[SAN-frd] is a city in York County, incorporated as a town on February 27, 1768 from the Phillipstown Tract.

The original Phillipstown Tract was named for Major William Phillips who obtained several quit claim deeds from Indian chief for a large territory.

The name derives from Major William Phillips’ stepsons, the sons of his third wife, Bridget Hutchinson Sanford.

After annexing some incorporated land in 1786 and ceding land to Lebanon in 1787, Sanford swapped land with Shapleigh (1787, 1820) and Alfred (1794, 1828).

After 245 years as a town, in 2013 Sanford became the first community in Maine to become a city since Caribou did in 1967. Its representative town meeting, now abolished, was the only one of its kind in Maine.

From the 1940s through the 1960s Sanford’s population hovered around 15,000.  Then the 70s and 80s brought the number to a bit over 20,000, where it has remained since.

The city, the state’s seventh largest, maintains a fine park in the main village. Mousam River, which emerges from Mousam Lake in Shapleigh, passes through the village and its mill pond is the centerpiece of Mousam Way Park.

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The 1909 Roosevelt School in downtown Sanford had been vacant since the 1990s. Recently the City sold the building to be re-purposed into eight luxury 2-3 bedroom apartments.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The city has maintained a fine park in the main village. The Mousam River, which emerges from Mousam Lake in Shapleigh, passes through the village and its mill pond is the centerpiece of Mousam Way Park. (See video above.)

Louis Goodall established the Goodall Worsted Company, and was president of the Sanford National Bank before being elected to the U.S. Congress in 1917.

Sanford is accessible to Biddeford in the east and to the coast at Wells in the southeast. The city is a hub of several Maine Routes: 4A, 11, 11A, 109, 224 and U.S. Route 201.

Springvale is a large community with its own identity northwest of downtown Sanford, just up the Mousam river, which flows through both. It was home to the Boot and Shoemakers Union in 1903.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Traditionally an industrial center, primarily with textile mills and shoe making, Sanford has diversified and continues to be a growing community.

Sanford, with Springvale Village, was the seventh largest town or city in Maine by population according to the 2010 Census, up from a ranking of ninth in 1990.

Form of Government: City Council-Manager.

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Additional resources

Image credit: “Sanford Birdseye View 1889.” LC classification: G3734.S35A3 1889 .N6 Repository: Library of Congress Geography and Map Division Washington, D.C. 20540-4650 USA dcu. G3734S Pm002510 Http://Hdl.Loc.Gov/Loc.Gmd/G3734S.Pm002510.  Image source:  http://www.loc.gov/item/75694500 (accessed March 19, 2013)

Maine. Historic Preservation Commission. Augusta, Me.

Emery Homestead: A Trolly Trip along the Mousam. Issued by the Sanford and Cape Porpoise Railway Co. Sanford, Me. The Company. 1901.

Eastman, Harland H. Sanford and Springvale, Maine, in the days of Fred Philpot: a photographic history. Springvale, Me. H. H. Eastman. 1985.

Eastman, Harland H. Villages on the Mousam: Sanford and Springvale, Maine. Springvale, Me.: H. H. Eastman. c1995. (Sanford, Me. Robert M. Wilson, Wilson’s Printers)

Emery, Edwin. The History of Sanford, Maine, 1661-1900. Compiled, edited and arranged by his son, William Morrell Emery. Fall River, Mass. Published by the compiler. 1901.

Graham, Gillian. “Sanford becomes Maine’s newest city.” Portland Press Herald. January 2, 2013. (accessed July 16, 2014)

Sanford Historical Committee. Sanford, Maine: A Bicentennial History. Published in commemoration of the anniversary of the incorporation of the town in 1768. Albert L. Prosser, editor. Sanford. 1968.

Seeman, Bernard. The Town that Refused to Die. Chicago? Esquire. 1956.

National Register of Historic Places – Listings

Photos, and edited text are from nominations to the National Register of Historic Places researched by Maine. Historic Preservation Commission.
Full text and photos are at https://npgallery.nps.gov/nrhp 

Edmund E. Goodwin House, 1899

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Edmund E. Goodwin House in the Springvale village of Sanford was built in 1899, a late example of a well-detailed Queen Anne style residential structure. Built by a successful merchant, manufacturer, and community member whose family had once owned lumber yards and sawmills, this building has remained almost completely unaltered and retains a high degree of architectural integrity. The house and its attached carriage house feature a complex roof line, projecting bays and windows, multiple porches and stylistic detailing including scroll-cut applied ornamentation, patterned shingles and modillions (ornate brackets). The interior has kept its original plan, most of its historic finishes (including some original wall paper) and a room of original furniture. [click to enlarge photo]

Emery Homestead

[1 and 3 Lebanon Street] The Emery Homestead is one of the few remaining houses that formed the core of Sanford and marked the places of settlement of the original families. It is regarded by the local people as a landmark. The house has historical, social and architectural significance for the five generations of Emerys that have lived In it. Emerys served as town and state officials, have been active in church and school affairs, and have made a substantial contribution to the life of the community.

The members of the Emery family are descendants of Anthony Emery, who came with his brother John from Romsey, Hampshire, England, to Boston in 1635, and later settled in Newburyport, Massachusetts. Caleb (1741-1825) was the first Emery who settled in Sanford (1773) where he served as town clerk, selectman, representative to the Legislature, justice of the peace, and postmaster.

 

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The Emery Homestead was originally a farm house built on a dirt road that ran from Sanford to Lebanon. The town grew around it. The fields and woodlots that belonged to the family were sold, and for two generations the homestead has been the town residence of the family. The main part of the house, a white clapboard structure, was built in 1830 by William Emery, Jr. (1791-1877). An ell was added to the main house by the son, Charles Oscar (1838-1904) in 1862, when he married and established a home there. At right angles an extension to this ell runs back, away from the street, and joins a large barn that was originally free standing. Yet another addition to the main house on the opposite side was made about 1908 by Charles Oscar’s eldest son, Edward Henry (1864-1928), who occupied the original house when he married, and who needed more space for his family. [Frank A. Beard photos]

Goodall Memorial Library

[952 Main Street] The Louis B. Goodall Library is a Georgian style Colonial Revival brick building designed by the Portland architect William O. Armitage in 1937. It was built with funds donated by Dr. and Mrs. Harvey Thornburg, the daughter of one of the Town’s most noted residents, Louis B. Goodall. Although substantially enlarged in 1976, the addition was positioned in a manner that allowed the richly embellished front portion of the building to retain its integrity.

The Sanford Library Association was first organized in 1898. Superintendent E. E. Hussey of the Sanford Mills, was among the first to become interested in a public library for the community. Other prominent men, including Mr. Thomas Goodall, took the matter in hand. June 18, 1898, the Sanford Library Association was organized. The Woman’s Literary Club donated their collection, and it was decided to open a library at once, to be run for an indefinite period on a membership basis, each member to pay two dollars per year for use of the books, and non-members to pay five cents per week if they desired library privileges.

Mr. Goodall offered free use of the rooms on the ground floor of the building on School street where the library is now located and about six hundred volumes were purchased with the money subscribed. The library was opened to the public December 31,1898. In 1936, after the death of her father, Louis B. Goodall, Lela Thornburg and her husband, Dr. Harvey Thornburg, decided to build and donate to the town a new library building in her father’s honor.  [Christi A. Mitchell photos, 2007]

 Goodall, Thomas, House

[232 Main Street] Before the arrival of Thomas Goodall in 1867, Sanford was a small, insignificant agricultural village on the Mousam River. By the end of the century it had become one of the most important textile manufacturing towns in the state and remained so until the industry moved south in the 1940’s.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Born in Dewsbury, Yorkshire, England in 1823 and orphaned at the age of three, Goodall served an eleven year apprenticeship in the growing woolen manufacturing business, of which he gained a thorough knowledge. At the age of seventeen he was appointed manager of a factory and then set up his own business in which he was moderately successful. As did many another Englishman trained in the textile field, he emigrated to the United States in 1846. After employment in Rhode Island and South Hadley, Massachusetts, where he married Ruth Waterhouse, the daughter of a leading manufacturer, he moved to Troy, New Hampshire in 1852.

There he established a business manufacturing fitted horse blankets, of which he was the only producer and which he supplied to the Union Army in large quantities during the Civil War. Selling his factory in 1865, he returned to England where he traveled for two years and acted as a manufacturer’s agent for English companie dealing with American textile merchants. While abroad he developed an interest in carriage robes and plushes and, upon returning to this country in 1867, purchased a small flannel factory, a grist mill, and a saw mill in Sanford. There he began the manufacting robes, blankets and horse blankets. His financial success was established.

The Goodall Mills were incorporated in 1873 and new mills were built. By 1874 over one hundred workers were employed and by 1900 nearly one thousand were on the payroll. Goodall was an enlightened employer for the times and demonstrated his concern for his employee’s welfare by purchasing the old town hall and converting it into what might now fee termed a recreation hall. He was also instrumental in founding the Sanford Public Library and served as its first president. This tradition of public service was carried on for many years by the family through beneficent acts including the establishment of the Goodall Memorial Hospital.

Thomas Goodall retired from the business in 1883, but remained active in the community until his death in 1910. Goodall Mills continued to thrive under his three gifted sons, Louis, George and Ernest. The elegant mansion that Goodall built in 1871 is a significant example of a prosperous 19th century manufacturer’s residence. It was filled with ingenious devices including an indoor croquet court in the cellar, lighted, as was the rest of the house, by gas manufactured on the premises. The two older sons, twins, built handsome houses across the street and the youngest, Ernest, occupied the mansion upon his father’s death and developed its Colonial revival alterations. [Frank A. Beard photo]

Goodman, Edmund E., House

[503 Main Street] This 1899 Queen Anne Victorian style house was built for Mr. Goodman, a prominent local businessman. Owned by the Sanford Historical Society, it is next to the Sanford-Springvale Historic Museum (once the town Hall). The house features  original wallpaper, light fixtures, and coal chute and bins in the basement.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Goodwin, a civic benefactor, funded construction of the adjacent town hall.

Condensed from “National Register of Historic Places listings in York County, Maine.”  https://maineanencyclopedia.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=25959&action=edit (accessed January 6, 2020) [The National Register site did not return information about this property.]

 

Sanford Mills Historic District

[Bounded by Washington St., Pioneer Ave., Emery St., and Weaver Dr. ] The Sanford Mills Historic District has a combination of location, design, materials, workmanship, feeling, setting and association with other buildings that makes it a coherent historic area. The significant period of its history began in 1882, with the construction of the earliest buildings. It ends in 1955 when the Burlington Mills Company sold the complex and textile manufacturing in Sanford had largely disappeared.

The district, a collection of well-preserved mill buildings that once formed the Sanford Mills complex, is located in the heart of Sanford and serves as a reminder of the town’s industrial heritage and an era of great prosperity. Thomas Goodall’s factory was the first in the country to manufacture plush carriage robes. His sons and successors, later developed a specialized loom and produced America’s first mohair plush.

Only a few American companies offered any serious competition to Sanford’s mohair plush industry, which evolved in parallel with advances in transportation. The Sanford Mills specialized first in the production of horse blankets and carriage robes and later in manufacturing fabric for railroad cars and automobiles. Sanford Mills was able to sustain dominance in the industry as a result of their consistently high quality product, sound management, and the willingness to adapt production to new market demands. [Christine Beard photos, 2009]

Sanford Naval Air Station Administration Building–Control Tower, Former

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Southwest corner of Sanford Municipal Airport, southwest of junction of Maine Route 99 and Maine Route 109 South Sanford] Built about 1942 or 1943, the Former Sanford Naval Air Station Administration Building/Control Tower is a rare example of a surviving World War II naval air control tower building. As late as 1938 only a handful of Naval Aviation stations existed in the United States. Deteriorating world politics that year prompted an increase in the number of military aircraft for America’s armed forces and began the prewar arms buildup. America’s entry into World War II on December 7,1941 heightened the need for the quick construction of Naval Air Stations throughout the country.

Half of the 84 east coast air stations established during World War II were located at existing civil airports or airstrips in order to take advantage of existing infrastructure. Early in 1942, the Chief of Naval Operations designated major and minor Naval Reserve Aviation Bases (NRAB) around the country. The primary mission of the NRAB was to train pilots and patrol coastal regions. In January 1943, Naval Reserve Aviation Bases around the country were redesignated as Naval Air Stations (NAS). The Sanford Naval Air Station was one of five auxiliary stations established in Maine during World War II, The Brunswick Naval Air Station functioned as the primary naval air base in the region. Sanford’s airfield  was originally a single air strip and a hanger built by the Sanford Mills in the early 1930’s. About 1940, the WPA expanded the field and added hard-surfaced runways.

In late 1942 or early 1943 the control tower/administration building was built at the southwest corner of the airfield as were a number of frame barracks buildings. The Navy commissioned the station NAAS Sanford on April 15, 1943 and the facility went into operation immediately, staging training operations and launching radio controlled drones over Casco Bay. Of the five auxiliary naval air stations located in Maine during the period, Sanford was the southernmost and considered to be second only to Brunswick in terms of facilities with 80 officers and 464 men. In 1944 one fighter squadron and one torpedo squadron were assigned to the base. At the end of the war Sanford NAAS went on caretaker status though it continued to be staffed by the Navy until the early 1960s.

While structures similar to the Sanford NAS Control Tower/Administration Building were built at the bases at Brunswick and Lewiston/Auburn and other locations along the eastern seaboard, it is the only known surviving example of its type. The temporary nature of this building type, appears to have resulted in their destruction during the civil aeronautics boom of the second half of the 20th century. Its simple, functional design is illustrative of the trend toward standardization and mass production in the American Forces during World War II. While Sanford NAAS never functioned as the primary base in the region, it did play an important role in pilot training and defense of the southern Maine coast in the period between 1943 and 1945. It survives as a rare example of the hundreds of military control towers that were quickly constructed as part of America’s war effort during the Second World War. [James Hewat photo, 1996]

Sanford Town Hall (Former)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[505 Main Street] The former Sanford Town Hall was neither the first nor last town house built in Sanford. After the town was incorporated in 1768, town meetings were held in local houses or inns. In 1848 the town voted to build its first town house. This one was located near Sanford Corner and the town’s Congregational and Baptist Churches and the District #2 school house.

In the years just after the Civil War, an expanded Town House was needed. Not willing to invest more money in the old building, the town voted in 1873 to build a new town house, this time located in the village of Springvale. Springvale became the business and industrial center of the community in the middle of the 19th century. Architecturally, the former Sanford Town Hall is notable for its Greek Revival details, the preferred stylistic choice for many civic structures. By 1877 the town was renting the hall for various functions, collecting $111 in rent in that year alone. In future years the income from the hall frequently met or exceeded its operating expenses.

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Improvements were made as well, including adding interior finishes and furnishings. In 1903 a stage was built followed by a balcony ten years later. Among the events in the building, in addition to town meetings and elections, were IOOF banquets, dances, masquerades and balls, graduation exercises for Springvale High School, receptions, and recitals.

After the turn of the 20th century, an even larger town hall was needed. By then the industrial activities, as well as commercial enterprises, had largely become concentrated in Sanford Corner. The next Town Hall, a large Beaux Arts brick building, was built there in 1908, and included offices, meeting rooms and a spacious second floor hall, all scaled to reflect the growing prosperity of the whole town. The (Former) Sanford Town Hall did not fade into obscurity, rather it continued to fill a crucial need in the civic, social, and cultural life of the village of Springvale. [Harland Eastman photos, 2006]

Smith–Emery House

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[253 Main Street Springvale] Built about 1847, the Smith-Emery House is a two-story Greek Revival style frame building whose ell is connected to a large gable roofed barn. The house was built for Albert and Sophia Smith. Albert was a Springvale businessman who also served in various capacities in town government. Albert J. Smith (1811-1889) was a hardware merchant and the proprietor of A. J. Smith & Company Smith served in various civic positions including selectman (1852,1859), town treasurer (1861,1874-75), deputy sheriff (1857), and as the first president of the Riverside Cemetery Association. He and his wife Sophia (1807-1888) lived here until their deaths.

In 1897 the house was acquired by Samuel Benton Emery, and during his family’s occupancy of the property several substantial alterations were made to the house. Emery was a dealer in home furnishings and the owner, beginning in 1899, of the Springvale Cotton Mills. It is unclear which members of the family initially occupied this newly acquired property, but about 1910 significant modifications were made to the house. The Emery family owned the property until 1982. The Smith-Emery House is a locally important example of mid-19th century Greek Revival style architecture. The growth of Springvale was aided by the construction of a cotton mill in 1842. Greek Revival style buildings are associated with the community’s mid-19 century expansion. The Smith-Emery House is among the largest and most complete of the existing Greek Revival style buildings. In its overall form, the house is very traditional with its orientation with the roof ridge parallel to the street. [Kirk F. Mohney photos, 1996]

US Post Office–Sanford Maine

[28 School Street] The Sanford Post Office was built on the site of the home of Thomas Goodall who was the owner and responsible for the development of the woolen mill industry in Sanford. The house on this site was later used as a hospital after Mr. Goodale had built the large Victorian mansion directly across the Street.

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In 1930, Congress authorized increased funding for public buildings in direct response to the depression. Design policy for small post offices continued to be standardization of plans for economy and to speed the design and construction process in the interest of economic recovery.

 

The Sanford Post Office is an excellent example of treating the facade of a standard plan creatively to produce a one of a kind building. The classical symmetry and ornament and creative use of materials and detailing has all come together in this fine example of Federal architecture. Essentially unchanged over the years, the Post Office continues to be one of the most important buildings in Sanford, both architecturally and historically, continuing to maintain the Federal presence in the area. [Dennis Griggs photos, 1983]