York County, Massachusetts

York County, Massachusetts was a county in what is now the U.S. state of Maine. It was established in 1652 when the Massachusetts Bay Colony first asserted territorial claims over the settlements of southern Maine, extending from the Piscataqua River to just east of the mouth of the Presumpscot River in Casco Bay. The county eventually grew to encompass effectively all of present-day Maine, although the interior was claimed by various Abenaki peoples, and the territory east of Penobscot Bay was claimed (and partly occupied) as part of French Acadia. By 1760 most of the Abenaki had either been wiped out or retreated northward toward the Saint Lawrence River, and New France had been conquered in the French and Indian War.

The large size of the county led to its division in 1760, with Cumberland and Lincoln counties carved out of its eastern portions. When Massachusetts adopted its state government in 1780, it created the District of Maine to manage its eastern territories. In 1805 the northern portion of York County was separated to form part of Oxford County. When Maine achieved statehood in 1820 all of the counties of the District of Maine became counties of Maine.

References

• History of York County, Maine

Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Boston (capital)
Topics	Index Administrative divisions Congressional districts Elections Geography Geology Government History Images Law Music People State symbols Transportation Villages Tourist attractions Windmills
Society	Culture Crime Demographics Economy Education Politics Sports
Regions	The Berkshires Blackstone Valley Cape Ann Cape Cod Central Massachusetts Greater Boston The Islands Merrimack Valley MetroWest Montachusett-North County North Shore Pioneer Valley Quabbin-Swift River Valley South Coast South County South Shore Southeastern Massachusetts Western Massachusetts
Counties	Barnstable Berkshire Bristol Dukes Essex Franklin Hampden Hampshire Middlesex Nantucket Norfolk Plymouth Suffolk Worcester
Cities	Agawam Amesbury Attleboro Barnstable Beverly Boston Braintree Bridgewater Brockton Cambridge Chelsea Chicopee East Longmeadow Easthampton Everett Fall River Fitchburg Franklin Gardner Gloucester Greenfield Haverhill Holyoke Lawrence Leominster Lowell Lynn Malden Marlborough Medford Melrose Methuen New Bedford Newburyport Newton North Adams Northampton Palmer Peabody Pittsfield Quincy Randolph Revere Salem Somerville Southbridge Springfield Taunton Waltham Watertown Westfield West Springfield Weymouth Winthrop Woburn Worcester Note: Municipalities not listed have a town meeting form of government (see all municipalities)