View source for Cape Elizabeth, Maine

=== Early exploration and settlement (1525–1650) ===

Spanish explorers mapped the area in 1525, naming it "Cabo de Arrecife."<ref name="Cape Elizabeth">{{cite web |title=Cape Elizabeth |url=https://maineanencyclopedia.com/cape-elizabeth/ |website=Maine: An Encyclopedia |date=October 13, 2011 |access-date=28 June 2025}}</ref> English explorer [[Bartholomew Gosnold]] arrived on May 14, 1602, during his [[New England]] explorations.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bartholomew Gosnold (1571–1607) |url=https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/gosnold-bartholomew-1571-1607/ |website=Encyclopedia Virginia |date=26 August 2024 |access-date=28 June 2025}}</ref> The English name derives from [[King Charles I of England]], who renamed it in honor of his sister, [[Elizabeth of Bohemia]], when [[John Smith (explorer)|John Smith]] presented his 1615 map for royal approval—one of only four such royal renamings that survive today.<ref>{{cite book |last=Stewart |first=George R. |title=Names on the Land: A Historical Account of Place-Naming in the United States |year=1967 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |page=38}}</ref>

The first European settlement was established on [[Richmond Island]] in 1628 by [[Walter Bagnall]], who operated a trading post dealing in rum and beaver pelts. His dishonest practices with the [[Wabanaki Confederacy|Wabanaki]] led to his death in October 1631 when Native Americans killed him and burned his post.<ref>{{cite web |title=Richmond Island's Pot of Gold |url=https://maineboats.com/print/issue-157/richmond-island's-pot-gold |website=Maine Boats Homes & Harbors |date=14 February 2019 |access-date=28 June 2025}}</ref> Two months later, the [[Plymouth Company]] granted the island to [[Robert Trelawney]] and Moses Goodyear, who developed it into a fishing and trading center employing 60 men by 1638.<ref>{{cite web |title=Robert Trelawney |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Trelawney |date=11 February 2025 |access-date=28 June 2025}}</ref>{{Circular reference|date=September 2025}}

[[George Cleeve]] and Richard Tucker established the first mainland settlement in 1630 near the [[Spurwink River]]. After being displaced by John Winter in 1632, they received a 1,500-acre grant from [[Sir Ferdinando Gorges]] in 1636, including the peninsula called Machegonne (now [[Portland, Maine|Portland]]). The area came under [[Alexander Rigby]]'s control in 1643 when he purchased the Plough of Lygonia patent.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Coolidge |first1=Austin J. |last2=Mansfield |first2=John B. |title=A History and Description of New England |year=1859 |publisher=A.J. Coolidge |location=Boston |pages=85–86}}</ref>