Town History

The Damariscotta-Newcastle region has a rich history that includes all of the chapters you’d expect – boatbuilding, military history and a maritime culture that reads like a novel. The mid coast’s Twin Villages of Damariscotta/Damariscotta Mills and Newcastle are uniquely positioned along the banks of the Damariscotta River, which once hosted a variety of boatbuilding operations beginning in the mid 1700’s.

As King George of England reserved the great tall white pines of Maine for the Royal Navy’s ship masts, an industry began, which included boatbuilding, sawmills, lumberyards, blacksmith, and rigging shops. Schooners, brigs and sailing ships were built for New England merchants and were widely acclaimed for their speed and strength. The area produced more vessels than any other state in the nation at that time, and those vessels were sailed around the world.