Editing Columbia Falls, Maine (section)

==History==

The town began as Township 13 SD, BPP, which was joined together with Township 12 by the [[Massachusetts General Court]] on February 8, 1796, and incorporated as [[Columbia, Maine|Columbia]]. It was settled soon after the [[American Revolution|Revolutionary War]].<ref name=Coolidge>{{Cite book  | last = Coolidge  | first = Austin J.|author2=John B. Mansfield  | title = A History and Description of New England| publisher = A.J. Coolidge  | year = 1859| location = Boston, Massachusetts| page = [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_OcoMAAAAYAAJ/page/n129 95] | url = https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_OcoMAAAAYAAJ| quote = coolidge mansfield history description new england 1859.  }}</ref> On March 25, 1863, the town was set off from Columbia and incorporated as Columbia Falls.<ref name="Maine.gov -- Columbia Falls, Maine">[http://www.maine.gov/local/washington/columbia_falls/ Maine.gov -- Columbia Falls, Maine] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100208013651/http://www.maine.gov/local/washington/columbia_falls/ |date=February 8, 2010 }}</ref>

[[Lumbering]] and [[shipbuilding]] brought the town prosperity and endowed it with some fine early [[architecture]]. This includes the [[Ruggles House (Maine)|Ruggles House]] (1818–1820), an exquisite [[Federal style architecture|Federal]] home that is now a [[house museum|museum]], and the [[Union Church (Columbia Falls, Maine)|Union Church]] (1849), a [[Greek Revival]] [[meeting house]] which since 1902 has housed the town hall, library and archives. The [[Washington County Railroad (1893–1903)|Washington County Railroad]] arrived at Columbia Falls in 1898. [[Tourism]] and harvesting [[blueberry|blueberries]] are important industries today, together with producing [[Christmas tree]]s and [[wreath]]s.<ref name="Maine.gov -- Columbia Falls, Maine"/><ref>{{Cite web |last=Sharp |first=David |date=June 30, 2023 |title=They envision the world's tallest flagpole in this Maine town. Instead of uniting, it is dividing. |url=https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2023/06/30/worlds-tallest-flagpole-maine-town-uniting-dividing/ |access-date=July 2, 2023 |website=Boston.com |language=en-US |agency=Associated Press}}</ref>