[2] One of the wealthiest towns in the state, Cape Elizabeth is the location of Portland Head Light, which is the oldest lighthouse in Maine.

First explorations by the Kingdom of Spain set a map with the location of Cape Elizabeth, naming it "Cabo de Arrecife" in 1525.

At the southern tip of the promontory, Richmond Island was visited around 1605 by French explorer Samuel de Champlain and was the site of a trading post in 1628.

Without title, Walter Bagnall (called "Great Walt") in 1628 established a trading post, dealing in rum and beaver skins.

"His principal purpose appears to have been to drive a profitable trade with the Indians," writes historian George J. Varney, "without scruple about his methods."

The first settlers on the mainland were George Cleeve and Richard Tucker, who settled in 1630 on the shore opposite the island, near the Spurwink River.

In 1636, Sir Ferdinando Gorges, lord proprietor of Maine, gave Cleeve and Tucker a grant of 1,500 acres (6.1 km2) including the neck of land called Machegonne—now Portland.

In 1643 English Parliamentarian Alexander Rigby bought the large existing Plough of Lygonia patent, which included Cape Elizabeth.

During King William's War, in Major Benjamin Church's second expedition a year later on September 11, 1690, he arrived with 300 men at Casco Bay.

A few days later, in retaliation, the natives attacked Church at Cape Elizabeth on Purpooduc Point, killing seven of his men and wounding 24 others.

[5] South Portland separated in 1895 from Cape Elizabeth, which contains a number of houses designed by John Calvin Stevens.

Today, Fort Williams Park includes Portland Head Light and museum, some remains of the military fort, the ruins of Goddard Mansion, tennis courts, a baseball diamond and grandstand, and other recreation facilities.

Cape Elizabeth shares a border with South Portland to the north and Scarborough to the west.

The 226-acre (91 ha) Richmond Island, originally inhabited by Native Americans, then English settlers, is now uninhabited except by a small herd of sheep.

Cape Elizabeth is home to one of the oldest continually operating preschools in the greater Portland area, Ledgemere Country Day School.

The seven-member town council is elected at large on a nonpartisan basis to staggered three-year terms.

The school board is also a seven-member body elected at large on a nonpartisan basis to staggered three-year terms.

The nonprofit, biweekly paper is largely supported by volunteers, and was started by Ellen Van Fleet and Jan Soland in 1988.

The Current, a weekly that began publishing in 2001, also serves the town, as well as the neighboring communities of Scarborough and South Portland.

In 1881, the Cape Elizabeth Sentinel was published in Ferry Village, now a part of South Portland.