Editing Damariscotta, Maine (section)

==History==

The area was once inhabited by the Wawenock (or Walinakiak, meaning "People of the Bays") [[Abenaki]] [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Indians]], who left behind 2,500-year-old [[oyster]] shell [[midden]]s along the banks of the Damariscotta River. The [[Whaleback Shell Midden]] is now a state historic site. The land became part of the Pemaquid Patent, granted by the [[Plymouth Council for New England|Plymouth Council]] in 1631 to Robert Aldsworth and Gyles Elbridge, merchants from [[Bristol, England|Bristol]], England. At Pemaquid (now [[Bristol, Maine|Bristol]]), they built a fort and [[trading post]].<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| pages = [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_OcoMAAAAYAAJ/page/n134 100]–101| url = https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_OcoMAAAAYAAJ| quote = coolidge mansfield history description new england 1859.  }}</ref>

Some colonists moved upriver from the village at Pemaquid about 1640 to settle what is today Damariscotta. But the settlements were attacked in 1676 during [[King Philip's War]], with the  inhabitants either driven off or massacred. Attempts to rebuild alternated with further attacks during the [[French and Indian Wars]]. The [[Province of Massachusetts Bay]] constructed [[Fort William Henry (Pemaquid Beach, Maine)|Fort William Henry]] at Pemaquid in 1692, but it was destroyed in 1696. The last battle of [[King William's War]] was on September 9, the Battle of Damariscotta, in which Captain [[John March (colonel)|John March]] killed 25 native men.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://archive.org/details/ancientdominions00sewa|title=Ancient dominions of Maine : embracing the earliest facts, the recent discoveries, of the remains of aboriginal towns, the voyages, settlements, battle scenes, and incidents of Indian warfare, and other incidents of history, together with the religious developments of society within the ancient Sagadahoc, Sheepscot, and Pemaquid precincts and dependencies|first=Rufus King|last=Sewall|date=October 20, 1859|publisher=Bath : Elisha Clark & Co. ; Boston : Crosby & Nichols|via=Internet Archive}}</ref>

Fort Frederick, in 1729, successfully resisted the region's final two attacks, and was pulled down at the time of the Revolution so that the British could not occupy it. With peace at last, Damariscotta grew as a trade center. It was incorporated as a separate town on March 15, 1848, set off from parts of Bristol and [[Nobleboro, Maine|Nobleboro]].<ref name="MAGDE">{{cite book |last= Maine League of Historical Societies and Museums |editor=Doris A. Isaacson |title=Maine: A Guide 'Down East' |year=1970 |publisher=Courier-Gazette, Inc. |location=Rockland, Me | pages = 258 }}</ref>

The name Damariscotta is an extreme corruption of the [[Algonquian languages|Algonquian]] word "Madamescontee", meaning "place of an abundance of [[alewife (fish)|alewives]]", which are small, salty fish that [[spawn (biology)|spawn]] in Damariscotta Lake. The main village is located at the lower [[waterfall|falls]] and [[head of navigation]] on the Damariscotta River. Early industries included two [[sawmill]]s, a [[match]] factory and a [[Tanning (leather)|tannery]]. Along the river were established several [[brickmaking|brickyards]], which supplied much of the brick used to build [[Boston, Massachusetts|Boston's]] [[Back Bay]] neighborhood. [[Shipbuilding]] in particular brought Damariscotta wealth in the 1800s, when [[clipper ship]]s were launched at the town's [[shipyard]]s.<ref>{{Cite book
  | last = Varney
  | first = George J.
  | title = Gazetteer of the State of Maine
  | chapter = Damariscotta
  | location = Boston
  | publisher = Russell
  | year = 1886
  | url = http://history.rays-place.com/me/damariscotta-me.htm
  | access-date = October 17, 2007
| archive-date = January 7, 2014
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140107204135/http://history.rays-place.com/me/damariscotta-me.htm
  | url-status = dead
  }}</ref> During that time, many fine examples of [[Federal style architecture|Federal]], [[Greek Revival]] and [[Italianate]] style architecture were erected, giving the old [[seaport]] a considerable charm which each summer attracts throngs of tourists. Damariscotta is home of the [[Skidompha Public Library]], whose name is an acronym formed from the first letter of several founders' [[surname]]s.

The terminus of the Damariscotta River is the Great Salt Bay, a mating area for [[Atlantic horseshoe crab|horseshoe crab]]s in [[North America]], and the state's first marine protected area. The river is home to 80% of the farmed oysters produced in Maine.

<gallery>
File:Damariscotta River Steamboat Co.'s Fleet.jpg|Steamboat fleet in 1906
File:Looking East from Bridge, Damariscotta, ME.jpg|Main Street in 1910
File:Fiske House, Damariscotta, ME.jpg|The Fiske House in 1914
</gallery>