York Village

As subdued as the town may feel today, the history of York Village reveals a far different character. One of the first permanently settled areas in the state of Maine, it was once witness to great destruction and fierce fighting during the French, Indian, and British wars; towns and fortunes were sacked yet the potential for prosperity encouraged the area's citizens to continually rebuild and start anew. Colonial York citizens enjoyed great wealth and success from fishing and lumber as well as a penchant for politics. Angered by the British-imposed taxes, York held its own little-known tea party in 1775 in protest. Then in the late 1700s, the first cries for independent statehood from ruling Massachusetts were heard here, though these would not be answered until the next century.

The actual village of York is quite small, housing the town's basic components of post office, town hall, a few shops, and a stretch of impressive antique homes. It feels more lived in than touristed, though the various museums of the York Historical Society are well worth a visit. Sharp-eyed American history buffs may notice something amiss with York's Civil War Monument. After the war, it was common for towns to erect a statue of a Civil War soldier to honor the local boys who served and died, and York was no exception. The statue sent to York, however, was most likely meant to be shipped much farther south—the image is of a Confederate soldier. Legend says that the citizens of York, acting in accordance with their frugal New England Yankee nature, refused to pay the extra money required to switch the statue for the correct one. That lost Confederate soldier still stands today in York Village, though no one seems to know where the Union statue ended up.