Eliot Time Line
Based on the Maine School Administrative District #35 Timeline of Eliot and South Berwick History - March 16, 2001
1400Natives living in Sturgeon Creek raise corn, beans and squash to supplement hunting and fishing 1500Europeans (Basques, Portuguese) are already exploring area and fishing here, unofficial trading with the natives
1524Giovaanni da Verrazano first European to describe Maine coast 1602Bartholomew Gosnold expedition to Maine coast 1603Martin Pring visits our area of Maine coast 1604Samuel de Champlain visits Maine coast 1607Native population on New England coast devastated by European diseases (1616 and onward), 9 out of 10 die of diseases such as small pox and measles 1607-1608Popham Colony at mouth ofthe Kennebec River; colony fails 1620Mayflower pilgrims settle Plimoth in Massachusetts Bay 1620sAs many as 400 European fishing vessels now active off Maine coast; fishing stages on land to dry fish 1622-1623King James grants Charter to Mason and Gorges, businessmen from England; first official settlement at Little Harbor (now in Rye); settlements on both sides of the river are called the Piscataqua Plantations 1634Nicholas Frost, father of Major Charles Frost, is early settler and is granted land in Piscataqua Plantations 1635Alexander Shapleigh, wealthy member of London Fishmongers' Guild, obtains land in Piscataqua Plantations 1639King Charles Creates Province of Maine 1647Piscataqua Plantations on the Eastern Bank Renamed Kittery . (Province of Maine) 1652Kittery "submits" to Massachusetts at publick meeting at Everett's Tavern (in today's Eliot) 1654Saw and grist mills are built at Sturgeon Creek by the Shapleigh family 1660-1800Town Commercial Center at Old Fields, Lower Landing, Chadbourne's Mills 1660Congregational meetinghouse built in Kittery's Unity Parish near Old Fields (South Berwick) 1662Persecuted Quaker women are driven from Dover. They find safety in Kittery at the homes of the Shapleighs (Eliot), and Spencers and Richard Nason (South Berwick). Nason is disenfranchised for allowing Quaker meetings to be held in his home. Kittery becomes a haven for Quakers. 1675During “King Philip's" War, Indians attack Salmon Falls (area of Rt. 236 between Berwick and South Berwick), and an eighteen-year old girl saves many occupants of the Tozier garrison through her bravery, according to oral tradition. 1675“King Philip's” War 1677Massachusetts Bay Colony buys Province of Maine from descendants of Ferdinando Gorges, and our area officially becomes part of Massachusetts 1685English Crown appoints first Surveyor of Pine and Timber; James Warren in Kittery 1690William Phipps captures Port Royal, Acadia 1693Grist/Sawmill at Outlet of York Pond (Punkin Town in today's Eliot) 1695Population of Province of Maine is 2,000; French and Indian attacks discourage all but the hardiest of settlers to remain 1695HMS Falkland built at Kittery 1697Major Charles Frost and his companions killed near Ambush Rock during King William's War; they were returning from Sunday meeting at the Old Field's meeting house (South Berwick) 1699First meeting house built in Kittery Middle Parish 1700John Shapleigh grants freedom to his slave, Black Will 1702Third Indian War (Queen Anne's War) - the war between the English and the French (and their Indian allies) continues; Treaty of Portsmouth, 1713 1703A new congregation is formed and new meeting house built near the Spencer garrison at Old Fields (South Berwick); Many Residents from Kittery's North Parish (today's Eliot) attend 1710Nottingham Galley sinks off Boon Island; 20th century writer Kenneth Roberts immortalizes story of survivors' plight, stranded on Boon Island 1713Eliot and Sooth Berwick no longer share their town's name; Berwick separates from Kittery; Eliot becomes Kittery's Second Parish 1713Treaty of Portsmouth ends Queen Anne's War 1714Rev. John Rogers, first permanent minister of the Second Parish (Eliot), is preaching in 1714 and ordained in 1721; retires in 1768 1715Meeting house for Second Parish built at intersection of Old Road, Fore Road and River Road 1722Fourth “Indian” War (Lovell's War; hostilities continue; Treaty of Falmouth(Portland), 1725 1734Anticipating French and Indian attacks, Frost Garrison built on Frost Hill 1739Boundary Established Between New Hampshire and Province of Maine 1741-1759Several times during this period, Noah Emery is appointed King's Council (Legal Representative) for the Province of Maine 1745Local men help capture Louisbourg in French and Indian War; Treaty, 1763 1750Fishing, farming, brickyards and shipbuilding key to economy of Kittery's Second Parish (later Eliot) 1751One-room school houses become more numerous in Kittery's Second Parish (today's Eliot) 1769Quaker meeting house moved from Dover Point across River to Kittery's Second Parish (today's Eliot) 1774300 colonists attack English soldiers at Fort Constitution in Newcastle, NH; they capture gunpowder and hide it on Frank's Fort (Island). Gunpowder used at Battle of Bunker Hill. 1775Revolutionary War: Capt. Samuel Leighton leads company of soldiers to fight at Battle of Bunker Hill, June 6,1775 Berwick Academy incorporated; Berwick and Kittery (Eliot) youth can receive high school education 1810Eliot becomes a separate town when Kittery's Second Parish separates from Kittery; now Eliot, Province of Maine, Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Eliot is named for Robert Eliot (prominent Newcastle, NH resident of the early 1700s, who became a resident of Kittery's Gerrish Island), and his many descendants, including the famous donor of the bell which was never given! 1812War of 1812: embargo devastates local trade, shipping, merchants; local North Berwick oral tradition recounts that when the war was declared over in 1815, a huge bonfire was built atop Agamenticus Mountain in celebration
1812Fort built on Dixon's Point by Mr. Joseph Dixon, to defend Eliot from attack of English ships 1813Capt. Richard Waldron Shapleigh, master and co?]owner of his newly built ship, Granville, drowns in gale off Rye Beach returning from trip to Spain; his crew was saved 1816Sturgeon Creek mill built in Eliot; tidal power processes corn and wheat; saws lumber 1817Eliot Social Library established at Leighton House 1820Maine is 23rd state admitted to Union, a free state (Missouri Compromise) 1826Berwick Academy's 1791 House is moved; larger building constructed and female students now attend 1826East Eliot Methodist Church built at Goodwin and Brixham Roads; remodeled over the years; new church now on Rt. 236 1830Eliot's Rogers Brickyard supplies brick for construction of Portsmouth Manufacturing Company in South Berwick 1839Bicycles are invented as serious and quick alternative to harnessing up the horse 1839Eliot Academy founded; unfortunately it burns to the ground in 1875 1841Portsmouth, Saco & Portland Company builds railroad, connecting Eliot and South Berwick to Portland and Boston 1843Moses Gerrish Farmer is Eliot Academy Principal; inventor of fire alarm, produces first working light bulb, develops early "electric car" (trolley) 1847-1855Hanscom Shipyard launching many ships, including the clipper ship “Nightingale" (1851); today the site is the home of the Green Acre Baha’i School 1861Civil War; many also from Eliot (see Willis' Old Eliot) 1861“U.S.S. Kearsarge” built at "Portsmouth Naval Shipyard" (so called at that time); major employer of Eliot men and men from the entire region 1865Eight school districts in Eliot by 1865; Eliot citizens are also very proud of their own Eliot Academy 1873Maine State Law requires free public high school education; South Berwick contracts with Berwick Academy to serve as town high school; many Eliot students also attend as paying students 1880Rowe Brothers, Tondreult Bricks, continue Eliot brickyard traditions by supplying brick for new buildings in Portsmouth 1881Eliot Congregational Church Built on State Road 1888-1939Hannah Tobey Shapleigh Farmer establishes Rosemary Cottage in Eliot; retreat for needy mothers and children from nearby cities 1889Green Acre Inn built; Peace Conference held there in 1894; becomes Baha'i Center 1894Fogg Memorial built at Berwick Academy; stone is cut from local quarries. Berwick Academy is an integral part of South Berwick life. Students attend high school there. 1900John Fremont Hill is Governor of Maine; he builds the Governor's mansion, the Blaine House; promotes the electric car system (trolley) 1902Dr. John L. M. Willis edits and publishes History of Old Eliot, invaluable tool of Eliot (and South Berwick) history; its three volumes contain documented and oral history pertinent to both towns 1902The John F. Hill Grange #393 is organized; in 1910, the grange hall is completed, overlooking the many farms of Eliot from its treeless location near the Library (today, most working farms are gone)
1902First electric car runs from Kittery to Green Acre; it's the 55th anniversary of Prof. Moses G. Farmer's invention of the first Electric Railway in the world (he presented a prototype of it in 1847) 1903-1924Electric cars (trolleys) run daily from Dover to York; called Atlantic Shore Line; old trolley rail beds can be seen along, Goodwin Road ca 1903Dr. Willis and “his new machine” - the first auto in Eliot 1906Eliot High School; this solid but out?]of?]date building was demolished in 1987, to make way for a new Eliot Town Hall on State Road. 1908-1939Lanier Camps provide summer activities for city children 1914-1918WWI ~ Ship building at the Kittery Navy Yard employs many local men 1925Laura V. Dame School built in South Eliot; the building is now privately owned and contains apartments 1930-1965Morin family operates last brickyard in Eliot at the Joseph Morin Brickyard Farm on Cedar Road 1940New Eliot High School is built (now Eliot Elementary School) 1941-1945WWII; many enlist; Kittery Navy Yard again becomes major employer for Eliot and South Berwick; 25,000 employed, including many women 1950-1953Korean Military Action 1952B&M Railroad discontinues services through Eliot and South Berwick; railroad tracks are removed 1956Dow Highway (Rt. 236) constructed over old railroad bed; named for Harold L. Dow, Representative from Eliot to the Maine State Legislature, who proposed the new highway and saw to it that it was completed
1961-1975Viet Nam Military Action 1966Eliot, South Berwick Schools join to become MSAD #35; New High School is built on Depot Road in Eliot 1983- PresentOdyssey of the Mind (OM), National Problem-Solving Competition, comes to MSAD #35 1986Great Works Regional Land Trust is established, to protect and preserve our towns' dwindling natural resources 1991Mildred Holmes Obrey, Student and Teacher of our schools, retires from MSAD #35 School Board Chair 1992Marie Donahue (BA graduate), Teacher, Local Historical Author, publishes “Old Academy on the Hill” 1994Joseph and John Frost, Mara (Frost) Marshall community-active descendants of Nicholas Frost (1634) 1996At the March 25th town meeting, the people of Eliot approved the purchase of ancient Punkin Town from Frank Parsons, for use as a recreation area. Mr. and Mrs. Silas Weeks, and the Great Works Regional Land Trust were instrumental in accomplishing this farseeing purchase. 2000Few of the old working farms now remain in Eliot; Goodwin Farm on Cedar Road; the Leavitt, Schultze, and Kashmere Farms on Goodwin Road 2000Dedication of New Marshwood High School on Rt. 236 in South Berwick. Realignment of student population of Eliot and South Berwick results in Eliot Elementary School and Central School, South Berwick consisting of Pre-K through and including 3rd grade students; Marshwood Middle School, 4th grade through and including 6th grade students; Marshwood Junior High School 7th and 8th grades; and the new high school, 9th through 12th grades.