Wood Island Lighthouse, Biddeford Pool, ME

Biddeford Pool is a large tidal pool, located off

Saco Bay Saco Bay is a small curved embayment of the Gulf of Maine on the Atlantic coast of Maine in the United States. The name derives "from a map of the coastline made in 1525 by the Spanish explorer Esteban Gómez. He named the bay ''Bahio de Saco'' ...

south of the mouth of the

Saco River The Saco River (Abenaki language, Abenaki: ''Sαkóhki'') is a river in northeastern New Hampshire and southwestern Maine in the United States. It drains a rural area of of forests and farmlands west and southwest of Portland, Maine, Portland ...

on the south coast of

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

. It is approximately 6 miles southeast of downtown

Biddeford Biddeford is a city in York County, Maine, United States. It is the principal commercial center of York County. Its population was 22,552 at the 2020 census. The twin cities of Saco and Biddeford include the resort communities of Biddeford Poo ...

, to which it is connected via State Route 208. The town of Kennebunkport is 3 miles southwest, connected via State Route 9.

Background

Old Goldthwaite House, Biddeford Pool, ME

Biddeford Pool is the site of Maine's first recorded permanent settlement, then called Winter Harbor (not to be confused with present-day

Winter Harbor, Maine Winter Harbor is a town on the Schoodic Peninsula in Hancock County, Maine, United States. The population was 461 at the 2020 census. The town is located just outside the Schoodic Peninsula portion of Acadia National Park, and is due east of t ...

). In the winter of 1616-1617, Richard Vines, a physician, resided here as part of the colonization efforts of

Sir Ferdinando Gorges Sir Ferdinando Gorges ( – 24 May 1647) was a naval and military commander and governor of the important port of Plymouth in England. He was involved in Essex's Rebellion against the Queen, but escaped punishment by testifying against the ma ...

, lord proprietor of Maine. An early village developed on the north side. In 1688, Fort Mary was built near the pool's entrance. The former

Fletcher's Neck Lifesaving Station The Fletcher's Neck Lifesaving Station was a maritime rescue facility at Ocean Avenue and Fourth Street in the Biddeford Pool area of Biddeford, Maine. Established in 1874 by the United States Life-Saving Service, its original building is one of ...

, closed in 1971 and on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

, still stands at Ocean Avenue and Fourth Street. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

the Biddeford Pool Military Reservation was established from 1941 to 1945, on what is now the Abenakee Golf Club. It had four circular concrete platforms called "

Panama mount Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a List of transcontinental countries#North America and South America, transcontinental country spanning the Central America, southern ...

s" for 155 mm guns, three of which remain today. From December 1941 to 12 February 1943 it was garrisoned by Battery F of the 240th Coast Artillery of the

Maine National Guard The Maine Department of Defense, Veterans, and Emergency Management (DVEM) is a government agency of Maine. It comprises the two components of the Maine National Guard, the Maine Army National Guard and the Maine Air National Guard, the Bureau of Ve ...

; this unit was then relieved by Battery E of the 22nd Coast Artillery, which departed in October 1943; it is unclear what unit was at the site after that time. The small harbor hosts both vacationers and lobstermen. Its water level fluctuates from a large navigable body during high

tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravity, gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide t ...

to mostly

mudflat Mudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats or, in Ireland, slob or slobs, are coastal wetlands that form in intertidal areas where sediments have been deposited by tides or rivers. A global analysis published in 2019 suggested that tidal fl ...

s during low tide. The only exception is the deep mouth, where a gut is located which is naturally

dredge Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing da ...

d by tidal current. It is locally known as "The Gut." Consequently, this is the area where most boats are moored. Wood Island Light is located about a mile offshore to the northeast. Biddeford Pool is bounded by the mainland to the south and west, by

Hills Beach Hills Beach is seaside community in Biddeford, Maine, Biddeford, York County, Maine, approximately north of Boston, Massachusetts. Hills Beach is a narrow stretch of sandy beach on the north side of Biddeford Pool near the mouth of the Saco Ri ...

to the north, and by East Point to the east. The area is a popular summer destination for visitors from as far south as

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

and as far west as

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. The pool is surrounded by tall grass

salt marsh A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is dominated ...

es that are home to a variety of birds and other wildlife. East Point Sanctuary, maintained by the Maine Audubon Society, is considered to be one of the premier

birding Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device like binoculars or a telescope, by ...

spots on the northeast coast. Mile Stretch Road, a sandy strip of beach which connects the neighborhood of Biddeford Pool to the mainland, is a notable

tombolo A tombolo is a sandy or shingle isthmus. A tombolo, from the Italian ', meaning 'pillow' or 'cushion', and sometimes translated incorrectly as ''ayre'' (an ayre is a shingle beach of any kind), is a deposition landform by which an island become ...

. Points of interest around Biddeford Pool include the Biddeford coastal neighborhoods of

, Fortune's Rocks, and Granite Point; and the Kennebunkport coastal area of Goose Rocks.

References

External links

City of Biddeford, Maine

McArthur Public Library

Biddeford Pool Webpage

East Point Sanctuary -- Maine Audubon Society

Friends of Wood Island Lighthouse

Biddeford Pool Yacht Club

Biddeford Historical Society

{{FmrMEMilitary Biddeford, Maine Natural pools Landforms of York County, Maine