BIDDEFORD, a city of York county, Maine, U.S.A., on the Saco river, 6m. from its mouth, opposite Saco and 15m. south west of Portland. It is on Federal Highway 1 and the Boston and Maine railroad. The population was 16,145 in 'goo; 18,008 in 192o, of whom 6,338 were foreign-born white, and by the cen sus of 193o was 17,633. The city has abundant water-power, and manufactures cotton goods, shoes, lumber, cotton-mill ma chinery and other articles. The output of its 20 establishments in 1927 was valued at $13,42o,851. There are large granite quar ries in the vicinity. Biddeford Pool and Fortune Rocks, two summer resorts on the coast, are within the city limits. The Saco river was discovered in 1603, and the first settlement was made (on the Biddeford side, at the mouth of the river) in 1616 by Richard Vines. In 163o he took possession of a grant including the present site of the city. "Biddeford" was adopted as the name in 1751, and in 1855 the city was incorporated.