![]() ![]() Maine became a state in 1820 and Augusta was designated as its capital in 1827, over rival cities Portland, Brunswick and Hallowell. In 1799, it was designated as the county seat for the newly created Kennebec County. ![]() In August, however, the name was changed to Augusta after Pamela Augusta Dearborn, daughter of Henry Dearborn. Known as "the Fort," it was set off and incorporated by the Massachusetts General Court in February 1797 as Harrington. Later, during the American Revolutionary War, Benedict Arnold and his 1,100 troops would use Fort Western as a staging area before continuing their journey up the Kennebec to the Battle of Quebec.Ĭushnoc was incorporated as part of Hallowell in 1771. ![]() It was intended as a supply depot for Fort Halifax upriver, as well as a regional defense from French attack. In response, English forces sacked Norridgewock in 1724 during Dummer's War, when the English gained tentative control of the Kennebec.ĭuring the height of the French and Indian War, in 1754 the English colonists built a blockhouse named Fort Western (now the oldest wooden fort in America) at Cushnoc on the eastern bank of the Kennebec River. In 1722, the tribe and its allies attacked Fort Richmond (now Richmond) and destroyed Brunswick. Ī hotbed of Abenaki hostility toward British settlements was located further up the Kennebec at Norridgewock. During the 17th century, they were on friendly terms with the English settlers in the region. This area was inhabited by the Kennebec, a band of the larger Abenaki nation. Cushnoc would remain unoccupied for the next 75 years. The settlement was known by its Native American name Cushnoc (or Coussinoc or Koussinoc), meaning "head of the tide." Fur trading was at first profitable, but because of Native uprisings and declining revenues, the Plymouth Colony sold the Kennebec Patent in 1661. It was first inhabited by English settlers from the Plymouth Colony in 1628 as a trading post on the Kennebec River. The area was first explored by Europeans of the short-lived Popham Colony in September 1607. ![]()
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