View source for York Harbor, Maine

{{redirect|York Harbor|the Canadian town|York Harbour, Newfoundland and Labrador}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox settlement
|official_name            = York Harbor, Maine
|settlement_type          = [[Census-designated place]]
|image_skyline            = York Street, York Harbor, ME.jpg
|imagesize                = 
|image_caption            = York Street and the Lancaster Building, c. 1922
|image_flag               = 
|image_seal               =
|pushpin_map              = Maine#USA
|pushpin_label            = York Harbor
|pushpin_label_position   = 
<!-- Location -->
|subdivision_type         = Country
|subdivision_name         = United States
|subdivision_type1        = [[U.S. state|State]]
|subdivision_name1        = Maine
|subdivision_type2        = [[List of counties in Maine|County]]
|subdivision_name2        = [[York County, Maine|York]]
<!-- Government ---->
|established_title        = 
|established_date         =
|government_footnotes     = 
|government_type          = 
|leader_title             = 
|leader_name              = 
<!-- Area -->
|unit_pref                = Imperial
|area_footnotes           = <ref name="CenPopGazetteer2020">{{cite web|title=2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2020_Gazetteer/2020_gaz_place_23.txt|publisher=United States Census Bureau|accessdate=April 8, 2022}}</ref>
|area_total_km2           = 9.05
|area_land_km2            = 8.30
|area_water_km2           = 0.75
|area_total_sq_mi         = 3.49
|area_land_sq_mi          = 3.21
|area_water_sq_mi         = 0.29
<!-- Population -->
|population_as_of         = [[2020 United States census|2020]]
|population_total         = 3132
|population_footnotes     = 
|population_density_km2   = 377.22
|population_density_sq_mi = 976.92
<!-- General information -->
|timezone                 = [[North American Eastern Time Zone|Eastern (EST)]]
|utc_offset               = -5
|timezone_DST             = EDT
|utc_offset_DST           = -4
|elevation_footnotes      = <ref name=gnis/>
|elevation_ft             = 69
|coordinates              = {{coord|43|08|26|N|70|38|26|W|region:US-ME|display=inline,title}}
<!-- Area/postal codes and others -->
|postal_code_type         = [[ZIP Code]]s
|postal_code              = 03911 (York Harbor)<br/>03909 ([[York, Maine|York]])
|area_code                = [[Area code 207|207]]
|blank_name               = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]]
|blank_info               = 23-88160
|blank1_name              = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
|blank1_info              = 2377974<ref name=gnis>{{GNIS|2377974}}</ref>
|footnotes                = 
}}

'''York Harbor''' is a [[census-designated place]] (CDP) in the [[New England town|town]] of [[York, Maine|York]] in [[York County, Maine|York County]], [[Maine]], United States. As of the [[2020 United States census|2020 census]], York Harbor had a population of 3,132.<ref name="Census2020PLLede">{{cite web|title=2020 Decennial Census Redistricting Data (Public Law 94-171)|url=https://api.census.gov/data/2020/dec/pl?get=NAME%2CP1_001N&for=place%3A88160&in=state%3A23|website=United States Census Bureau|year=2021|access-date=March 11, 2026|df=mdy}}</ref> York Harbor is a distinguished former [[Gilded Age]] [[summer colony]] noted for its resort architecture. It is part of the [[Portland, Maine|Portland]]&ndash;[[South Portland, Maine|South Portland]]&ndash;[[Biddeford, Maine|Biddeford]], Maine [[Portland-South Portland-Biddeford metropolitan area|Metropolitan Statistical Area]].
==History==
[[Image:York Harbor, Coast of Maine.jpg|thumb|left|''York Harbor, Coast of Maine'', 1877, by [[Martin Johnson Heade]]]]
York was a prosperous [[seaport]] in the 18th century. Its harbor, then known as Lower Town, was lined with [[wharf|wharves]] and [[warehouse]]s to which upriver settlers brought their goods for trade and shipping. The tongue of land at the mouth of the [[York River (Maine)|York River]] was called Gallows Point, where criminals at [[Old York Gaol]] in York Village were hanged. At high tide the tongue became an island, from which a [[ferry]] licensed in 1652 crossed to Seabury.

During the [[American Revolution]], fishermen and their families abandoned the [[Isles of Shoals]] off the coast and floated their homes to the Lower Town waterfront, where they were rebuilt.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=OcoMAAAAYAAJ&dq=coolidge%20mansfield%20history%20description%20new%20england%201859&pg=PA369 Austin J. Coolidge & John B. Mansfield, ''A History and Description of New England;'' Boston, Massachusetts, 1859]</ref> They hauled their boats at Lobster Cove and dried their catch on [[dried fish|fish flakes]], after which the tongue would be named Stage Neck. In 1807, President Thomas Jefferson's [[Embargo Act of 1807|embargo]] crippled local mercantile trade, and by the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], Stage Neck had deteriorated into a ramshackle [[slum]].

After the Union victory, Nathaniel Grant Marshall (1812-1882), a lawyer, had a vision to convert the poorest section of Lower Town into a first-class summer [[Marketplace|emporium]] for wealthy tourists. He bought Stage Neck, razed the fishermen's shacks and in 1871 built a grand hotel called the Marshall House. As part of its upgrade, Lower Town was renamed York Harbor.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://history.rays-place.com/me/york-me.htm |title=George J. Varney, ''History of York, Maine;'' Boston, Massachusetts, 1886 |access-date=November 9, 2009 |archive-date=February 6, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150206100526/http://history.rays-place.com/me/york-me.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Steamboat|Steamers]] began arriving with families drawn to the Maine shore from the heat and pollution in [[Boston]], [[New York City|New York]], [[Chicago]], [[Philadelphia]] and [[Baltimore]]. Many liked the area enough to build summer mansions, characteristically in the [[Shingle Style]], during the 1880-1890 boom. Soon York Harbor joined [[Bar Harbor, Maine|Bar Harbor]] and [[Newport, Rhode Island|Newport]] as fashionable [[East Coast of the United States|East Coast]] summer destinations.

[[Image:The Marshall House, York Harbor, ME.jpg|thumb|left|The Marshall House in 1909]]
Competing hotels were built, including Harmon Hall and the Albracca Hotel. But the Marshall House was the largest, accommodating 325 guests by 1900. It offered [[telephone]] and [[telegraph]] offices, a [[livery stable]], [[equestrianism|riding]] and [[human swimming|bathing]] facilities, [[tennis court]]s, [[barber]]shop, [[billiards]] room, [[ballroom]], [[sailing]], fishing excursions and [[canoe]]s for picnics up the York River. The Marshalls started both an electric and water company, and headed the effort to build the York Harbor & Beach Railroad, opened in 1887.

When the Marshall House burned in 1916, it was rebuilt in fire-resistant brick the following year to designs by noted [[Portland, Maine|Portland]] architect [[John Calvin Stevens]]. It resumed its role as the center of York Harbor social life. At its [[porte-cochère]], [[chauffeur]]-driven [[limousine]]s from the estates deposited their owners in [[evening gown]]s and [[tuxedo]]es, to be joined by hotel patrons for dinner at 7:30&nbsp;p.m. Post-prandial entertainments included [[chamber music]] by a [[Boston Symphony Orchestra|Boston Symphony]] ensemble in the lobby, or Saturday dancing and costume parties in the ballroom.

But a rift grew between York Harbor and [[York Beach, Maine|York Beach]] further up the coast, which catered to the less affluent. The former disapproved of the latter's "cottage and campground" philosophy, and tried to prevent the [[Tram|trolley]] connecting the two. In 1908, York Harbor proposed [[secession]] from York, first as a new town called Yorktown, then as Gorges after [[Ferdinando Gorges|Sir Ferdinando Gorges]], the early proprietor of Maine. Because the split would have deprived remaining York of much of real value within the community, including the town hall, it failed and The Yorks reconciled.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.yorkharborinn.com/lodging/innhistory.htm |title=History of the York Harbor Inn |access-date=November 9, 2009 |archive-date=December 5, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091205104030/http://www.yorkharborinn.com/lodging/innhistory.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

[[Image:Trinity Church, York Harbor, ME.jpg|thumb|right|Trinity Church in 1913]]
Development here began in the 1870s and virtually ended in the 1920s, leaving York Harbor a [[macrocosm and microcosm|microcosm]] of period resort architecture, now converted for year-round use. The Marshall House was sold in 1957 and demolished in 1972, to be replaced with [[Condominium (living space)|condominium]]s and the [http://www.StageNeck.com Stage Neck Inn] (designed by [[Sasaki Associates|Sasaki, Dawson, DeMay Associates]]). However, the York community retains a wealth of [[Second Empire architecture|Second Empire]], Shingle Style, [[Mission Revival]] and [[Colonial Revival]] architecture.<ref>[http://www.stageneck.com/media/historic.html History of the Stage Neck Inn] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101127220537/http://www.stageneck.com/media/historic.html |date=November 27, 2010 }}</ref> Of particular note are the Lancaster Building designed by E. B. Blaisdell and built in 1895, Trinity Episcopal Church designed by [[Henry Janeway Hardenbergh|H. J. Hardenbergh]] and built in 1908, and the York Harbor Reading Room designed by James Purdon and built in 1910. The Cliff Walk, an ancient shoreline path lined with [[Rosa rugosa|beach roses]], winds along Eastern Point ledges above the [[Ocean surface wave|surf]].

==Geography==
The York Harbor CDP extends westward to include all of York Village as well.  The western boundary of the CDP is [[U.S. Route 1 in Maine|U.S. Route 1]], the southern boundary is the [[York River (Maine)|York River]], and the northern boundary abuts the southern edge of the [[Cape Neddick, Maine|Cape Neddick]] CDP, more commonly known as [[York Beach, Maine|York Beach]]. The [[Gulf of Maine]], an arm of the [[Atlantic Ocean]], forms the eastern edge of the community.

According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the CDP has a total area of {{convert|3.5|sqmi|km2}}, of which {{convert|3.2|sqmi|km2}} is land and {{convert|0.3|sqmi|km2}}, or 8.23%, is water.<ref name="Census 2010">{{cite web| url=http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_DP/G001/1600000US2388160| archive-url=https://archive.today/20200212175046/http://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/table/1.0/en/DEC/10_DP/G001/1600000US2388160| url-status=dead| archive-date=February 12, 2020| title=Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): York Harbor CDP, Maine| publisher=U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder| access-date=January 29, 2013}}</ref>

==Demographics==
{{US Census population
|2020= 3132
|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census<ref name="DecennialCensus">{{cite web|url=http://www.census.gov/prod/www/decennial.html|title=Census of Population and Housing|publisher=Census.gov|accessdate=June 4, 2016}}</ref>
| align = right
| align-fn = center
}}
[[Image:Reading Room & Cliff Walk, York Harbor, ME.jpg|thumb|left|The York Harbor Reading Room and Cliff Walk c. 1920]]

===2020 census===
As of the [[2020 United States census|2020 census]], York Harbor had a population of 3,132. The median age was 56.7 years. 14.8% of residents were under the age of 18 and 35.8% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 77.3 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 74.9 males age 18 and over.<ref name="Census2020DP">{{cite web|title=2020 Decennial Census Demographic Profile (DP1)|url=https://api.census.gov/data/2020/dec/dp?get=NAME,DP1_0021P,DP1_0024P,DP1_0025C,DP1_0049C,DP1_0045C,DP1_0069C,DP1_0073C,DP1_0125P,DP1_0126P,DP1_0129P,DP1_0133P,DP1_0137P,DP1_0138P,DP1_0139P,DP1_0141P,DP1_0142P,DP1_0143P,DP1_0145P,DP1_0146P,DP1_0147C,DP1_0148C,DP1_0149C,DP1_0156C,DP1_0157C,DP1_0158C,DP1_0159P,DP1_0160P&for=place%3A88160&in=state%3A23|website=United States Census Bureau|year=2021|access-date=April 29, 2026|df=mdy}}</ref><ref name="Census2020PL">{{cite web|title=2020 Decennial Census Redistricting Data (Public Law 94-171)|url=https://api.census.gov/data/2020/dec/pl?get=NAME,P1_001N,P1_003N,P1_004N,P1_005N,P1_006N,P1_007N,P1_008N,P1_009N,P2_001N,P2_002N,H1_001N,H1_002N&for=place%3A88160&in=state%3A23|website=United States Census Bureau|year=2021|access-date=April 29, 2026|df=mdy}}</ref>

100.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.0% lived in rural areas.<ref name="Census2020DHC">{{cite web|title=2020 Decennial Census Demographic and Housing Characteristics (DHC)|url=https://api.census.gov/data/2020/dec/dhc?get=NAME,P2_002N,P2_003N&for=place%3A88160&in=state%3A23|website=United States Census Bureau|year=2023|access-date=April 29, 2026|df=mdy}}</ref>

There were 1,321 households in York Harbor, of which 16.3% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 49.2% were married-couple households, 12.6% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 35.2% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 37.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 26.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.<ref name="Census2020DP"/>

There were 1,795 housing units, of which 26.4% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.3% and the rental vacancy rate was 13.1%.<ref name="Census2020DP"/>

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Racial composition as of the 2020 census<ref name="Census2020PL"/>
! Race !! Number !! Percent
|-
| [[White Americans|White]] || 2,997 || 95.7%
|-
| [[African Americans|Black or African American]] || 9 || 0.3%
|-
| [[Native Americans in the United States|American Indian and Alaska Native]] || 1 || 0.0%
|-
| [[Asian Americans|Asian]] || 20 || 0.6%
|-
| [[Native Hawaiians|Native Hawaiian]] and [[Pacific Islander|Other Pacific Islander]] || 0 || 0.0%
|-
| Some other race || 9 || 0.3%
|-
| [[Multiracial Americans|Two or more races]] || 96 || 3.1%
|-
| ''[[Hispanic and Latino Americans|Hispanic or Latino]] (of any race)'' || 29 || 0.9%
|}

===2000 census===
As of the [[census]]<ref name="GR2">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov |publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]] |access-date=2008-01-31 |title=U.S. Census website }}</ref> of 2000, there were 3,321 people, 1,334 households, and 895 families residing in the CDP. The population density was {{convert|1,035.6|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. There were 1,601 housing units at an average density of {{convert|499.3|/sqmi|/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. The racial makeup of the CDP was 98.13% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 0.12% [[African American (U.S. Census)|African American]], 0.06% [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]], 0.57% [[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]], 0.21% from [[Race (United States Census)|other races]], and 0.90% from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race were 0.63% of the population.

There were 1,334 households, out of which 28.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.5% were [[Marriage|married couples]] living together, 6.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.9% were non-families. 28.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.88.

[[Image:Albracca Hotel, York Harbor, ME.jpg|thumb|right|Albracca Hotel in 1911]]
In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 21.9% under the age of 18, 4.2% from 18 to 24, 22.5% from 25 to 44, 27.7% from 45 to 64, and 23.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46 years. For every 100 females, there were 81.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 78.9 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $53,969, and the median income for a family was $71,164. Males had a median income of $49,706 versus $30,850 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the CDP was $29,016. About 1.0% of families and 5.3% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including 2.4% of those under age 18 and 11.9% of those age 65 or over.
==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* John D. Bardwell, ''A History of York Harbor & The York Harbor Reading Room'', 1993; Old York Historical Society; Peter E. Randall, publisher; Portsmouth, New Hampshire
* Virginia S. Spiller (editor), ''350 Years as York'', 2001; published by the Town of York 350th Committee; York, Maine

==External links==
* [http://www.yorkmaine.org/ Town of York, Maine]
* [http://www.oldyork.org/ Old York Historical Society]
* [http://www.york.lib.me.us/ York Public Library]
* [http://www.aycsail.org/ Agamenticus Yacht Club]
* [http://www.yorkharborreading.com/ The York Harbor Reading Room]

{{York County, Maine}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Census-designated places in Maine]]
[[Category:Portland metropolitan area, Maine]]
[[Category:Census-designated places in York County, Maine]]
[[Category:York, Maine| ]]
[[Category:Populated coastal places in Maine]]