Sanford is a town in York County, incorporated on February 27, 1768 from the Phillipstown Tract.
After annexing some incorporated land in 1786 and ceding land to Lebanon in 1787, Sanford swapped land with Shapleigh (1787, 1820) and Alfred (1794, 1828).
Sanford is accessible to Biddeford in the east and to the coast at Wells in the southeast. Springvale is a large community with its own identity northwest of downtown Sanford, just up the Mousam river, which flows through both. The town is a hub of several Maine Routes: 4A, 11, 11A, 109, and 224 in addition to U.S. Route 202.
Traditionally an industrial town, primarily textiles, it has diversified and continues to be a growing community, the eighth largest in Maine by population according to the 2000 Census, up from a ranking of ninth in 1990.
