH. New Hampshire Pub. Co.. 1977.

Rowe, William Hutchinson. Ancient North Yarmouth and Yarmouth, Maine, 1636-1936: A History. Yarmouth, Me. 1937.

Rowe, William Hutchinson. Shipbuilding Days and Tales of the Sea, In Old North Yarmouth and Yarmouth, Maine. Portland, Me. Marks Printing House. 1924.

Rowe, William Hutchinson. Yarmouth Personages, an Introduction. An attempt to revive the memory of individuals whose names were once household words in old North Yarmouth and Yarmouth. Yarmouth?, Me. 191-?