York, Maine

York holds a remarkable distinction: chartered in sixteen forty-two as Gorgeana, it was the first chartered city in English North America. Sir Ferdinando Gorges, who held the patent for the Province of Maine, granted it city status years before Boston had such a designation. The Massachusetts Bay Colony later absorbed and downgraded it to a town, renaming it York after the English cathedral city.

The Massacre of York in sixteen ninety-two, when French and Abenaki raiders killed and captured nearly one hundred fifty residents, nearly ended the settlement. Today the Old York Historical Society maintains a cluster of historic buildings in the center of York Village as museums.