Candlemas Massacre Memorial.

Candlemas Massacre Memorial

January 24, 1692, was a bad day to be in York, Maine. That morning a band of Abenaki Indians, led by a French priest, attacked and burned the British settlement in what became, according to this monument, "one of the worst massacres of Colonial days." Forty were killed outright -- and buried here -- and another 260 were force-marched mid-winter to Canada, "many dying on the way." The survivors were eventually ransomed by Mayflower-descendent John Alden, who, on his return home, stopped in Salem, and was shown the town's gratitude when he was promptly convicted of being a witch and nearly killed for it.

That last part, though true, isn't mentioned on the monument.

Candlemas Massacre Memorial

Address:: 23 Lindsay Rd, York, ME
Directions:: West edge of downtown. From US-1A turn south onto Lindsay Rd, across from the big white church. You'll immediately see an old cemetery on the left. The Memorial is the large gravestone slab next to the road.

Nearby Offbeat Places

Confederate Yankee Statue, York, ME - < 1 mi.

Wiggly Bridge, York, ME - < 1 mi.

Pleasure Ground - Tiny Figures, York Harbor, ME - 1 mi.

In the region:

Snowshoe Rock of Doom, York, ME - 2 mi.

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