Old Orchard Beach is a town and census-designated place (CDP) in York County, Maine, United States. The population was 8,624 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Portland−South Portland−Biddeford, Maine Metropolitan Statistical Area.Located on the inner side of Saco Bay on the Atlantic Ocean, the town is a popular summer beach destination. The downtown contains many tourist-oriented businesses, including clam shacks and T-shirt shops. A wooden pier on the beach contains many other tourist businesses, including a variety of souvenir shops. The seven mile (11 km) long beach stretching away from the downtown is lined with many beach residential properties, condominiums, motels and bed and breakfasts.Early historyThe area around the mouth of the Saco and Goosefare rivers was first discovered by European civilizations in the year 1603 by British explorer Martin Pring, although pockets of the Abenaki tribe inhabited the area before Pring's discovery of the region.