Yarmouth is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States, twelve miles north of the state's largest city, Portland. When originally settled in 1636, as North Yarmouth, it was part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and remained part of its subsequent incarnations for 213 years. In 1849, twenty-nine years after Maine's admittance to the Union as the twenty-third state, it was incorporated as the Town of Yarmouth.
The historical buildings and structures of Yarmouth, Maine, represent a variety of building styles and usages, largely based on its past as home to almost sixty mills over a period of roughly 250 years. These mills include that of grain, lumber, pulp and cotton. Additionally, almost three hundred vessels were launched by Yarmouth's shipyards in the century between 1790 and 1890, and the homes of master shipwrights and ship captains can still be found throughout the town.
The history of Yarmouth, Maine, is closely tied to its position on the banks of the Royal River and its proximity to Casco Bay, an inlet of the Gulf of Maine, itself a gulf of the Atlantic Ocean.
Sparhawk Mill is a former cotton mill on Bridge Street in Yarmouth, Maine, United States. Built in 1840 and made of brick, it is home today to several businesses. The mill stands, just east of the town's Second Falls, on the site of several previous mill buildings, the earliest of which was a wooden mill dating to 1817.
Pleasant Street is a historic street in Yarmouth, Maine, United States. It was formerly part of the Atlantic Highway, a precursor to U.S. Route 1. It connects to Lafayette Street, part of today's Maine State Route 88, at Pleasant Street’s southern and northern ends. It has existed since at least 1761, which is when a milestone was placed on the street, on the order of Benjamin Franklin, due to its being on the King's Highway, to denote its distance from Boston, Massachusetts. As part of his duties, Franklin conducted inspections of the roads that were used for delivering mail. One method of charging for mail service was by mileage, so Franklin invented an odometer to measure mileage more accurately. The King's Highway, as a result, morphed into the Post Road.
Old Baptist Cemetery is a historic cemetery in Yarmouth, Maine, United States. Dating to the late 17th century, it stands on Hillside Street, adjoining the North Yarmouth and Freeport Baptist Meetinghouse, a National Register of Historic Places property, on its southern side. It is the only burial site in the town attached to an extant church building.
Ledge Cemetery, also known as the Cemetery under the Ledge, is a historic cemetery in Yarmouth, Maine, United States. Dating to 1770, it stands on Gilman Road, around 450 feet (140 m) southwest of the older and smaller Pioneer Cemetery. Some headstones bear dates earlier than 1770, for many burials—such as that of Revd. Nicholas Loring—were removed from the older cemetery
The Meetinghouse under the Ledge, also known as the Old Ledge Meetinghouse, was a church that stood in present-day Yarmouth, Maine, between 1729 and 1836. It was the ninth church founded in Maine.
Bridge Street is a historic street in Yarmouth, Maine, United States. It runs for about 0.36 miles (0.58 km) from Willow Street in the north to the town's Main Street, State Route 115, in the south. The street's elevation is around 75 feet (23 m) at each end, while its middle section, at its crossing of the Royal River, is around 13 feet (4.0 m), a drop of around 62 feet (19 m).
Elm Street is a prominent street in Yarmouth, Maine, United States. It runs for about 2.7 miles (4.3 km) from North Road in the north to Portland Street in the south. The street's addresses are split between "West Elm Street" and "East Elm Street", the transition occurring at Main Street in the Upper Village. Several of its buildings are homes dating to the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Portland Street is a historic street in Yarmouth, Maine, United States. It runs for about 1.25 miles (2.01 km) from the town's Main Street, State Route 115, in the north to its merge with Middle Road in the south. It is so named because it leads to Portland, the state's largest city, after linking up with State Route 9 in Falmouth, Maine.
The First Falls are the first of four waterfalls in Yarmouth, Maine, United States. They are located on the Royal River, approximately a mile from its mouth with inner Casco Bay at Yarmouth Harbor and around 0.35 miles (0.56 km) downstream of the Second Falls. The river appealed to settlers because its 45-foot rise in close proximity to navigable water each provided potential waterpower sites. As such, each of the four falls was used to power 57 mills between 1674 and the mid-20th century.
51 East Main Street, also known as the William R. Stockbridge House, is a historic home in Yarmouth, Maine. It was built in 1810, on today's State Route 88, before Yarmouth's secession from North Yarmouth. Its original owner was merchant William Stockbridge.
Yarmouth Junction station was a passenger rail station in Yarmouth, Maine, United States. It stood to the west of East Elm Street at Depot Road, at the junction of the former Grand Trunk Railway and the Maine Central Railroad, around 0.9 miles (1.4 km) north of the town's Railroad Square, where today's 1906-built Grand Trunk station stands. The Amtrak Downeaster utilizes the former Maine Central Railroad line, which passes to the northwest of town. The Yarmouth Junction station building is now gone, but the junction itself is still active.
The Gilman Manse is an historic home at 463 Lafayette Street in Yarmouth, Maine. Built in 1771, making it one of the oldest extant buildings in the town, it was originally the home of Tristram Gilman, the fourth minister of the now-demolished Meetinghouse under the Ledge, which stood around 900 feet (270 m) to the northeast between 1729 and 1836. It succeeded the Cutter House, at 60 Gilman Road, as the parsonage for the church.
The Cutter House is an historic home at 60 Gilman Road in Yarmouth, Maine, United States. Built in 1730, over a century before today's Yarmouth was incorporated, it is the oldest extant building in the town. It was built for Ammi Ruhamah Cutter, the first minister of the now-demolished Meetinghouse under the Ledge, which stood around 150 yards (140 m) to the west, in the same strip of land between Gilman Road and Lafayette Street, between 1729 and 1836. It stands almost directly across Gilman Road from the Pioneer Cemetery, which was established a year later. The home, the Pioneer Cemetery and the nearby Ledge Cemetery are all that remain of this early settlement.
Gilman Road is a prominent street in Yarmouth, Maine, United States. It runs for about 1.7 miles (2.7 km) from Lafayette Street in the northwest to the Ellis C. Snodgrass Memorial Bridge at White's Cove in the southeast. At the bridge, which connects the Yarmouth mainland to Cousins Island, the road becomes Cousins Road.
Jacob Curry Mitchell was an American deacon who became prominent in what is now Yarmouth, Maine.
Upper Village is the colloquial name for the western end of Main Street in Yarmouth, Maine, centered around its intersection with Elm Street. It is also known as the Corner.
Lower Falls is the colloquial name for the eastern end of Main Street, and part of East Main Street, in Yarmouth, Maine, centered around the former’s intersection with Portland Street. It is also known as Falls Village or The Falls.
The building shortly before its destruction in the early 20th century
The land on which the home stood, viewed in 2024
The old stage road leading down to the Royal River
