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town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States
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Yarmouth is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. The town's population was 8,990 in the 2020 census. Yarmouth is 12 miles (19 km) north of the state's largest city, Portland, and is part of the Portland metropolitan area.
The town's proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, and its location on the banks of the Royal River (formerly Yarmouth River), which empties into Casco Bay less than 1 mile (1.6 km) away, means it is a prime location as a harbor. When originally settled as North Yarmouth in 1636, the town was part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and remained part of its subsequent incarnations for 213 years. In 1849, 29 years after Maine's admittance to the Union, it was incorporated as the Town of Yarmouth.
Ships were built in Yarmouth's harbor mainly between 1818 and the 1870s, at which point demand declined dramatically. Meanwhile, the Royal River's four waterfalls within Yarmouth, whose Main Street sits about 90 feet (27 m) above sea level, resulted in the foundation of almost sixty mills between 1674 and 1931. The annual Yarmouth Clam Festival attracts around 80,000 people (around ten times the town's population) over the course of the three-day weekend.
North Yarmouth, Massachusetts Bay Colony (as it then was), was settled in 1636, although Native Americans had already been living in the area, calling it Westcustogo. Englishman William Royall (c. 1595–1676), for whom the Royal River is named, emigrated to Salem in 1629. After serving seven years in the Massachusetts Bay Colony Company, he was provided with a land grant in North Yarmouth. He purchased a farm there in 1636, becoming one of the first European settlers of the town, along with John Cousins.
Another Englishman, George Felt, who had emigrated to Charlestown, Massachusetts Bay Colony, eleven years earlier, purchased 300 acres of land at Broad Cove from John Phillips, a Welshman, in 1643. In 1652, John Cousins sold "sixty acres of lands with fenced fields" to John Maine, from whom the western end of town took the name of Maine's Point.
In June 1675, the local Native Americans began a "war of extermination" against the settlers who were encroaching on their fishing ground. What is now known as Lanes Island, the first island at the mouth of the Royal River, was their council ground, and its western end their burial ground. James Lane was the first of their victims, followed the next day by two sons of Mr. Hazelton, who had recently purchased the remaining half of Cousins Island. They were hunting cattle in the woods when they were captured. Locally, William Royall's fort was destroyed and the mills were burned. More broadly, King Philip's War (1675–1678) caused settlers to abandon their homes and move south. After a brief period of peace, the Second Indian War broke out in 1688 and lasted for nine years. This unrest continued periodically until around 1756, ending with the Means massacre at Flying Point.
Around 1715, the third, and the earliest permanent, settlement in Yarmouth began. Seven years later, a "Committee for the Resettlement of North Yarmouth" was formed in Boston, Province of Massachusetts Bay.
By 1764, 1,098 individuals lived in 154 houses. By 1810, the population was 3,295. During a time of peace, settlement began to relocate along the coast and inland. The town's Main Street gradually became divided into the Upper Village (also known as the Corner) and Lower Falls, the split roughly located around the present-day U.S. Route 1 overpass (Brickyard Hollow, as it was known). Among the new proprietors at the time were descendants of the Plymouth Pilgrims.
The Town of Yarmouth was incorporated on August 8, 1849. Maritime activities were important from the beginning of the third settlement. Almost three hundred vessels were launched by Yarmouth's shipyards in the century between 1790 and 1890.
Twelve properties in Yarmouth are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The oldest (the Cushing and Hannah Prince House) dates from 1785; the most recent (the Grand Trunk Railway Station) was built in 1906, replacing a structure built in 1848. They are ranked in order of construction below.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 22.94 square miles (59.41 km2), of which 13.35 square miles (34.58 km2) (58%) is land and 9.59 square miles (24.84 km2) (42%) is water.
Yarmouth is nearly square in form and is bisected by the Royal River. The town is bounded by Freeport to the north (with the Cousins River separating them), North Yarmouth to the northeast, Cumberland to the west and Casco Bay to the south. Also included as part of the town are Cousins Island, Lanes Island, Great and Little Moshier Islands and Littlejohn Island.
The Royal River appealed to settlers because its four waterfalls and 45 feet (14 m) rise, within a mile of navigable water, each provided potential waterpower sites. In October 1674, the first sawmill, of Englishman Henry Sayward and Colonel Bartholomew Gedney, was built on the East Main Street (Maine State Route 88) side of the First Falls, where Grist Mill Park is today. (It was abandoned two years later, however, due to conflicts with the Native Americans during the early stages of King Philip's War.) The Second Falls are just west of Bridge Street; the Third Falls are within the bounds of Royal River Park; and the Fourth Falls are near the intersection of East Elm Street and Melissa Drive.
The first of the waterfalls are located less than a mile from the mouth of the Royal River at Yarmouth's harbor. One of the town's two remaining mill buildings stands near here, at 1 Main Street, at the foot of the Staples Hill. The other, Sparhawk Mill, is located approximately 0.35 miles (0.56 km) upstream at the Second Falls. The Third (or Baker) Falls were, by far, the most industrious of the four. Forest Paper Company was in operation there between 1874 and 1923. In 1901, it was the largest pulp and paper mill in the world. Also known as Upper Falls or Gooch's Falls, the Fourth Falls are located around 0.4 miles (0.64 km) upstream of the Third Falls.
In 2025, the town's council voted unanimously to remove the dams at the Second and Fourth Falls to improve ecology.
Since 1674, fifty-seven mills and several factories have stood on the banks of the river, producing grain, lumber, pulp and cotton. The factories manufactured paper, shoes, bricks and, in 1908, power, courtesy of Yarmouth Electric Company.
Yarmouth's coastline is composed of two main coves: White's Cove (north of Cousins Island's Snodgrass Bridge) and Broad Cove (from Sunset Point due east to State Route 88).
As of the census of 2010, there were 8,349 people, 3,522 households, and 2,317 families residing in the town. The population density was 625.4 inhabitants per square mile (241.5/km2), which put Yarmouth fourth behind Portland, South Portland and Westbrook in population density.
There were 3,819 housing units at an average density of 286.1 units per square mile (110.5 units/km2). The racial makeup of the town was 96.9% White, 0.5% African American, 0.2% Native American, 1.2% Asian, 0.2% from other races, and 1.0% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.2% of the population.
There were 3,522 households, of which 30.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.6% were married couples living together, 8.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 2.7% had a male householder with no wife present, and 34.2% were non-families. 27.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 2.87.
The median age in the town was 45.9 years. 22.8% of residents were under the age of 18; 5.6% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 20% were from 25 to 44; 34.9% were from 45 to 64; and 16.7% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 47.1% male and 52.9% female.
As of the census of 2000, there were 8,360 people, 3,432 households, and 2,306 families residing in the town. The population density was 626.7 inhabitants per square mile (242.0/km2). There were 3,704 housing units at an average density of 277.7 units per square mile (107.2 units/km2). The racial makeup of the town was 98.49% White, 0.37% Black or African American, 0.04% Native American, 0.36% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.22% from other races, and 0.50% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.59% of the population.
There were 3,402 households, out of which 33% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.2% were married couples living together, 7.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.8% were non-families. 27.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.41 and the average family size was 2.96.
In the town, the population was spread out, with 24.6% under the age of 18, 5.4% from 18 to 24, 26.3% from 25 to 44, 29.0% from 45 to 64, and 14.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.6 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $58,030, and the median income for a family was $73,234. Males had a median income of $48,456 versus $34,075 for females. The per capita income for the town was $34,317. About 4.0% of families and 4.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.2% of those under age 18 and 4.3% of those age 65 or over.
Yarmouth is safer than 77% of U.S. cities. Violent crime is well below the national average for all communities of all population sizes.
On April 18, 2023, three people were wounded in a suspected random shooting on Interstate 295, after the gunman allegedly shot dead four people in Bowdoin earlier that day.
Yarmouth was home to DeLorme, the large map-making company, with its headquarters, located on Route 1 to the north of the town, housing Eartha, the world's largest revolving and rotating globe. In 2016, DeLorme was purchased by Garmin.
A notable former establishment was Bill's Home Style Sandwiches. It was a lunchtime mainstay for many locals for 35 years (from 1974 to 2009), run by Bill Kinsman.
The oil-powered Wyman Power Station, located on the southwestern tip of Cousins Island, is part of Central Maine Power (CMP).
Yarmouth has no hotel or motel accommodation. The last one, the Down-East Village Restaurant & Motel, was demolished in 2017 to make way for a Patriot Insurance building at 701 Route One. The Down-East was, in 1950, the second motel built in Maine and eventually became the oldest.
The Royal River Cabins was in business between 1934 and 1950 on the ocean side of Spring Street, at its split with East Main Street. The enterprise began as an inn in the property at 51 East Main Street, which now houses W. M. Schwind Antiques. Eleanor Roosevelt and her entourage once stayed in a cabin here because the Eastland Park Hotel in Portland would not permit her dog, Fala, to stay in the hotel. The president's wife chose to dine at the Westcustogo Inn. Also at this fork in the road once stood Jim Brewer Dennison's blacksmith shop, which he set up in 1863. His son, William, worked with him. Adjacent to the forge was Florence Sewing Machines repair shop.
A drive-in theater once stood where the Hannaford plaza now is.
In 2019, the town approved a final draft of a "streetscape improvement plan" for the Main Street village first discussed in July the previous year. Phase 1 (between Elm and Mill Streets) was begun in April 2021; phase 2 (Center Street to Yarmouth Crossing) was in development in May 2023.
Established in 1965, the Yarmouth Clam Festival is an annual three-day event which takes place in the town during the third weekend in July, attracting around 120,000 people. The festival features a parade, food, carnival rides, crafts, a clam-shucking contest, a five-mile run, and a world-class bike race.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Yarmouth, Maine”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.