Saco dates to 1630, and 22% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 97% of U.S. towns · #16 of 143 in Maine. What drives it
11 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 184 buildings. Below: 11 old photos and papers, maps from 1885 on, and the census since 1790.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1880.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Saco’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Saco is more historic than 97% of U.S. towns, #16 of 143 in Maine. All 3 inputs are above most U.S. towns; its age ranks highest and its share of homes from before 1940 lowest.
A+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Saco’s overall grade.
Maine towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Maine town has 15.9 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Saco’s 94.6 sits above most of its state (86% of Maine towns have fewer) while its 197 historic buildings outnumber those of 93% of U.S. towns.
NoteThe founding year comes from Wikidata alone; no second source gives 1630.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from A to A+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.7 points).
Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Saco’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
This was territory of the Abenaki tribe whose fortified village was located up the Sokokis Trail at Pequawket (now Fryeburg). There was a settlement at the mouth of the Saco river, with homes and permanent cultivation, at the time of contact with Europeans in the early 1600s.
In July 1607, 500 warriors led by sakmow (Grand Chief) of the Mi'kmaq First Nations Henri Membertou attacked the village at present-day Saco, killing 20 of their braves, including two of their leaders, Onmechin and Marchin, leading to conflict that lasted until 1615.
Passages that mention Saco, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Saco and Biddeford, with notices of other early settlements, and of the proprietary governments, in Maine, including the provinces of New Somersetshire and Lygonia1830 · page 276Read the page →
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Two roads were laid out in Pepperrellboro', 1774 ; one in the lower part of the town, "from Old Orchard to the County road that leads from the lower ferry, so called, to Saco Falls." The other, "from Saco Falls up Saco river, and by said river as far as David Sayer'sland, and across said land," now called the Boom road, in laying out which the selectmen began "on the mill privilege between Robert Bond's house and Humphry Pike's shop,
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Saco and Biddeford, with notices of other early settlements, and of the proprietary governments, in Maine, including the provinces of New Somersetshire and Lygonia1830 · page 97Read the page →
Read the text
marriages according to law. It is further hereby ordered, that for this present year Mr. Thomas Williams, Robert Booth, and John West, shall be the selectmen to order the prudential affairs of the town of Saco for this year. Lastly, it is granted that the inhabitants of Saco shall be from time to time exempted from all public rates, and that they shall always bear their own charges of the courts, and arising from among themselves. Ralph
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of York County, Maine. With illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers1880Read the page →
Read the text
with those of the two patents, and so remained till the whole line of settlements along the coast, from Kittery to Falmouth, had submitted to the jurisdiction of Massachusetts, in 1658. The civil or municipal town of Saco was organized by the commissioners of Massachusetts at the time of the submission of Saco, and the towns westward of it, in 1653; but the geographical boundaries were not determined till Massachusetts had extended her jurisdic-
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of York County, Maine. With illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers1880 · page 221Read the page →
Read the text
" I will here briefly allude to the courts and county offices established here. Prior to 1716, from the earliest settlement, this town and the town of Saco were the only places in which courts of any importance had been held (except that one term per year was holden in Kittery for a period of about forty years). In 1716 (just one hundred years from the arrival of its first settlers) this town was made the shire-town, or ' place for holding all the courts and keeping
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
By decade
Saco, decade by decade
3 decades in the archive, from the 1850s to the 1870s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.
In 1630, according to Wikidata. Saco’s post office opened in 1880, and the first U.S. census counted 1,350 people here in 1790.
How does Saco rank for history?
Saco is more historic than 97% of U.S. towns, #16 of 143 in Maine. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Saco?
11 listings: 9 buildings, among them the Thacher-Goodale House (listed 1976, the first), 1 historic district, the Saco Historic District, with 184 contributing buildings, and 1 site. 197 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Saco?
22% of Saco’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.7 points), against a typical 19% for a Maine town; the median home was built in 1982.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (10), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (11), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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1860
c. 1870
c. 1870
c. 1870
c. 1870
c. 1870
