Fort Mary (2)

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Fort Mary (2) (1708-1737) - A colonial stone Queen Anne's War Fort established in 1708 above present-day Biddeford Pool, York County, Maine. Completed in 1708. Officially known to the Massachusetts Colonial Government as His Majesty's Fort Mary at Hill's Beach. Also known as Fort Hill (9). Abandoned and sold circa 1837. Assigned Location ID ME00086.

Queen Anne's War (1702-1713)

In 1703 Queen Anne’s War began. In 1708 the General Court ordered that a new stone Fort Mary be built on a hill above the entrance to the Biddeford Pool and allotted some 300 pounds for it's construction. Joseph Hammond and Captain Lewis Bane oversaw the construction. Another 100 pounds was allotted for it's completion in 1710.

The entire garrison of Fort Saco was transferred to the new fort. The old Fort Saco was abandoned but portions remained visible for many years. In August 1710, a force of French and their Indians allies attacked the Biddeford Pool area and succeeded in killing one woman and capturing two men. A few days later a second attack saw three men killed and six captured. The Indian attackers stripped the skin from the dead settlers and made themselves girdles with it.

The war ended in 1713 without further attacks and Captain Lewis Bane continued on as the first commander until he died in 1717. His replacement was John Gray, Esq., who was sent from England. Captain John Woodside became the post commander in 1727 and the fort became a trading post. By the summer of 1732, the condition of the fort/trading post was so sad that the commander drew up a petition, signed by all, to abandon the fort. In 1737 the Fort Mary site was sold for 15 pounds.

Fort Mary Partial Commanders List (edit list)
Assumed Relieved Rank Name Cullum Notes
1708 1717 Capt Bane, Lewis N/A First Commander
1717 unk Gray, John N/A Came from England
1727 Capt Woodside, James N/A
Dates are formatted in yyyy-mm-dd to sort correctly.
The Cullum Number is the graduation order from the United States Military Academy by year and class rank and links to a page for the officer on the website version of the Cullum Register. Listings without a Cullum Number indicate that the person was not a graduate of the United States Military Academy.

Current Status

A monument was erected near the fort site in 1907 by the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). The original monument was a pyramid-shaped stone structure with a heavy slate plaque embedded. The plaque was later removed and attached to a boulder and even later it was knocked off the boulder and stored under a porch. The plaque currently appears from satellite photos to be a rectangular stone or concrete block with the plaque attached. The text reads:

“FORT MARY 1700 — 1902 ERECTED BY REBECCA EMERY CHAPTER DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION BIDDEFORD, MAINE” Abandoned in 1837.


Location: The end of Hill's Beach Road above
Biddeford Pool, York County, Maine.

Maps & Images

Lat: 43.44814 Long: -70.35727



GPS Locations:

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