At the time the first colonists arrived in the of the New
Meadows River area, it was already being hunted and fished by
native Americans of the Pejepscot and Kennebec tribes. These
natives frequented the upper reaches of the New Meadows River,
using the short section of land between Merrymeeting Bay, the
Androscoggin and Kennebec Rivers, and the Upper New Meadows as a
shortcut into eastern Casco Bay, thereby saving them having to
navigate the length of the Kennebec and around Small Point.
Foreign influences in the area may have started as early as the
eleventh century. The carved inscription of A1018" on a rock
found at Popham Beach has been attributed to Norse Vikings, known
to frequent the North Atlantic coast of America during that time.
The first true attempt to establish a settlement in the area was
made at Popham in 1607, the same year Jamestown, Virginia was
established. This settlement was abandoned just a year later due
to the harsh weather. It wasn't until over 100 years after the
first settlers departed that Small Point was successfully
colonized beginning in 1716.
The first European colonist known to have settled in the upper
New Meadows River area was Thomas Purchase, a farmer, trapper and
fisherman, originally of Devonshire, England, who arrived around
1628. The exact location of his first home is not known, but he
is known to have built several houses in the Brunswick area along
the Androscoggin, including the Fair Stone House, believed by
some to have been built on AFish House Hill@ on a site on Water
Street where the Narcissa Stone House was later built. Although
Purchase appears to have traded extensively with the Indians, he
also endured numerous attacks by them on his dwellings.
Purchase's expansion of the Pejepscot Proprietorship granted to
him in 1632, and the exploitation of the land that followed,
undoubtedly precipitated these attacks, which along with others
that followed, eventually led to the French and Indian Wars of
1689 to 1763.
By all accounts, Purchase was very successful at exploiting the
then abundant salmon and sturgeon of the Androscoggin River. He
reportedly caught, dried and salt-cured enough fish to export
Athirty-nine barrels of salmon@ and sturgeon to foreign markets
every three weeks, including a London-based company allegedly
established for the primary purpose of importing fish from this
area. Indeed, this company is reported to have stationed an agent
on the Androscoggin River at the Pejepscot Falls to transact its
business. Purchase died in 1675 at the age of 101 in Lynn,
Mass.
The second memorable person to settle in the area was Thomas
Stevens who moved to the New Meadows River from North Yarmouth in
1675. Stevens' prominence in the community is evidenced by the
fact that several areas along the New Meadows River, including
the upper section of the river itself and the Acarrying place@
between the then Whiskeag River (Kennebec River) and the Stevens
River, today's New Meadows River, were named after him.
The next person mentioned in historical accounts is Captain
James Thompson who moved his family to the New Meadows around
1739 after his father and his family had arrived in the area in
1727. Thompson appears to have been principally a dealer of
general merchandise, although he was also a cobbler, a farmer, a
scow operator on the New Meadows River, and an innkeeper as of
1750.
Another important figure in the area's history is Samuel Hinkley
who purchased 200 acres at the New Meadows River in 1742, having
previously moved to Brunswick in 1739, the year Brunswick was
incorporated as a Town. Hinkley was highly respected and served
as one of the town's first selectmen, represented the Town at the
General Court of Massachusetts, was Brunswick's first Town Clerk,
and moderated Brunswick's first town meeting. By this time
Brunswick had grown substantially and it is reported that by 1765
there were 173 families residing in the town whose population had
risen to about 500. Most of the population lived along the
Twelve-rod Road (now Maine Street and along the New Meadows. By
this time the New Meadows area had become economically
self-sufficient and no longer dependent on Brunswick. However, a
1762 petition by the people of the New Meadows Rive area to
separate from the Town to form their own town was rejected.
Captain John Peterson moved into the area around 1783. Captain
Peterson was very industrious and established several enterprises
along the New Meadows. A stone dam he built on the west side of
Howard Point cove included a gristmill and a double sawmill, the
latter built and operated by Joseph Berry and a man named Sears.
Captain Peterson also established two shipyards on the New
Meadows to build the ships needed to supply the two general
stores he ran in the area. One of these shipyards was located in
Howard's Point cove just below the dam on the west side of the
cove, the other near the Brown's Ferry site. These shipyards were
very successful, continuing to build ships through the 1807
shipping embargo, up to 1809.
By this point in time, considerable
shipping was taking place along the New Meadows River in and out
of Cushman's and Brown's wharves. According to some accounts, by
the mid-1800s almost twenty shipping vessels sailed the New
Meadows each year. Packet sailing vessels reportedly sailed
routinely between the New Meadows River and Portland and Boston,
bringing in merchandise for the traders in Brunswick and Topsham
and carrying away the lumber and cotton produced by the various
mills, granite from a quarry (opened by Rev. Samuel Woodward in
1799 near the New Meadows Church), and ice. Fish and shellfish
were still abundant and very cheap. Large quantities were being
exported by the early 1800s.
Captain Peterson was also a driving
force behind the construction of a canal through the Stevens'
Carrying Place to link the Kennebec and the head of the New
Meadows Rivers, primarily for the transport of logs and lumber.
Although completed by 1793, the canal never proved practical due
to the two-hour difference in the time of the tide between the
heads of the New Meadows and Kennebec Rivers that severely
limited its use. Indeed, according to Captain Peterson's
granddaughter, the only logs ever to have been floated down the
canal were those sent through by her grandfather at the time of
the canal's completion.
Transport and travel by land across the
New Meadows River was limited through most of the 1700s. The
first Aroads@ between Bath and Brunswick appear to have been
built sometime between 1718 and 1740 and were mere foot or horse
paths. To facilitate transport between Brunswick and West Bath,
Benjamin Brown began operating a ferry across the New Meadows
around 1760, substantially reducing the transit time between West
Bath and Brunswick. The ferry continued in operation until about
1792. Captain Peterson continued operating a ferry until 1796
when a toll bridge was built across the river near Brown's Ferry
landing. This, and subsequent bridges, were often lost to ice or
inclement weather. Nevertheless, the bridge was maintained for
about 50 years. After the revolution, however, the economy of the
area began to shift from farming, fishing and logging to
manufacturing. With this shift towards an industrial economy came
the need for greater land-based transportation. Governor King's
Road, so named after William King, first governor of the newly
formed State of Maine in 1820, was built between 1805 and 1806
and is considered to have been the best road between Brunswick
and Bath prior to modern highways.
The first railroad bridge
across the New Meadows River was built in 1849, four years after
the Maine Legislature allowed West Bath to incorporate as a
separate town. The railroad provided regular passenger service
between Bath and Brunswick, then on to Yarmouth and Portland. The
trolley remained a popular form of transportation for both
passengers and freight until Route 1, originally Governor King's
Road, now referred to as the Old Bath Road, was built in 1937.
Shortly after, the trolley service was discontinued. When Route 1
was built, the bridge that crossed the New Meadows River was
replaced with the existing causeway and culvert, thereby creating
the New Meadows Lakes. While the tidal range on the south side of
the causeway is around nine feet, the tidal amplitude of the
Lakes is measured in inches.