Initially referred to as Narragansett Number 7, Gorham was one of seven townships granted by the Massachusetts General Court to soldiers, or their heirs, who had fought in the Narragansett War of 1675, also known as King Philip's War.
The land was first settled in 1736 by Captain John Phinney and his family, who were followed in 1738 by Hugh McLellan and Daniel Mosher; and by 1743, the first sawmill had been built by John Gorham at Little River. The new settlement suffered its first Indian raid in 1745, when the meeting house and sawmill were burned. It was attacked again in 1746, and five colonists were killed and three others abducted. Hostilities ended with the 1763 Treaty of Paris, ending the French and Indian Wars.
Called Gorhamtown Plantation in honor of Captain John Gorham, the town was finally incorporated as Gorham on October 30, 1764. In 1831 and 1839, the town annexed land from Standish; and from Scarborough in 1864.
Its good soil brought agriculture, and its several falls provided water power for industry, allowing the town to develop into a manufacturing center, with Portland as its primary market for textiles, clothing, carpet, lumber, barrels, chairs, carriages, wagons, sleighs, boxes, corn, and a variety of other products, including paper, granite, and marble.
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