Located at Hills Beach Road, Biddeford Pool, Maine
GPS: Lat:43.44795 Lon:W70.35715
The first photo is of the Fort Mary monument around 1913. This original Fort Mary monument was placed by the Rebecca Emery Chapter NSDAR in 1907. It was made of stones collected from the area and then placed in cement. During King William’s War, Fort Mary was the last stronghold for the people in the vicinity, and as the war progressed and conditions became more alarming, fear set in that the entire Saco settlement would have to be abandoned. The history started in 1675 when King Phillip conceived the idea of having the Indians exterminate the whites throughout New England. Fortifications sprung up in every settlement until almost every dwelling became a garrison. In 1693 shortly after the breakout of the second Indian war, called King William’s War, the Governor of Massachusetts ordered a stone fort to be built here on the Saco River. Then in 1703, the third terrible Indian war broke out, called Queen Anne’s War. The following year Saco Fort, which had been unoccupied for a few years, was again garrisoned by order of the General Court. This, in turn, led the General Court to order that a new stone fort be built on the tip of the point in 1708 at the entrance to the Pool; this was Fort Mary. The entire armed forces of the Saco Fort were transferred here and the old fort abandoned. In August of that year, a force of French and Indians made an attack upon the Pool and succeeded in killing one woman and capturing two men. In the summer of 1732, the condition of the fort became so bad that the long-suffering Captain could stand it no longer. He drew up a petition to leave the fort. No records show of any repairs, and in 1737, the land upon which the late Fort Mary stood was sold for 15 pounds.
The plaque reads:
“FORT MARY
1700 — 1902
ERECTED BY
REBECCA EMERY CHAPTER
DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
BIDDEFORD, MAINE”
The stone monument no longer exists as a whole. Some of the stones are now on private property. The heavy slate plaque was moved and mounted to a boulder at the end of Hill Beach Road. The boulder was hit by what we presume to be a snowplow, causing the large boulder to be moved and turned. The plaque was jolted off the boulder and had resided under a neighbor’s front porch for several years until the city placed gravel and then placed the boulder at the current site. An experienced master mason re-attached the heavy slate plaque back onto the boulder. Lindy Anderson, President of the Hill Beach Association, was extremely helpful in this process.
