Kittery, Maine
A Community of Contrasts
Kittery is Maine's oldest and southern-most town, and includes the residential area of Kittery Point. Located in York County, and bordered by Portsmouth, NH, York, and Eliot, Kittery is a community of contrasts with a quiet waterfront community, Naval Shipyard, major retail center, and a variety of cultural and recreational opportunities.
Kittery boasts a rich history. The Naval Shipyard, active to this day, has been building ships since the early 1800's, including the 74-gun ship Washington, launched in 1815, and the Kearsarge, famous for sinking the Confederate raider Alabama during the Civil War. Kittery is bordered by the Piscataqua River and the Atlantic Ocean, providing protected anchorages and unspoiled beaches. With its rural, maritime flavor, Kittery is a peaceful oasis just a few minutes from bustling downtown Portsmouth. The real estate market in Kittery Point, a community within Kittery, offers some of Maine's finest oceanfront, ocean view, waterfront, and other distinctive properties and estates.
"This is going to sound old-fashioned, but everyone takes care of each other...There aren't a lot of places left where people talk to you, and say hello." There's a tangible sense of history in Kittery. The state's oldest town bills itself as the "Gateway to Maine".
The Lifestyle
For more than 275 years, Fort McClary has stood poised to protect the approaches to the Piscataqua River at the southern gateway to Kittery. Named for New Hampshire native Major Andrew McClary who died at the Revolutionary War's Battle of Bunker Hill, Fort McClary stands today as one of the state's most important historic forts that dramatically preserves evidence of military history and changes in military architecture and technology. Fort Foster, located on the southwest tip of Gerrish Island in Kittery, Maine, was acquired by the federal government in 1872, making this fort the last of the "old" forts that were built in the Portsmouth area. The Kittery Town Forest consists of 72 acres featuring two hiking trails. Rogers Park offers several trails that run along the wooded shore of Spruce Creek. The Rachel Carson Preserve, part of a 10 parcel system of conserved properties extending from Kittery as far north as Cape Elizabeth, protects areas of marsh and a fresh-water wetland totaling 4,700 acres.