York Beach City Map Poster

About York Beach

The area was once inhabited by the Abenaki Indians. The first European settler in York was Captain John Bonner, who came from Cape Cod and built a house on what is now Bonners Island around 1665. He called it "Cape Neddick", after his father's birthplace of Nectoux-les-Trois-Maisons, France (now part of Les Trois Maisons). In 1668 he left to fight in King Philip's War; when he returned two years later with his wife and children, they found their home had been burned down by the Indians. They rebuilt on higher ground nearby at what is now known as Fort Point Peninsula; this location provided protection for future settlers against Indian attacks during King Philip's War and Queen Anne's War. In 1711 a group of fishermen from Cape Porpoise established a community near the eastern end of Mount Agamenticus that became known as Fisherman’s Village or York Harbor (the latter name being chosen because many residents were originally from Yorkshire County in England).