Massachusetts and the Colonial Period

1651	Massachusetts asserts its claim to Maine under its 1628 charter
1652	Massachusetts takes over Maine, York County established. Incorporation of the towns of Kittery and York.
1653	Incorporation of the towns of Saco, Cape Porpoise, and Wells.
1658	Incorporation of the towns of Scarborough and Falmouth.
1661	Incorporation of the Town of Apledoore.
1664	Grant of the Province of Maine to James, Duke of York
1665	Royal commissioners set up an independent government in Maine
1668	Massachusetts government regains control of Maine
1674	Second Grant of the Province of Maine to James, Duke of York County of Devonshire (east of the Kennebec) is established
1675	King Philip's War. French Fort Pentagoet destroyed in Castine by the Dutch.
1677	Massachusetts buys the claims of Sir Fernando Gorges' heirs.
1678	Sir Edmund Andros, under the Duke of York, becomes governor of New York and Sagadahoc
1680	Government of Maine reorganized by the Massachusetts General Court
1683	Incorporation of the Town of North Yarmouth.
1687	Andros becomes governor of New England
1688	King William's War begins, lasting until 1699, destroys most Maine settlements. Edward Randolph make first survey of Maine.
1689	Andros, who precipitated King William's War, is deposed.
1691	Massachusetts Charter given by William and Mary designates Maine a "District."
1692	Serious Indian raids on Maine, York "massacre."
1699	Norridgewock Indians sign truce ending King William's War.
1703	Queen Anne's or Third Indian War, 1703-1711; settlements ravaged.
1704	Colonel Church attacks Indians up the Penobscot River, and the coast to the east.
1713	French cede Acadia (eastern Maine) to the English. Incorporation of the Town of Berwick.
1715	The new owner of the Pejepscot purchase petitions the Massachusetts General Court for approval and support to create three new towns: Brunswick, Topsham, and Harpswell.
1716	Incorporation of the Town of Georgetown.
1718	Samuel Bellamy's brief pirate "republic" at Machias. Incorporation of the towns of Falmouth and Biddeford.
1719	Incorporation of the Town of Arundel.
1722	In the first violence of the 4th Indian War, nine families were seized on the northern end of Merrymeeting Bay. Most were soon released; others were held to trade for hostages held by the British.
1724	English colonials raid Norridgewock, kill Jesuit Father Rasle, decimate the Indian village.
1725	Bloody battle of Lovewell's Pond defeats Sokokis Indians, protects settlers.
1733	Slavery, an accepted practice in the colonies, documented in York.
1739	Incorporation of the Town of Brunswick Dam built at Saccarappa Falls without fish passage. Chief Polin of Aucocisco tribe walks to Boston to complain to Governor Shirley about dam's impact on migratory fish runs. People of Westbrook request that fishway be built at Saccarappa Falls dam.
1741	New Hampshire becomes separate province, border with Maine established.
1742	Population 12,000 (estimated)
1745	French Fort Louisbourg, on Cape Breton Island in eastern Canada, used to harass colonists, captured by William Pepperell.
1750	Population 10,000 (estimated)
1754	Seven Years' War, the last of the French and Indian Wars begins
1759	Fort Pownall in Stockton Springs constructed
1760	Cumberland and Lincoln Counties formed. Incorporation of the Town of Pownalborough. Population 20,000 (estimated)
1761	Pownalborough Courthouse is the first built in Maine and the only one built prior to the Revolution Birth of Edward Preble, "Father of the U.S. Navy" and Commander of U.S. naval forces during much of the Tripolitan War, 1801-1805 First settlement in the town of Mount Desert
1762	Incorporation of the towns of Windham and Bowdoinham.
1763	In the Treaty of Paris, France surrenders all claims to North America; Seven Years' War ends.
1764	Joseph Chadwick records first non-native sighting of Mount Katahdin. Incorporation of the towns of Topsham, Gorham, and Boothbay.
1765	John Adams, a young lawyer and future U.S. President, tries a case at the Pownalborough Courthouse Incorporation of the Town of Bristol.
1767	Incorporation of the Town of Lebanon.
1768	Birth of Jonathan Fisher, minister, inventor, farmer, architect and builder, surveyor, linguist, naturalist. Incorporation of the Town of Sanford.
1770	Population 31,257
1771	Incorporation of the towns of Hallowell, Vassalborough, Winslow, Winthrop.
1772	Incorporation of the Town of Buxton.
1773	Incorporation of the Town of Waldoborough and Belfast.
1774	Incorporation of the towns of New Gloucester and Edgecomb. First Continental Congress convenes in Philadelphia.