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is a town in Cumberland County on the southern coast of the U.S. state of Maine. The town is a coastal resort area. Located about 7 miles (10 km) south of Portland, Scarborough is part of the Portland–South Portland–Biddeford, Maine Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 16,970 at the 2000 census.
Abenaki Indians called the area Owascoag, meaning "a place of much grass" after its large salt marshes. About 1630, John Stratton opened a trading post on Stratton Island in Saco Bay. In 1631, the Plymouth Council for New England granted the Black Point Patent to Captain Thomas Cammock, nephew of the Earl of Warwick. The tract of land extended from the Spurwink River to Black Point (Prouts Neck), where Cammock built a house and began residence in 1635. But then he sold his holdings and moved to the West Indies. Nevertheless, settlements developed at Black Point, Blue Point (Pine Point), Dunstan (West Scarborough) and Stratton Island. On July 14, 1658, the Massachusetts General Court incorporated them all as Scarborough, named for Scarborough in Yorkshire, England.
The town offered excellent fishing and farming. At the outbreak of King Philip's War in 1675, Scarborough was an important coastal settlement with over 100 houses and 1,000 head of cattle. But in 2 years of war, it was laid waste. Massachusetts sent soldiers accompanied by Indian allies in 1677 to secure the town for resettlement. On June 29, 1677, while pursuing some Indians sent as a ruse, the company was ambushed by warriors under Chief Squando. In the New England militia of nearly 100 soldiers, 50-60 were left dead or mortally wounded. Among the casualties was Captain Benjamin Swett. Called the Battle at Moore's Brook, it was an embarrassing rout for the military. In 1681, a great fort was erected at Black Point. After several attempts to rebuild between guerilla incursions during King William's War, the survivors evacuated in 1690 and moved south to Portsmouth, New Hampshire or Boston.
A truce was signed in 1699 between the Province of Massachusetts Bay and the Eastern Indians. Resettlement of Scarborough started in 1702 when 7 settlers arrived from Lynn, Massachusetts. Despite the treaty, in August 1703, 500 French and Indians under command of the Sieur de Beaubassin made a sudden descent upon English settlements from Casco (Portland) to Wells. They arrived at Garrison Cove on Black Point, where the fort commanded by Captain John Larrabee sat atop a bluff. Protected from gunfire by the overhanging cliff, the French and Indians began tunneling into the bluff to breach the fort from below. They might have succeeded and captured the 8 soldiers inside, but a 2 day downpour began which made the disturbed bank slough, exposing the previously hidden excavators to snipers in the fort. Beaubassin retreated in search of easier prey. Despite occasional subsequent harassment, the second settlement succeeded. By 1749, it was economically prosperous. Cattle and timber were important local products for export, with Scarborough's many water power sites operating a dozen sawmills. Since 1969, the town has had a Council-manager government.