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Town of Bowdoinham
Bowdoinham was incorporated as the fourteenth town in the Province of Maine in September, 1762. Local traditions tell of settlers within the present limits of the Town as early as 1623, and there are records establishing settlers in the area in the late 1600s and early 1700s.
Bowdoinham's first settlers lived on the points of Merrymeeting Bay and on the western shores of the Kennebec and Abagadassett rivers. Settlers occupied the area several times and were driven off by Indians several times, before permanent footholds were established in the 1730s.
In 1765, townspeople were building a crude meetinghouse on ledges that overlooked the Abagadassett River. Massachusetts Governor Shirley, always eager to encourage enterprise in the "frontier", authorized a tax that would purchase glass for the windows of the structure. In 1775, however, all of the colonies were in the throes of a rebellion against the King, and the Town's first church caught fire and burned [to the ground], reportedly torched by Tories in the area [who were] still loyal to the Crown.
In its original charters, Bowdoinham included all of present-day Richmond and portions of present-day Topsham and Bowdoin. Bowdoin was incorporated as a town in 1788, and Richmond -- called White's Landing in those days -- set off from Bowdoinham in 1823. [Except for] a series of boundary disputes with Topsham over the Bay Road area of town -- then called Cathance Neck -- Bowdoinham's [town] limits have remained essentially unchanged since the 1820s.
Bowdoinham was one of the earliest shipbuilding centers on the Kennebec [River], and for several years at least, in the 1850s, the Town was a leader of that industry. The first vessel built in Bowdoinham was launched in 1768, well before the American Revolution, and the last known vessel of any size was launched in 1912. In all, more than 250 vessels were constructed in Bowdoinham.
Bowdoinham Village, called Cathance Landing in the early days, wasn't settled until 1800. But the small landing developed very quickly into a bustling center for trade, providing the closest tidewater access for the inland towns of Lisbon, Bowdoin, Webster (present-day Sabbatus), and even Lewiston.
By 1810, warehouses and mills lined both shores of the Cathance River. The bridge across the river to Topsham was built as a toll bridge, and the development of Patten's Woods -- soon to be "Brooklyn" -- was underway. Boarding houses, two hotels, and more than two dozen stores, businesses and manufacturing operations shared Main Street frontage with private homes, estates and churches.
For several decades, Bowdoinham rode its shipping industry to unparalleled prosperity. The Town's population peaked with the 1850 census at 2,382.
The 1860s brought America to near-ruin [during] the Civil War, and [sent] Bowdoinham into a depression from which it was never to fully recover. Young men went off to war and settled in the South and West when the conflict ended.
Advances in the shipbuilding trades made the ships of Bowdoinham obsolete, and the town that helped foster the State's shipbuilding industries had to stand aside helplessly and watch her master builders and seamen pack their tools and move to [ship]yards and towns with wider rivers and the ability to build ever bigger ships.
Bowdoinham's only bank was robbed in 1867, and much of the Town's remaining fortunes were wiped out. More than $73,000 was taken and never recovered.
By the 1870s, Bowdoinham reverted to what it had always been at the grassroots: a small, agriculturally-based community of self-sufficient farms. Residents raised market crops like apples, wheat, hay and potatoes. They harvested fish and ice from the rivers and wood from the forests, earning [a] decent -- if not extremely profitable -- living.
The Kendall brothers came to town and their sheep-raising, grain and fertilizer businesses spurred new industry. This enterprise would rise with the fortunes of the State's agricultural tide, only to be squashed by the Depression of the 1930s.
In 1902, on the evening of December 14, fire swept unchecked through the heart of the business district, destroying nearly all of it. Fire struck again in March 1904, burning another section of Main Street.
Bowdoinham's first settlers lived on the points of Merrymeeting Bay and on the western shores of the Kennebec and Abagadassett rivers. Settlers occupied the area several times and were driven off by Indians several times, before permanent footholds were established in the 1730s.
In 1765, townspeople were building a crude meetinghouse on ledges that overlooked the Abagadassett River. Massachusetts Governor Shirley, always eager to encourage enterprise in the "frontier", authorized a tax that would purchase glass for the windows of the structure. In 1775, however, all of the colonies were in the throes of a rebellion against the King, and the Town's first church caught fire and burned [to the ground], reportedly torched by Tories in the area [who were] still loyal to the Crown.
In its original charters, Bowdoinham included all of present-day Richmond and portions of present-day Topsham and Bowdoin. Bowdoin was incorporated as a town in 1788, and Richmond -- called White's Landing in those days -- set off from Bowdoinham in 1823. [Except for] a series of boundary disputes with Topsham over the Bay Road area of town -- then called Cathance Neck -- Bowdoinham's [town] limits have remained essentially unchanged since the 1820s.
Bowdoinham was one of the earliest shipbuilding centers on the Kennebec [River], and for several years at least, in the 1850s, the Town was a leader of that industry. The first vessel built in Bowdoinham was launched in 1768, well before the American Revolution, and the last known vessel of any size was launched in 1912. In all, more than 250 vessels were constructed in Bowdoinham.
Bowdoinham Village, called Cathance Landing in the early days, wasn't settled until 1800. But the small landing developed very quickly into a bustling center for trade, providing the closest tidewater access for the inland towns of Lisbon, Bowdoin, Webster (present-day Sabbatus), and even Lewiston.
By 1810, warehouses and mills lined both shores of the Cathance River. The bridge across the river to Topsham was built as a toll bridge, and the development of Patten's Woods -- soon to be "Brooklyn" -- was underway. Boarding houses, two hotels, and more than two dozen stores, businesses and manufacturing operations shared Main Street frontage with private homes, estates and churches.
For several decades, Bowdoinham rode its shipping industry to unparalleled prosperity. The Town's population peaked with the 1850 census at 2,382.
The 1860s brought America to near-ruin [during] the Civil War, and [sent] Bowdoinham into a depression from which it was never to fully recover. Young men went off to war and settled in the South and West when the conflict ended.
Advances in the shipbuilding trades made the ships of Bowdoinham obsolete, and the town that helped foster the State's shipbuilding industries had to stand aside helplessly and watch her master builders and seamen pack their tools and move to [ship]yards and towns with wider rivers and the ability to build ever bigger ships.
Bowdoinham's only bank was robbed in 1867, and much of the Town's remaining fortunes were wiped out. More than $73,000 was taken and never recovered.
By the 1870s, Bowdoinham reverted to what it had always been at the grassroots: a small, agriculturally-based community of self-sufficient farms. Residents raised market crops like apples, wheat, hay and potatoes. They harvested fish and ice from the rivers and wood from the forests, earning [a] decent -- if not extremely profitable -- living.
The Kendall brothers came to town and their sheep-raising, grain and fertilizer businesses spurred new industry. This enterprise would rise with the fortunes of the State's agricultural tide, only to be squashed by the Depression of the 1930s.
In 1902, on the evening of December 14, fire swept unchecked through the heart of the business district, destroying nearly all of it. Fire struck again in March 1904, burning another section of Main Street.