Gorham is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

Cumberland County, Maine Cumberland County is a county in the U.S. state of Maine. As of the 2020 census, the population was 303,069, making it the most populous county in Maine. Its county seat is Portland. Cumberland County was founded in 1760 from a portion of ...

, United States. The population was 18,336 at the 2020 United States Census. In addition to its urban village center known as Gorham Village or simply "the Village," the town encompasses a number of smaller, unincorporated villages and hamlets with distinct historical identities, including South Gorham, West Gorham, Little Falls, White Rock, and North Gorham. Gorham is home to one of the three campuses of the

University of Southern Maine The University of Southern Maine (USM) is a public university with campuses in Gorham and Portland, Maine, United States. It is the southernmost university in the University of Maine System. It was founded as two separate state universities, Go ...

. In 2013, Gorham was voted second-best town in Maine after Hampden by a financial website. Gorham is part of the

Portland-South Portland-Biddeford metropolitan area The city of Portland, Maine, is the hub city of a metropolitan area in southern Maine. The region is commonly known as Greater Portland or the Portland metropolitan area. For statistical purposes, the U.S. federal government defines three differ ...

. Initially named Narragansett Number 7, the village was renamed Gorhamtown Plantation in honor of the famous New England Ranger John Gorham I, the great grandfather of John Gorham 4th.

History

First called Narragansett Number 7, it was one of seven townships granted by the

Massachusetts General Court The Massachusetts General Court, formally the General Court of Massachusetts, is the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts located in the state capital of Boston. Th ...

to soldiers (or their heirs) who had fought in the Narragansett War of 1675, also called

King Philip's War King Philip's War (sometimes called the First Indian War, Metacom's War, Metacomet's War, Pometacomet's Rebellion, or Metacom's Rebellion) was an armed conflict in 1675–1678 between a group of indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodland ...

. The land was first settled in 1736 by Captain John Phinney and his family, followed in 1738 by Hugh McLellan and Daniel Mosher. By 1743, the first

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...

was established by John Gorham at Little River. Without window-glass, the first dwellings were constructed of logs chinked with

moss Mosses are small, non-vascular plant, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic phylum, division Bryophyta (, ) ''sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Wilhelm Philippe Schimper, Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryo ...

and

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

. Narragansett Number 7 suffered its first Indian raid in 1745 during

King George's War King George's War (1744–1748) is the name given to the military operations in North America that formed part of the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748). It was the third of the four French and Indian Wars. It took place primarily in ...

, when the

meeting house A meeting house (also spelled meetinghouse or meeting-house) is a building where religious and sometimes private meetings take place. Terminology Nonconformist (Protestantism), Nonconformist Protestant denominations distinguish between a: * chu ...

and Gorham's sawmill were burned. It was attacked again in 1746, when five colonists were killed and three abducted. Incursions during the

French and Indian Wars The French and Indian Wars were a series of conflicts that occurred in North America between 1688 and 1763, some of which indirectly were related to the European dynastic wars. The title ''French and Indian War'' in the singular is used in the U ...

would finally end, however, with the 1763 Treaty of Paris. The town was incorporated as Gorham in 1764. It would annex land from Standish in 1831 and 1839, and from

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...

in 1864. Good soil benefited agriculture, and numerous falls provided

water power Hydropower (from Ancient Greek -, "water"), also known as water power or water energy, is the use of falling or fast-running water to produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by converting the gravitational potential or kin ...

for industry. The town developed into a manufacturing center, with Portland serving as a nearby market. Products produced there included textiles, clothing, carpet,

lumber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

barrels A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden staves and bound by wooden or metal hoops. The word vat is often used for large containers for liquids ...

, chairmans,

carriages A carriage is a two- or four-wheeled horse-drawn vehicle for passengers. In Europe they were a common mode of transport for the wealthy during the Roman Empire, and then again from around 1600 until they were replaced by the motor car around 1 ...

wagons A wagon (or waggon) is a heavy four-wheeled vehicle pulled by draft animals or on occasion by humans, used for transporting goods, commodities, agricultural materials, supplies and sometimes people. Wagons are immediately distinguished from ...

and

sleigh A sled, skid, sledge, or sleigh is a land vehicle that slides across a surface, usually of ice or snow. It is built with either a smooth underside or a separate body supported by two or more smooth, relatively narrow, longitudinal runners ...

s. There was also a box factory,

corn Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout Poaceae, grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago ...

canning Canning is a method of food preservation in which food is processed and sealed in an airtight container (jars like Mason jars, and steel and tin cans). Canning provides a shelf life that typically ranges from one to five years, although under ...

factory,

paper pulp Pulp is a fibrous lignocellulosic material prepared by chemically, semi-chemically, or mechanically isolating the cellulosic fibers of wood, fiber crops, waste paper, or rags. Mixed with water and other chemicals or plant-based additives, pul ...

mill,

brickyard A brickyard or brickfield is a place or Yard (land), yard where bricks are made, pottery firing, fired, and stored, or sometimes Commerce, sold or otherwise distributed from. Brick makers work in a brick yard. A brick yard may be constructed ...

tannery Tanning, or hide tanning, is the process of treating skins and hides of animals to produce leather. A tannery is the place where the skins are processed. Historically, vegetable based tanning used tannin, an acidic chemical compound derived fr ...

, and

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

and

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

works. The

Cumberland and Oxford Canal The Cumberland and Oxford Canal was opened in 1832 to connect the largest lakes of southern Maine with the seaport of Portland, Maine. The canal followed the Presumpscot River from Sebago Lake through the towns of Standish, Windham, Gorham, a ...

opened in 1829 connecting

Casco Bay Casco Bay is an bay, open bay of the Gulf of Maine on the coast of Maine in the United States. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's chart for Casco Bay marks the dividing line between the bay and the Gulf of Maine as running from ...

with

Sebago Lake Sebago Lake (Sih-Bay-Goh) is the deepest and second-largest lake in the U.S. state of Maine. The lake is deep at its deepest point, with a mean depth of . Sebago is the deepest lake wholly contained within the entire New England region. Along ...

, although it would be discontinued in 1871, having been rendered obsolete by John A. Poor's York and Cumberland Railroad (later the

Boston and Maine Railroad The Boston and Maine Railroad was a United States, U.S. Class I railroad in northern New England. It was chartered in 1835, and became part of what was the Pan Am Railways network in 1983 (most of which was purchased by CSX in 2022). At the e ...

), which entered Gorham in 1851. The railroad was dismantled in 1961, but the former grade serves as a multi-use recreational trail. On September 12, 1870, the first train of the

Portland and Ogdensburg Railroad The Portland & Ogdensburg Railroad was a railroad planned to connect Portland, Maine, Portland, Maine to Ogdensburg, New York. The plan failed, and in 1880 the Vermont section was reorganized and leased by the Boston and Lowell Railroad, Boston ...

(later part of the

Maine Central Railroad The Maine Central Railroad was a United States, U. S. class 1 railroad in central and southern Maine. It was chartered in 1856 and began operations in 1862. By 1884, Maine Central was the longest railroad in New England. Maine Central had expand ...

Mountain Division The Mountain Division (later the Mountain Subdivision) is a railroad line that was once owned and operated by the Maine Central Railroad (MEC). It stretches from Portland, Maine on the Atlantic Ocean, through the Western Maine Mountains and Wh ...

) traveled from Portland to Sebago Lake through White Rock. White Rock station closed in 1921. In 1803, Gorham Academy was founded. Designed by Samuel Elder, the

Federal style Federal-style architecture is the name for the classical architecture built in the United States following the American Revolution between 1780 and 1830, and particularly from 1785 to 1815, which was influenced heavily by the works of And ...

Gorham Academy Building was erected in 1806. The institution would evolve into Western Maine Normal School, and later Gorham State Teachers College. Today, it is the

at Gorham. Gorham currently has a much smaller industrial infrastructure than it did in earlier years. The majority of Gorham's industry is based along its border with Westbrook, and many of the mills that formerly existed along the

Presumpscot River The Presumpscot River () is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed June 30, 2011 river located in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. It is the main outlet of Sebago ...

are now underwater, flooded with the construction of the Dundee Dam. In recent decades Gorham has increased in popularity as a

bedroom community A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

of Portland. Its residents and town officials have been confronted with various issues related to managing suburban growth in a historically rural town. Today, Gorham has grown from a small village to a flourishing town. Its popularity has attracted many new housing developments and businesses. Positioned near Sebago Lake, Gorham also offers a plethora of recreational activities such as trails for hiking and a river for kayaking, canoeing and swimming.

Gallery

File:Hugh McLellan House, Gorham, ME.jpg, Hugh McLellan House, completed in 1773 File:Old Mill, Gorham, ME.jpg, Old mill in 1906 File:Congregational Church & Chapel, Gorham, ME.jpg, Congregational Church

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the town has a total area of , of which is land and is water. Gorham is drained by the

Little River Little River may refer to several places: Australia Streams New South Wales *Little River (Dubbo), source in the Dubbo region, a tributary of the Macquarie River * Little River (Oberon), source in the Oberon Shire, a tributary of Coxs River (Haw ...

and Stroudwater River.

Roads and adjacent communities

The town is served by

U.S. Route 202 U.S. Route 202 (US 202) is a spur route of U.S. Route 2, US 2. It follows a northeasterly and southwesterly direction stretching from Delaware in the south to Maine in the north and traveling through the states of Pennsylvania, N ...

, and state routes 4, 22, 25, 112,

114 114 may refer to: *114 (number) *AD 114 *114 BC *114 (1st London) Army Engineer Regiment, Royal Engineers, an English military unit *114 (Antrim Artillery) Field Squadron, Royal Engineers, a Northern Irish military unit *114 (MBTA bus) *114 (New Je ...

and

237 Year 237 (Roman numerals, CCXXXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Perpetuus and Felix (or, less frequently, year 990 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denominatio ...

. It borders

Buxton Buxton is a spa town in the High Peak, Derbyshire, Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, in the East Midlands region of England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level.Alston, Cumbria also claims this, but lacks a regu ...

, Standish, Windham, Westbrook, and

Demographics

2010 census

As of the census of 2010, there were 16,381 people, 5,719 households, and 4,064 families living in the town. The population density was . There were 5,972 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 96.5%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.7%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.3% Native American, 0.9% Asian, 0.2% from other races, and 1.4% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 0.9% of the population. There were 5,719 households, of which 36.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.1% were married couples living together, 9.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.0% had a male householder with no wife present, and 28.9% were non-families. 21.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.59 and the average family size was 3.03. The median age in the town was 38 years. 22.6% of residents were under the age of 18; 15% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 22.8% were from 25 to 44; 27.8% were from 45 to 64; and 11.9% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 48.3% male and 51.7% female.

2000 census

As of the census of 2000, there were 14,141 people, 4,875 households, and 3,529 families living in the town. The population density was . There were 5,051 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 97.57%

, 0.42%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

, 0.33% Native American, 0.64% Asian, 0.01%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.17% from other races, and 0.87% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 0.60% of the population. There were 4,875 households, out of which 38.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.2% were married couples living together, 10.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.6% were non-families. 20.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.11. In the town, the population was spread out, with 25.9% under the age of 18, 13.7% from 18 to 24, 28.9% from 25 to 44, 21.5% from 45 to 64, and 10.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.2 males. The median income for a household in the town was $50,316, and the median income for a family was $55,434. Males had a median income of $37,828 versus $30,394 for females. The per capita income for the town was $21,174. About 5.1% of families and 7.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.7% of those under age 18 and 6.7% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Schools in Gorham are part of the Gorham School District. Heather Perry is the Superintendent. The school district has three elementary schools (Village, Great Falls, and Narragansett), a middle school and a high school. For the 2011 to 2012 school year, the district had approximately 2,698 students enrolled.

Notable people

* Wendell Abraham Anderson, politician * James Phinney Baxter, historian, civic leader * Percival Baxter, 53rd Governor of

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

* James Boyle, state legislator *

Joseph Brackett Joseph Brackett Jr. (May 6, 1797 – July 4, 1882) was an American songwriter, author, and elder of The United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, better known as the Shakers. The most famous song attributed to Brackett, "Simp ...

, elder in

Shakers The United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, more commonly known as the Shakers, are a Millenarianism, millenarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian sect founded in England and then organized in the Unit ...

sect and songwriter, most notably of ''

Simple Gifts "Simple Gifts" is a Shaker song written and composed in 1848, generally attributed to Elder Joseph Brackett from Alfred Shaker Village. It became widely known when Aaron Copland used its melody for the score of Martha Graham's ballet ''Appal ...

'' *

Bob Crowley Bob Crowley (born 10 June 1952) is a theatre designer (scenic and costume), and theatre director. He lives between London, New York and West Cork in the south west of Ireland. Career Born in Cork, Ireland on 10 June 1952, Bob Crowley is t ...

, winner of '' Survivor: Gabon'', physics teacher at Gorham High School * Hiram Edson, a pioneer of the

Seventh-day Adventist Church The Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sa ...

Edwin Hall Edwin Herbert Hall (November 7, 1855 – November 20, 1938) was an American physicist who discovered the electric field Hall effect. Hall conducted thermoelectric research and also wrote numerous physics textbooks and laboratory manuals. Bi ...

, physicist * Isaiah H. Hedge, MD, abolitionist, early donor to

Bates College Bates College () is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine. Anchored by the Historic Quad, the campus of Bates totals with a small urban campus which includes 33 Victorian ...

, physician * Mackenzie Holmes, women's basketball player * Charles Davis Jameson, lumberman, general * Stephen Longfellow, US congressman * James Mann, US congressman * Peter Mills, former member of the Maine state Senate, raised in Gorham * Shawn Moody, 2018 candidate for Governor of Maine, born in Gorham * Josiah Pierce, Maine state senator and lawyer * Hannah Prince, head coach of

Saint Joseph's University Saint Joseph's University (SJU or St. Joe's) is a Private university, private Jesuits, Jesuit university in Philadelphia, Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania, and Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The university was founded by the Jesuits, Society of J ...

's women's

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

team * Rodney S. Quinn,

Secretary of State of Maine The secretary of state of Maine is a State constitutional officer, constitutional officer in the U.S. state of Maine and serves as the head of the Maine Department of State. The Secretary of State performs duties of both a legislative branch as w ...

(1979–1988) *

Frederick Robie Frederick Robie (August 12, 1822 – February 2, 1912) was an American physician and politician who most notably served as the 39th governor of Maine. Early life Robie was born in Gorham, Maine and studied at the Gorham Academy. He graduated f ...

, 39th

governor of Maine The governor of Maine is the head of government of the U.S. state of Maine. Before Maine was admitted to the Union in 1820, Maine was part of Massachusetts and the governor of Massachusetts was chief executive. The current governor of Maine is J ...

* Linda Sanborn, state legislator * Donald F. Snow, US congressman *

Ellen G. White Ellen Gould White (née Harmon; November 26, 1827 – July 16, 1915) was an American author, and was both the prophet and a co-founder of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Along with other Adventist leaders, such as Joseph Bates and her husb ...

, co-founder of the

* Horace Wilson, professor and baseball promoter * Eric Saindon,VFX supervisor

References

External links

Town of Gorham official website

Baxter Memorial Library

Gorham Historical Society

Maine Genealogy: Gorham, Cumberland County, Maine
{{authority control Populated places established in 1736 Populated places established in 1764 Towns in Cumberland County, Maine Portland metropolitan area, Maine Towns in Maine 1736 establishments in the Thirteen Colonies