Wiscasset, Maine
History
In 1605, Samuel de Champlain is said to have landed here and exchanged gifts with the Indians. Situated on the tidal Sheepscot River, Wiscasset was first settled in 1663. The community was abandoned during the French and Indian Wars, and the King Philip's War in 1675 and then resettled around 1730. In 1760, it was incorporated as Pownalborough after Colonial Governor Thomas Pownall. In 1802, it resumed its original Abenaki name, Wiscasset, which means "coming out from the harbor but you don't see where."
During the Revolutionary War, the British warship Rainbow harbored itself in Wiscasset Harbor and held the town at bay until the town gave the warship essential supplies.
In 1775, Captain Jack Bunker supposedly robbed the payroll of a British supply ship, Falmouth Packet, that was stowed in Wiscasset Harbor. He was chased for days and caught on Little Seal Island. His treasure reportedly has never been found.
Because of the siege during the Revolutionary War, Fort Edgecomb was built in 1808 on the opposite bank of the Sheepscot to protect the town harbor. Wiscasset's prosperity left behind fine early architecture, particularly in the Federal style when the seaport was important in privateering. Two dwellings of the period, Castle Tucker and the Nickels-Sortwell House, are now museums operated by Historic New England.
The seaport became a center for shipbuilding, fishing and lumber. Wiscasset quickly become the busiest seaport north of Boston until the embargo of 1807 halted much trade with England. Most of Wiscasset's business and trade was destroyed.
Maine was officially admitted as a state in 1820 with the passage of the Maine-Missouri Compromise. The town of Wiscasset was considered for the state capital, but lost the position because of its proximity to the ocean.
During the Civil War, Wiscasset had many of its residents that joined the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment. Its regiment was commended for fighting bravely at the Battle of Gettysburg.
Rail service to Wiscasset began with the Knox and Lincoln Railroad in 1871. The Knox and Lincoln was merged into the Maine Central Railroad in 1901. Wiscasset was connected to the national rail network by completion of the Carlton bridge over the Kennebec River in 1927.]
Nickels-Sortwell House, built 1807Wiscasset was the seaport terminal and standard gauge interchange of the 2-foot gauge Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington Railway. Construction began in Wiscasset in 1894. Train service began in 1895 as the Wiscasset and Quebec Railroad. By 1913, the railroad operated daily freight and passenger service 43.5 miles north to Albion with an 11-mile freight branch from Weeks Mills to North Vassalboro. Passengers and freight increasingly used highway transportation after World War I. Frank Winter bought the railroad about 1930 to move lumber from Branch Mills to his schooners described in the following paragraph. During the early 1930s the early morning train from Albion to Wiscasset and the afternoon train back to Albion carried the last 2-foot gauge railway post office (RPO) in the United States. A derailment of the morning train in Whitefield on June 15, 1933, terminated railroad operations before the schooners could be loaded with lumber for shipment to larger coastal cities.
Until recently, a major tourist attraction was the two ship hulks near the U.S. 1 bridge—the four-masted cargo schooners Hesper and Luther Little. Bought at auction for $600 each by entrepreneur Frank W. Winter of Auburn, they were brought to Wiscasset in 1932, then abandoned after his premature demise. Over the next 66 years, the weathered vessels would become possibly the most photographed objects in Maine. In 1998, after a violent storm took out the final masts, the rotted remains were removed from the Sheepscot River by the town.
From 1972 until 1996, Wiscasset was home to Maine Yankee, a pressurized water reactor on Bailey Point, and the only nuclear power plant in the state. The Maine Yankee nuclear power plant has been decommissioned and is inoperative. Since the closing of Maine Yankee, Wiscasset has faced a severe loss in jobs, residents, and public school enrollment. In a high school graduation speech delivered by Bradley Whitaker, he stated, "The loss of those jobs changed our community, the surrounding towns and our school system. We’ve all had friends move away, our parents have had their taxes rise dramatically, enrollment has plummeted, we’ve watched teachers and administrators leave, programs and sports eliminated." The town attempted to replace Maine Yankee with a gasification plant, but the plan subsequently failed due to a town vote]
Currently the Chewonki Foundation is attempting to start a tidal power plant along the Sheepscot River.
Wiscasset was placed in the Guinness Book of World Records for having the smallest church in the world.[10] The church now is occasionally displayed at the Ripley's Believe It or Not! Museum in Las Vegas, Nevada.
In 1995, a small fire erupted at Maine Yankee Nuclear Power plant. The fire emitted a tremendous amount of smoke which made it seem worse than it was. A video, by photographer Keith Brooks, was obtained by local media and was presented on NBC Nightly News. While the fire was not a tremendous threat, many locals believed it was a major concern for the environment, which caused several referendums to have the nuclear plant closed.
In 2009, the town lost a legal battle to reclaim an original copy of the Declaration of Independence[11] that was accidentally sold by the estate of the daughter of a former town official, Sol Holbrook.
A Virginia court ruled the true owner was Richard L. Adams, Jr., who paid $475,000 for the document in 2002. The State of Maine paid nearly $40,000 in legal fees. Two hundred and fifty copies were made and distributed throughout the colonies and delivered to towns. Only 11 of the original documents have ever been found.
Red's Eats, a small take out restaurant, located by the Donald E. Davey Bridge on Route 1 has been featured in more than 20 magazines and newspapers, including USA Today and National Geographic and several major television network newscasts, including Sunday Morning on CBS and a report by Bill Geist. The restaurant has been deemed to have "The best lobster roll in Maine."
GeographyAccording to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 27.7 square miles (72 km2), of which, 24.6 square miles (64 km2) of it is land and 3.1 square miles (8.0 km2) of it (11.26%) is water. Wiscasset is drained by the Sheepscot River.
Wiscasset, Maine is located just a short 45 minute drive north of Portland
on Route 1 on the western shores of the Sheepscot River. Historically the
largest shipping port north of Boston but more recently, an antique haven
for discriminating collectors of Americana, Folk Art, Fine Arts, Country
and Formal furnishing and accessories, English and Country French offer-
ings, Fine Asian Antiquities, Indian and Tribal Arts, Textiles, Oriental Carpets
and much, much more. You’ll find experienced and friendly dealers willing
to assist your with your selections and insure your total confidentiality.
Dealers take pride in the merchandise you’ll find displayed in gallery settings
yet comfortable enough to make you feel right at home. Plan a weekend,
a vacation, or a day trip but plan on coming to Wiscasset for a truly unique
and wonderful antiques experience. A newly designed walking map awaits
you that will guide you to the locations of some of the very best antiques
dealers not only in the state but in New England as well!!!!
In 1605, Samuel de Champlain is said to have landed here and exchanged gifts with the Indians. Situated on the tidal Sheepscot River, Wiscasset was first settled in 1663. The community was abandoned during the French and Indian Wars, and the King Philip's War in 1675 and then resettled around 1730. In 1760, it was incorporated as Pownalborough after Colonial Governor Thomas Pownall. In 1802, it resumed its original Abenaki name, Wiscasset, which means "coming out from the harbor but you don't see where."
During the Revolutionary War, the British warship Rainbow harbored itself in Wiscasset Harbor and held the town at bay until the town gave the warship essential supplies.
In 1775, Captain Jack Bunker supposedly robbed the payroll of a British supply ship, Falmouth Packet, that was stowed in Wiscasset Harbor. He was chased for days and caught on Little Seal Island. His treasure reportedly has never been found.
Because of the siege during the Revolutionary War, Fort Edgecomb was built in 1808 on the opposite bank of the Sheepscot to protect the town harbor. Wiscasset's prosperity left behind fine early architecture, particularly in the Federal style when the seaport was important in privateering. Two dwellings of the period, Castle Tucker and the Nickels-Sortwell House, are now museums operated by Historic New England.
The seaport became a center for shipbuilding, fishing and lumber. Wiscasset quickly become the busiest seaport north of Boston until the embargo of 1807 halted much trade with England. Most of Wiscasset's business and trade was destroyed.
Maine was officially admitted as a state in 1820 with the passage of the Maine-Missouri Compromise. The town of Wiscasset was considered for the state capital, but lost the position because of its proximity to the ocean.
During the Civil War, Wiscasset had many of its residents that joined the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment. Its regiment was commended for fighting bravely at the Battle of Gettysburg.
Rail service to Wiscasset began with the Knox and Lincoln Railroad in 1871. The Knox and Lincoln was merged into the Maine Central Railroad in 1901. Wiscasset was connected to the national rail network by completion of the Carlton bridge over the Kennebec River in 1927.]
Nickels-Sortwell House, built 1807Wiscasset was the seaport terminal and standard gauge interchange of the 2-foot gauge Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington Railway. Construction began in Wiscasset in 1894. Train service began in 1895 as the Wiscasset and Quebec Railroad. By 1913, the railroad operated daily freight and passenger service 43.5 miles north to Albion with an 11-mile freight branch from Weeks Mills to North Vassalboro. Passengers and freight increasingly used highway transportation after World War I. Frank Winter bought the railroad about 1930 to move lumber from Branch Mills to his schooners described in the following paragraph. During the early 1930s the early morning train from Albion to Wiscasset and the afternoon train back to Albion carried the last 2-foot gauge railway post office (RPO) in the United States. A derailment of the morning train in Whitefield on June 15, 1933, terminated railroad operations before the schooners could be loaded with lumber for shipment to larger coastal cities.
Until recently, a major tourist attraction was the two ship hulks near the U.S. 1 bridge—the four-masted cargo schooners Hesper and Luther Little. Bought at auction for $600 each by entrepreneur Frank W. Winter of Auburn, they were brought to Wiscasset in 1932, then abandoned after his premature demise. Over the next 66 years, the weathered vessels would become possibly the most photographed objects in Maine. In 1998, after a violent storm took out the final masts, the rotted remains were removed from the Sheepscot River by the town.
From 1972 until 1996, Wiscasset was home to Maine Yankee, a pressurized water reactor on Bailey Point, and the only nuclear power plant in the state. The Maine Yankee nuclear power plant has been decommissioned and is inoperative. Since the closing of Maine Yankee, Wiscasset has faced a severe loss in jobs, residents, and public school enrollment. In a high school graduation speech delivered by Bradley Whitaker, he stated, "The loss of those jobs changed our community, the surrounding towns and our school system. We’ve all had friends move away, our parents have had their taxes rise dramatically, enrollment has plummeted, we’ve watched teachers and administrators leave, programs and sports eliminated." The town attempted to replace Maine Yankee with a gasification plant, but the plan subsequently failed due to a town vote]
Currently the Chewonki Foundation is attempting to start a tidal power plant along the Sheepscot River.
Wiscasset was placed in the Guinness Book of World Records for having the smallest church in the world.[10] The church now is occasionally displayed at the Ripley's Believe It or Not! Museum in Las Vegas, Nevada.
In 1995, a small fire erupted at Maine Yankee Nuclear Power plant. The fire emitted a tremendous amount of smoke which made it seem worse than it was. A video, by photographer Keith Brooks, was obtained by local media and was presented on NBC Nightly News. While the fire was not a tremendous threat, many locals believed it was a major concern for the environment, which caused several referendums to have the nuclear plant closed.
In 2009, the town lost a legal battle to reclaim an original copy of the Declaration of Independence[11] that was accidentally sold by the estate of the daughter of a former town official, Sol Holbrook.
A Virginia court ruled the true owner was Richard L. Adams, Jr., who paid $475,000 for the document in 2002. The State of Maine paid nearly $40,000 in legal fees. Two hundred and fifty copies were made and distributed throughout the colonies and delivered to towns. Only 11 of the original documents have ever been found.
Red's Eats, a small take out restaurant, located by the Donald E. Davey Bridge on Route 1 has been featured in more than 20 magazines and newspapers, including USA Today and National Geographic and several major television network newscasts, including Sunday Morning on CBS and a report by Bill Geist. The restaurant has been deemed to have "The best lobster roll in Maine."
GeographyAccording to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 27.7 square miles (72 km2), of which, 24.6 square miles (64 km2) of it is land and 3.1 square miles (8.0 km2) of it (11.26%) is water. Wiscasset is drained by the Sheepscot River.
Wiscasset, Maine is located just a short 45 minute drive north of Portland
on Route 1 on the western shores of the Sheepscot River. Historically the
largest shipping port north of Boston but more recently, an antique haven
for discriminating collectors of Americana, Folk Art, Fine Arts, Country
and Formal furnishing and accessories, English and Country French offer-
ings, Fine Asian Antiquities, Indian and Tribal Arts, Textiles, Oriental Carpets
and much, much more. You’ll find experienced and friendly dealers willing
to assist your with your selections and insure your total confidentiality.
Dealers take pride in the merchandise you’ll find displayed in gallery settings
yet comfortable enough to make you feel right at home. Plan a weekend,
a vacation, or a day trip but plan on coming to Wiscasset for a truly unique
and wonderful antiques experience. A newly designed walking map awaits
you that will guide you to the locations of some of the very best antiques
dealers not only in the state but in New England as well!!!!
Wecome to this beautiful village in Midcoast Maine
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