Scarborough, Maine

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Scarborough is a town in Cumberland County on the southern coast of Maine. It is located about 7 miles (10 km) south of Portland. Since 1969, the town has had a Council-manager government.

1 Geography
2 Demographics
3 History
4 Public schools
5 Neighborhoods
6 Famous people

[edit] Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 143.3 km² (55.3 mi²). 123.6 km² (47.7 mi²) of it is land and 19.7 km² (7.6 mi²) of it (13.76%) is water.

[edit] Demographics

Bathing Beach, Prouts Neck, in 1905

As of the census ² of 2000, there were 16,790 people, 6,462 households, and 4,678 families residing in the town. The population density was 137.3/km² (355.7/mi²). There were 7,233 housing units at an average density of 58.5/km² (151.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 97.34% White, 0.38% Black or African American, 0.18% Native American, 1.16% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.17% from other races, and 0.77% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.48% of the population.

There were 6,462 households out of which 35.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.8% were married couples living together, 7.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.6% were non-families. 20.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.59 and the average family size was 3.02.

In the town the population was spread out with 25.9% under the age of 18, 4.9% from 18 to 24, 30.8% from 25 to 44, 25.3% from 45 to 64, and 13.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 95.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.2 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $56,491, and the median income for a family was $65,138. Males had a median income of $41,148 versus $31,372 for females. The per capita income for the town was $26,321. About 3.0% of families and 4.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.7% of those under age 18 and 3.0% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] History

Early in the 17th century, John Stratton opened a trading post on Stratton Island, just offshore. Soon after the Massachusetts Bay Colony began expanding, he attracted settlers both to the island and the nearby mainland. On July 14, 1658, Massachusetts granted them a town charter as Scarboro. By 1676, the town had over a hundred houses. But then a series of Indian attacks killed many settlers and destroyed the town. After several attempts at rebuilding and more attacks, the survivors abandoned the site in 1680 and moved to Portland, Maine or back to Boston.

Resettlement started in 1702 and several forts and blockhouses were built. Despite some attacks, the second settlement succeeded. By 1730, the area was economically prosperous. Cattle and timber were important local products for export, and available water power encouraged the opening of several saw mills.

[edit] Public schools

The Town of Scarborough has its own self-contained K-12 public school system, consisting of a high school (Scarborough High School (Maine)), a middle school (Scarborough Middle School), an "intermediate" school (Wentworth), and three elementary schools (Pleasant Hill School, Blue Point School, and Eight-Corners School.

[edit] Neighborhoods

Pleasant Hill
Pine Point (between the Scarborough Marsh and Saco Bay)
Blue Point
Prouts Neck (projects into the Gulf of Maine with its southwest shoreline marking the northeast end of Saco Bay)
Oak Hill (the town center, with town hall and the high school, as well as shopping plazas)
Higgins Beach
Dunstan Corner (West Scarborough)
North Scarborough