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==History== The [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]] who originally inhabited Harpswell were [[Abenaki]]. The Abenaki name for Harpswell Neck, then called West Harpswell, was ''Merriconeag'' or "quick carrying place", a reference to the narrow [[peninsula]]'s easy [[portage]]. The Abenaki name for Great Island was Erascohegan or Sebascodiggin,<ref>"History of Harpswell, Maine", from ''A Gazetteer of the State of Maine'', by Geo. J. Varney. Published by B. B. Russell, 57 Cornhill, Boston, 1886 [https://archive.today/20120709064602/http://history.rays-place.com/me/harpswell-me.htm]</ref> which became by the late 1800s [[Sebascodegan Island]]. About 1659 Major Nicholas Shapleigh of [[Kittery, Maine]], bought Merriconeag and Sebascodegan Island from the Abenaki, but because of Indian defense, attempts to settle the area were abandoned until after [[Dummer's War]]. The Treaty of 1725 brought a truce, and by 1731 many settlers had returned.<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/n187 153]β154| url = https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_OcoMAAAAYAAJ| quote = coolidge mansfield history description new england 1859. }}</ref> Formerly a part of [[North Yarmouth]], in 1758 the town was incorporated by the [[Massachusetts General Court]] and named for [[Harpswell, Lincolnshire|Harpswell]] in [[Lincolnshire]], England.<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 = 312β316 }}</ref> Industries included [[farming]] and some [[shipbuilding]], but [[fishing]] brought considerable profit, and lobstering still contributes to the local economy.{{citation needed|date=November 2023}} The [[Bailey Island Bridge]] is a [[National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark]].
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