Biddeford (City of), York County, ME

"Sir Ferdinando Gorges..., an English aristocrat and member of the Plymouth Company, was determined to overcome the difficulties that had plagued the Popham Colony (Brunswick) in 1606-7. He was convinced that the climate was no less harsh than that of other thriving areas in the Old World, and commenced to prove it by arranging his own experimental colony.... Gorges engaged his friend Richard Vines to lead a settlement over the winter of 1616-1617, specifically to prove that the climate was habitable. Vines and the colonists settled at the protected area at the mouth of the Saco River, and called it Winter Harbor" ("Ripples of change: European exploration & settlement at Winter Harbor" at Biddeford History & Heritage Project [http://biddeford.mainememory.net/page/1597/display.html : accessed 01 April 2025]).

43.4439802

-70.3982

582353

U.S. Geologic Survey (USGS). “Archive database of 2021” at U.S. Geographic Information Names System (GNIS) ( https://www.usgs.gov/us-board-on-geographic-names/download-gnis-data : CSV data downloaded 31 May 2024).