Alfred is a town in York County, incorporated on February 25, 1808. It was named for Alfred the Great, England’s Saxon King of the Ninth Century.
Though Simon Coffin of Massachusetts arrived in 1764, the first permanent settlement took place in 1770. Later, a Shaker community, including members of the Coffin family, settled on a hill overlooking what is now called Shaker Pond.
The York County seat since 1803, it was incorporated on February 4, 1794 as a district, having been part of Sanford.
John Holmes, who arrived in 1799, was a young lawyer specializing in real estate law, a skill in great demand in the poorly defined properties of the area. Holmes provided the impetus for locating the York County Court House, completed in 1807, in Alfred.
Alfred set off land to Sanford on February 23, 1828 and annexed land from Waterborough (now Waterboro) on July 22, 1847.
Originally, the area was known to the Native Americans as Massabesic and was acquired from Chief Fluellin in 1661 by Major William Phipps. According to Brunelle the price was 'two large blankets, two gallons of rum, two pounds of powder, four pounds of musket balls, 20 strings of beads' and several other articles.
