February 22nd, 2021 marked the 92nd anniversary of the York Water District. York Water District was organized in 1929 by an act of the Maine State Legislature. This important step in our history marks the date drinking water in the Town of York became controlled by publicly appointed trustees, and no longer under the jurisdiction of the former privately owned York Shore Water Company (est. 1896).

In 1930, trustees appointed James H. Lucas as the first Superintendent of the York Water District. Lucas remained in his position for nearly forty years. Immediately upon taking over, the District began addressing long time concerns about water quality and watershed protection, still our top priorities today. In 1931 the District purchased chlorination equipment to ensure the safety of the drinking water as it traveled through the distribution system to the customers.

Today, under the oversight of our five publicly appointed trustees, the York Water District owns and manages nearly 2000 acres of watershed land, a modern water treatment and filtration facility that produces over 350 million gallons of water annually, and over 100 miles of water main serving our more than 5300 customers. The pictures below are the front and back of an original 1925 postcard featuring a view of Chases Pond, which was a popular tourist destination at the time.