Kittery is a town in

York County, Maine York County is the southwesternmost county in the U.S. state of Maine, along the state of New Hampshire's eastern border. It is divided from Strafford County, New Hampshire, by the Salmon Falls River, and the connected tidal estuary—the Pi ...

, United States. Home to the

Portsmouth Naval Shipyard The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, often called the Portsmouth Navy Yard, is a United States Navy shipyard in Kittery on the southern boundary of Maine near the city of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Founded in 1800, PNS is U.S. Navy's oldest continuo ...

on Seavey's Island, Kittery includes Badger's Island, the seaside district of Kittery Point, and part of the

Isles of Shoals The Isles of Shoals are a group of small islands and tidal ledges situated approximately off the east coast of the United States, straddling the border of the states of Maine and New Hampshire. They have been occupied for more than 400 years, fi ...

. The southernmost town in the state, it is a tourist destination known for its many

outlet store An outlet store, factory outlet or factory shop is a brick and mortar or online store in which manufacturers sell their stock directly to the public. Traditionally, a factory outlet was a store attached to a factory or warehouse, sometimes allowi ...

s. Kittery is part of the Portland– South Portland– Biddeford, Maine

metropolitan statistical area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally incorporated as a city or tow ...

. The town's population was 10,070 at the 2020 census.

History

English settlement around the natural harbor of the

Piscataqua River The Piscataqua River (Abenaki: ''Pskehtekwis'') is a tidal river forming the boundary of the U.S. states of New Hampshire and Maine from its origin at the confluence of the Salmon Falls River and Cochecho River. The drainage basin of the river ...

estuary began about 1623. By 1632 the community was protected by

Fort William and Mary Fort William and Mary was a colonial fortification in Britain's worldwide system of defenses, defended by soldiers of the Province of New Hampshire who reported directly to the royal governor. The fort, originally known as "The Castle," was situ ...

on today's New Hampshire side of the river; in 1689 defensive works that later became Fort McClary in Kittery Point were added on today's Maine side to the north. Kittery was incorporated in 1647, staking a claim as the "oldest incorporated town in Maine." It was named after the birthplace of a founder, Alexander Shapleigh, from his manor of Kittery Court at

Kingswear Kingswear is a village and civil parish in the South Hams area of the English county of Devon. The village is located on the east bank of the tidal River Dart, close to the river's mouth and opposite the small town of Dartmouth. It lies within ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Shapleigh arrived in 1635 aboard the ship ''Benediction'', which he co-owned with another prominent settler, Captain Francis Champernowne, a cousin of

Sir Ferdinando Gorges Sir Ferdinando Gorges ( – 24 May 1647) was a naval and military commander and governor of the important port of Plymouth in England. He was involved in Essex's Rebellion against the Queen, but escaped punishment by testifying against the ma ...

, lord proprietor of Maine. Together with the Pepperrell family, they established fisheries offshore at the

, where fish were caught, salted, and exported to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

. Other pioneers were hunters, trappers, and workers of the region's abundant

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, w ...

. The settlement at the mouth of the

was protected by Fort McClary. Thomas Spencer, Esquire, immigrant from

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, England, is also a notable settler of Kittery with his wife Patience Chadbourne. Their story is included in ''The Maine Spencers: a history and genealogy, with mention of many associated families.' Kittery originally extended from the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

inland up the Salmon Falls River, including the present-day towns of Eliot, South Berwick, Berwick, and

North Berwick North Berwick (; gd, Bearaig a Tuath) is a seaside town and former royal burgh in East Lothian, Scotland. It is situated on the south shore of the Firth of Forth, approximately east-northeast of Edinburgh. North Berwick became a fashionable ...

. Located opposite

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...

, the town developed into a center for trade and shipbuilding. In 1652, after the death of Gorges, Maine became part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Francis Small was a pioneer resident of Kittery, and operated a trading post near the confluence of the Ossipee River and

Saco River The Saco River (Abenaki: ''Sαkóhki'') is a river in northeastern New Hampshire and southwestern Maine in the United States. It drains a rural area of of forests and farmlands west and southwest of Portland, emptying into the Atlantic Ocean ...

. Here major Indian trails converged—the Sokokis Trail (now Route 5), the Ossipee Trail (now Route 25), and the Pequawket Trail (now Route 113). The site supported the lucrative fur trade with Indians, but had the risks of living isolated in the wilderness. Small became the largest property owner in the history of Maine, and was known as "the great landowner". In 1663, John Josselyn wrote: "Towns there are, are not many in this province. Kittery, situated not far from Passacataway (Portsmouth), is the most populous." In 1705, during

Queen Anne's War Queen Anne's War (1702–1713) was the second in a series of French and Indian Wars fought in North America involving the colonial empires of Great Britain, France, and Spain; it took place during the reign of Anne, Queen of Great Britain. In E ...

, tribes of the

Wabanaki Confederacy The Wabanaki Confederacy (''Wabenaki, Wobanaki'', translated to "People of the Dawn" or "Easterner") is a North American First Nations and Native American confederation of four principal Eastern Algonquian nations: the Miꞌkmaq, Maliseet ( ...

raided the town, killing six residents and taking five prisoners. During the

Revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

, the first vessels of the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

were constructed on Badger's Island, including the USS ''Ranger'' (1777) commanded by

John Paul Jones John Paul Jones (born John Paul; July 6, 1747 July 18, 1792) was a Scottish-American naval captain who was the United States' first well-known naval commander in the American Revolutionary War. He made many friends among U.S political elites ( ...

. The

, the nation's first federal navy yard, was established in 1800 on Fernald's Island. It connects to the mainland by two bridges. During the Civil War, the facility rebuilt the USS ''Constitution'', and built the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

USS ''Kearsarge''. Seavey's Island was annexed and became site of the now defunct Portsmouth Naval Prison. Kittery has some fine early

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

, including the Sir William Pepperrell House, built in 1733, and the

Lady Pepperrell House The Lady Pepperrell House is an American historic house in Kittery Point, Maine. It stands on State Route 103, opposite the First Congregational Church and Parsonage. Built in 1760 by Lady Mary Pepperrell, widow of Sir William Pepperrell, ...

, built in 1760. The John Bray House, built in 1662, is believed to be the oldest surviving house in Maine. Located at the

John Paul Jones Memorial Park John Paul Jones Memorial Park is a municipal park in the town of Kittery, Maine. The trapezoidal park, flanked by the lanes of United States Route 1 approaching the Memorial Bridge across the Piscataqua River, was established in 1926 and named ...

on U.S. 1 is the Maine Sailors' and Soldiers' Memorial by Bashka Paeff. Further northeast up the road, the town has developed factory outlet shopping, very popular with tourists. Kittery Point is home to Seapoint Beach and Fort Foster Park, originally a harbor defense. In 1905, The Treaty of Portsmouth, which formally ended the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...

, was signed at the shipyard.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of t ...

, the town has a total area of , of which are covered by water. Situated beside the Gulf of Maine and

, Kittery is drained by Spruce Creek, Spinney Creek, Chauncey Creek, and the

. The town is crossed by Interstate 95,

U.S. Route 1 U.S. Route 1 or U.S. Highway 1 (US 1) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that serves the East Coast of the United States. It runs from Key West, Florida, north to Fort Kent, Maine, at the Canadian border, making ...

, Maine State Route 101, Maine State Route 103, and Maine State Route 236.

Demographics

:''See also Kittery (CDP), Maine and

Kittery Point, Maine Kittery Point is a census-designated place (CDP) in the New England town, town of Kittery, Maine, Kittery, York County, Maine, York County, Maine, United States. First settled in 1623, Kittery Point traces its history to the first seafarers who c ...

for village demographics''

2010 census

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

of 2010, there were 9,490 people, 4,302 households, and 2,488 families living in the town. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...

was . There were 4,942 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 97.1%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

, 0.01%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.1% Native American, 1.1% Asian, 0.1%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

, 0.5% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 1.5% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...

or Latino of any race were 2.6% of the population. There were 4,302 households, of which 23.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.3% were married couples living together, 7.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.6% had a male householder with no wife present, and 42.2% were non-families. 32.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.17 and the average family size was 2.77. The median age in the town was 43.2 years. 18.2% of residents were under the age of 18; 7.8% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 26% were from 25 to 44; 30.3% were from 45 to 64; and 17.7% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 48.3% male and 51.7% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 9,543 people, 4,078 households, and 2,528 families living in the town. The

was 535.5 people per square mile (206.8/km²). There were 4,375 housing units at an average density of 245.5 per square mile (94.8/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 95.98%

, 1.78%

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...

, 0.18% Native American, 0.65% Asian, 0.02%

, 0.45% from

, and 0.94% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 1.50% of the population. There were 4,078 households, out of which 27.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.1% were married couples living together, 8.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.0% were non-families. 29.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.29 and the average family size was 2.86. In the town, the population was spread out, with 21.9% under the age of 18, 7.4% from 18 to 24, 30.7% from 25 to 44, 24.8% from 45 to 64, and 15.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.1 males. The median income for a household in the town was $52,200, and the median income for a family was $53,343. Males had a median income of $37,096 versus $29,850 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the town was $24,153. About 5.7% of families and 7.6% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 11.9% of those under age 18 and 6.6% of those age 65 or over.

Arts and culture

Sites of interest

* Fort Foster Park * Fort McClary State Historic Site *

Education

Kittery is home to Robert William Traip Academy (9–12), a formerly private, preparatory school which became public and town-run in 1967. Kittery is also home to Horace Mitchell Primary School (K–3) and Shapleigh School (4–8).

Media

The movie '' Thinner'' (1996), based on the 1984 Stephen King novel, was filmed in Kittery.

Notable people

* Jess Abbott, guitarist of the band Now, Now * William Badger, master shipbuilder * Devin Beliveau, state representative *

John Haley Bellamy John Haley Bellamy (April 5, 1836April 6, 1914) was a folk artist of New England, USA, known for his highly stylized carved wooden eagles and other decorative items for ships and homes. Bellamy was born in Kittery, Maine in 1836, and stayed there ...

, woodcarver, folk artist * George Berry, captain, shipbuilder * Dennis C. Blair, admiral * Scott Brown, ambassador, senator from Massachusetts (2010–2013) * Tunis Craven, naval officer * Shem Drowne, metalworker, creator of Boston's Grasshopper Weathervane * Elisha T. Gardner, Wisconsin politician, lawyer *

William Dean Howells William Dean Howells (; March 1, 1837 – May 11, 1920) was an American realist novelist, literary critic, and playwright, nicknamed "The Dean of American Letters". He was particularly known for his tenure as editor of ''The Atlantic Monthly'', ...

, writer, magazine editor *

Sandi Jackson Sandra Lee Jackson (née Stevens; born September 14, 1963) is an American politician. She was elected to the Chicago City Council as an alderman of the 7th ward of the City of Chicago in the 2007 municipal elections held on February 27, 2007. She ...

, Chicago city alderman * Kenneth F. Lemont, state legislator *

Jeremiah O'Brien Captain Jeremiah O'Brien (1744–1818) was an Irish-American captain in the Massachusetts State Navy. Prior to its existence (or that of the Continental Navy), he commanded the sloop ''Unity'' when he captured the Royal Navy, British armed s ...

, naval officer *

John O'Hurley John George O'Hurley Jr. (born October 9, 1954) is an American actor, comedian, singer, author, game show host and television personality. He is known for his portrayal of J. Peterman on the NBC sitcom ''Seinfeld'', and was the sixth host of the ...

, television actor and game show host * Joseph T. Palastra Jr.,

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

* Sir William Pepperrell, merchant, soldier * Arthur Shawcross, serial killer *

Hunt Slonem Hunt Slonem (born Hunt Slonim, July 18, 1951) is an American painter, sculptor, and printmaker. He is best known for his Neo-Expressionist paintings of butterflies, bunnies, and his tropical birds, often based on a personal aviary in which he ha ...

, artist * Francis Small, trader and landowner *

Celia Thaxter Celia Thaxter (née Laighton; June 29, 1835 – August 25, 1894) was an American writer of poetry and stories. For most of her life, she lived with her father on the Isles of Shoals at his Appledore Hotel. How she grew up to become a writer is d ...

, poet *

John Treworgie John Treworgie (born ca. 1618, date of death unknown) was the last Proprietary Governor of Newfoundland. Treworgie had worked as an agent at a Kittery, Maine trading post from 1635 to 1650. In 1651 he was named as one of a party of six sent to Ne ...

, last proprietary governor of Newfoundland * Donald Valle (1908–1977), American businessman and owner of the eponymously named Valle's Steak House * Walter Wheeler, state representative * William Whipple, signer of the Declaration of Independence

In popular culture

The Saturday morning cartoon '' DinoSquad'' is based in Kittery/Kittery Point. File:Sir William Pepperrell House.jpg, Pepperrell House File:Government Street, Kittery, ME.jpg, Government St. File:Navy Yard Bridge, Kittery, ME.jpg, Navy Yard Bridge File:Dry Dock, Portsmouth Navy Yard, Kittery, ME.jpg, Shipyard dry dock

References

External links

Town of Kittery official website
{{authority control Populated places established in 1623 Towns in York County, Maine Portland metropolitan area, Maine 1623 establishments in the Thirteen Colonies Populated coastal places in Maine Towns in Maine