Sanford, Maine, USA (Springvale)
1886 - Sanford

Sanford, in York County, is the western portion of a tract of land
purchased in 1661 by Major William Phillips of the Indian chiefs Fluellen, Captain Sunday and Hobinowell. It was confirmed by Gorges to the major or his son Nathan, in 1670. In 1696, Mrs. Phillips willed it to her former husband's son, Peleg Sanford, from whom the name is derived. It was at first called Phillipstown. Sanford was surveyed in 1734, and settlement commenced in 1740. The northern part of the town was settled in 1745 by Captain David Morrison. He purchased the lot containing the mill privileges above Springvale, and built a house and saw-mill. The record of a town meeting, held in 1770, show that the chief business of the meeting was to authorize the employment of a minister and schoolmaster for three months. The first mention of any ministerial service is that of a marriage by Rev. Peltiah Tingley, a Baptist, in 1774. Tradition says that the first preaching in town was from the top of a high rock which is to be seen on the road from South Sanford to Alfred.

It is said that Louis Philippe, afterward King of France, once stopped at the Old Colonel Emery House, in South Sanford. A bed in the house is still pointed out as the king's bed. The royal heir visited in Maine for several weeks about 1790.

The town has Alfred and Kennebunk on the east of its irregular outline, Alfred and Shapleigh on the north, Wells and North Berwick on the south, and Lebanon and North Berwick on the west. It is 10
miles long by 5 wide. The area is 17,921 acres, exclusive of water surface. Springvale, in the northern part of the town, is the principal business center. It is on the Portland and Rochester railroad, 36 miles from Portland. Other villages are South Sanford and Sanford villages, near the center of town.

The principal body of water is Bonny Bigg Pond. Smaller ones are Sand Pond, Picture Pond, Deering and Littlefield's ponds. The Mousam River runs through the town longitudinally, furnishing within its limits seventeen powers. On the power at Sanford village are three woolen mills and a saw-mill. Among the products are carpets, and robes and blankets for sleighs. At Springvale are the cotton factory of the Springvale Mill Company, two lumber-mills, a grist-mill, and a shoe factory. Springvale lies in a valley, the hills rising about it on
all sides. The village derives its name from a large spring of pure water, which flows out just below the grist-mill.

The numerous woods, hills and ponds afford a varied and attractive scenery. Beaver Hill and Mount Hope are the greatest eminences. The rock is granite and mica-schist. The southern portion of the town
is nearly level. The soil on the ridge is fertile, but on the plains and the valleys it is inferior. The town boasts as curiosities, old Indian Cave, Wildcat's Rock - from 75 to 150 feet high and quite perpendicular - and others.

At Springvale the Calvinist and Free Will Baptists and Christians have each a church; and the Congregationalists have one at each Sanford Corner, and at South Sanford. The town has a high-school, located at Springvale. The whole number of schoolhouses is fifteen, and the value of the school property is placed at $10,000. The population in 1870 was 2,397; valuation, $560,542. In 1880 the valuation was $654,303. In 1880, the population was 2,732. Of this Springvale has 1,116 and Sanford Corner, 558. The number of deaths in 1879 was 23. The number of persons 80 years old and upwards, 22. The oldest man in town is 91 years, and four women are each 89 years of age. There are 180 farms in town, each paying a yearly income of $300 or over.

Sanford has a noble war record. The State gives it credit for only 147 men, but it is known to have sent over 160 into the army and 15 into the navy. Lieutenant-Colonel John Hemingway was its highest officer. The bounties paid averaged about $300. The Springvale Reporter, published every Saturday, is the only newspaper in town. It is a lively sheet, devoted mostly to local news. H.C. Cheever is the publisher.

A Gazetteer of the State of Maine By Geo. J. Varney Published by B. B. Russell, Boston 1886

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