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.