Welcome to Springvale - Springvale, ME - Welcome Signs on Waymarking.com

The sign reads:

"Welcome to Springvale, in the heart of York County."


"In 1661 a lumberman named William Phillips, who owned several mills along the Saco River, purchased a large tract of land from the Indian Chief Fluellin plus another from Chief John Rogomock. That purchase encompassed what is now the town of Sanford plus some area from its surrounding towns. The parcel was called "Phillipstown" and remained uninhabited until 1739.

Once settlement began, the town grew rapidly. An unofficial census in 1752 listed 100 residents, while the first official census taken in 1790 listed 1,799. Residents petitioning for town status finally succeeded in 1768. Maine was then a province of Massachusetts, so the Governor of Massachusetts was responsible for signing the incorporation papers. He exercised his right to choose a name for the town, and selected "Sanford" in honor of Peleg Sanford, stepson of William Phillips and former four-term Governor for the State of Rhode Island.

Springvale got its name sometime in the late 1820's when that part of town became the site of a large calico cloth printing plant. The plant was situated on the west bank of the Mousam River near a natural spring which still flows there. In a ceremony to formally launch the new enterprise, Elder Thomas Greenhalgh, one of the new firm's owners, mounted a box and offered a prayer. Someone in the crowd asked what the place should be called. Greenhalgh said "spring ... vale," motioning toward the flowing spring and river valley. The firm was subsequently named Springvale Print Works. It continued in operation until 1853 when the plant and most of its adjacent buildings were destroyed by fire."

From the Town of Sanford/Springvale Web Site.

Type of community: Town

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