LOCATION:  

Cape Elizabeth is located approximately 5 miles southeast of Portland, along the Southern Maine coast. Quebec City, Canada is located 277 miles north and Boston, Massachusetts is located 115 miles south.  Extending 12 miles into the Atlantic Ocean, rimmed by craggy shores and sandy beaches, Cape Elizabeth marks the entrance to spectacular Casco Bay. Casco Bay, approximately 200 square miles of water and islands, is an inlet of the Gulf of Maine on the southern coast of Maine. Its easternmost approach is Cape Small and its westernmost approach is Two Lights in Cape Elizabeth. The city of Portland sits along its southern edge and the Port of Portland lies within. (Source: Wikipedia).  Casco Bay is heavily used by recreational boaters, touring schooners, fishing vessels, ferries to the islands, and commercial tankers.  The Casco Bay Lines provide daily, year-round ferry service to most of the major islands.  

Most of the town's residential and commercial activity lies close to the bay's edge. The size of the community is 9,337 acres, or 15 square miles. 2000 census figures put the town's population at 9,068, with a population density of approximately 550 residents per square mile.

Within Cape Elizabeth there are numerous state and local parks and beaches, trails and lighthouses.  Among the most visited spots is Fort Williams Park where the landmark Portland Head Light is located.

FORM OF GOVERNMENT:

Except for the schools, town governance is vested in a seven member Town Council, elected at large for staggered three-year terms. Municipal elections are held on the Tuesday following the first Monday in November. Candidates for Town Council and the seven member School Board run on a non-partisan basis.

The Town Council appoints the town manager, town assessor, town attorney and members of numerous citizen boards and committees. The council enacts ordinances after public hearings and determines overall policy. The council also adopts an annual budget each May.

The town manager administers day-to-day operations and appoints department heads subject to the approval of the Town Council. The manager prepares the budget and is responsible for its implementation.

The Town has a full-time police department, on-call fire and rescue companies, a public works department, assessing, codes and planning offices, a public library, a lighthouse museum, an emergency preparedness department, a full service Town Hall, and administers a local general assistance program. Cape Elizabeth contracts with Portland for emergency dispatching. Water and sewer services are provided by the Portland Water District. Electric service is from Central Maine Power Company.

ONE TOWN CONCEPT:  

In order to preserve services at the least cost, a One-Town Concept operates to reduce the budget for both the School Department and non-school departments. For example, the school human resources and payroll coordinators also perform those services for non-school departments. The Facilities Department is responsible for all town buildings, including the school campus, and is funded from both the school department and non-school department budgets. Similarly, the Information Technology Department is operated out of the school department with partial non-school department funding, but is responsible for technology needs town-wide. The Public Works Department, which is funded from the non-school department budget, is responsible for plowing the school campus and maintaining all athletic fields.

HISTORY:

As early as 1529, Cape Elizabeth appears as a nameless headland mapped by a Spanish cartographer. Seventy-five years later, Samuel de Champlain charted the promontory, but not until 1615, following exploration by John Smith, was the land given its name in honor of Princess Elizabeth, sister of Charles I of England.

Events of the years that followed make an intriguing story: the 1632 establishment of Richmond's Island as a fishing and trading post, the struggles of settlers in small isolated groups as they began fishing and farming, conflicts between immigrants and the region's Native Americans, occasional pirating from the seas, the Revolutionary War...These and other events marked the first 200 years of colonial history in the region.

Originally a part of Portland (named Falmouth at the time), the citizens petitioned for and obtained their own government in 1765, thus including all the area lying south of Portland Harbor and east of the Spurwink River. Commercial and industrial growth in the north end of the town, nearest the harbor (now South Portland), was in sharp contrast to the continuing rural character of the southern tip of the Cape. In 1895, the two sections agreed to separate, and from that date forward the southern end of the original town became the present town of Cape Elizabeth.

The 20th century history of the community has been one of gradual residential growth. The majority of inhabitants now work in the Greater Portland area, and only very few of the working farms still exist. As the town embarks on the 21st century, townspeople recognize the importance of their farming and fishing heritage, and have taken legislative measures to protect and encourage Cape Elizabeth's rural character.

UNIQUE CHARACTERISTICS:

  Cape Elizabeth is the birthplace of legendary movie director John Ford.

  Joan Benoit Samuelson, the first winner of the Women's Olympic Marathon was raised in Cape Elizabeth and graduated from Cape Elizabeth High School. The town has honored her with a life-size bronze sculpture, by Cape Elizabeth sculptor Edward Materson, in front of the Thomas Memorial Library on Scott Dyer Road.

  Town students typically rank first in Maine in statewide academic achievement examinations.

  The Town contains Portland Head Light, the most photographed lighthouse in the world.

  Edward Hopper's painting, "Lighthouse Hill", showing Cape Elizabeth Light at Two Lights, is the country's most famous lighthouse painting. It is part of the collection of the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art.

  The largest employer in town is the Cape Elizabeth School Department.

  The Town has more parkland and permanently dedicated open space than any other community in Cumberland County.

  Cape Elizabeth has the longest growing season in Maine.

  The Cape Elizabeth Refuse Disposal Area is the center of political campaigning in town and United States Senators have been seen there helping citizens empty material out of their vehicles.

  The Town runs a gift shop and operates a non-denominational historic church.

  The Town has no railroads and the closest Interstate Highway is 5 miles away.