Editing Phippsburg, Maine (section)

==History==

Site of the [[Popham Colony]], Phippsburg was—between 1607 and 1608—the first known [[English people|English]] settlement attempt in [[New England]]. During its brief existence, colonists built ''[[Virginia (pinnace)|Virginia of Sagadahoc]]'', the first ship in Maine's long history of [[shipbuilding]].<ref>''Phippsburg-Fair To The Wind'', Compiled by the Phippsburg Historical Society, 1964</ref>

The next British settlement at the mouth of the [[Kennebec River]] began in 1653; Thomas Atkins, a [[fisherman]], purchased from the [[sachem]] Mowhotiwormet, commonly called Chief Robinhood, the southern end of Phippsburg (with the exception of Popham). Atkins Bay bears his name. The population gradually increased until [[King Philip's War]], when [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Indigenous peoples]] in August 1676 attacked the eastern side of the Kennebec River, [[Wiktionary:massacre|massacring]] and [[scalping]] the colonists, or else carrying them into captivity. Dwellings were burned and stocks of [[cattle]] killed. The entire area was abandoned.<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/n295 259]–260| url = https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_OcoMAAAAYAAJ| quote = coolidge mansfield history description new england 1859.  }}</ref>

Resettlement commenced in 1679 at Newtown, located on the southern end of [[Arrowsic, Maine|Arrowsic Island]] (across the river from present-day Phippsburg Center). About 1684, [[Francis Small]] had a [[trading post]] at Cape Small, which bears his name. But in 1689 the area was again destroyed and deserted during [[King William's War]]. With the [[Treaty of Portsmouth (1713)|Treaty of Portsmouth]] in 1713, conflict was formally ended between the [[Abenaki]] and English settlements. In 1714, Newtown was reestablished, then incorporated in 1716 as Georgetown-on-Arrowsic by the [[Massachusetts General Court]]. Also in 1716, the [[Pejepscot Proprietors]] established a little [[fishing]] village called Augusta at the Small Point Harbor area of Phippsburg. Dr. Oliver Noyes, director of the colony, erected a stone fort {{convert|100|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}} square to protect it. In 1717, Governor [[Samuel Shute]] held a conference at Georgetown-on-Arrowsic with tribal delegates, who arrived in a flotilla of [[canoe]]s and encamped on Lee Island.<ref>[http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mesagada/phipps.htm Brief Description and History of Phippsburg, Maine]</ref>

But in summer of 1723 during [[Dummer's War]], the [[Norridgewock]]s and 250 of their Indian allies from [[Canada]], incited by the [[French people|French]] [[missionary]] [[Sebastien Rale]], attacked the area. Again it was deserted, with the stone fort destroyed. Governor [[William Dummer]]'s Treaty of 1725 restored peace, and in 1737 an attempt was made to resettle Cape Small Point. The boundaries of Georgetown-on-Arrowsic were enlarged to encompass most of present-day Phippsburg, [[Bath, Maine|Bath]] (which then included [[West Bath, Maine|West Bath]]), [[Woolwich, Maine|Woolwich]] and [[Georgetown, Maine|Georgetown]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.camaronal-cr.com/phippsburg/history.htm |title=Phippsburg History Timeline |access-date=May 21, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080407131634/http://www.camaronal-cr.com/phippsburg/history.htm |archive-date=April 7, 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Slow resettlement of the Phippsburg peninsula found ten farms along the Kennebec River by 1751, with five more on the [[Casco Bay]] side. But the districts gathered into Georgetown-on-Arrowsic began splitting away; in 1759, Woolwich withdrew, followed in 1781 by Bath. In 1814, Phippsburg was set off and incorporated.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=9nEgAAAAIBAJ&pg=3417%2C2283219 | title=Many Maine towns bear names of military men | work=Lewiston Evening Journal | date=April 20, 1949 | access-date=October 17, 2015 | author=Chadbourne, Ava H. | pages=A-2}}</ref> The original petition requested that it be named Dromore after one of the town's oldest sections, but [[Massachusetts]] chose instead to honor one of its royal governors, [[William Phips|Sir William Phips]]—actually a native of Woolwich.<ref>{{Citation
 | last = Varney
 | first = George J.
 | title = Gazetteer of the state of Maine. Phippsburg
 | place = Boston
 | publisher = Russell
 | year = 1886
 | url = http://history.rays-place.com/me/phipsburg-me.htm }}
</ref>

Between 1842 and 1890, wooden ships were built at Phippsburg. It also had numerous tidal [[watermills|mills]].

[[Fort Popham]] was built during the Civil War to guard the mouth of the Kennebec, on the site of a much smaller battery built in 1808. It became the control center for an underwater minefield in the 1890s. The more modern [[Fort Baldwin]] was built between 1905 and 1912 and was garrisoned in both World Wars.

In 1891 Phippsburg ceded Ragged Island to [[Harpswell, Maine|Harpswell]], but in 1917 it further added to its roster of islands by annexing nine [[Casco Bay]] islands including Bushy, Hen, Bear, Malaga, Burnt Coat, Black Snake, Wood, Little Wood, and Gooseberry Islands. Malaga was later offered to, but refused by, Harpswell.<ref>{{Cite web|date=February 18, 2012|title=Phippsburg {{!}} Maine: An Encyclopedia|url=https://maineanencyclopedia.com/phippsburg/|access-date=January 25, 2022|language=en-US}}</ref>

During the [[Gilded Age]], Popham Beach developed into a resort area, with [[steamboat]]s transporting excursionists from Bath. Today, the town's principal industries are [[fishing]] and [[tourism]].

In 1971, Phippsburg was the site of the discovery of the [[Spirit Pond runestones]], purported evidence of pre-Columbian European exploration of North America, but now shown to be a modern hoax..<ref name="americanheritage">Snow, Dean R. (October/November 1981). [https://web.archive.org/web/20070929120900/http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1981/6/1981_6_102_print.shtml "Martians & Vikings, Maldoc & Runes"]. ''[[American Heritage Magazine]]'' '''32'''(6). Archived from [http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1981/6/1981_6_102_print.shtml the original] on September 29, 2007.</ref><ref name=haugen>[[Einar Haugen|Haugen, Einar]] (1974). "The Rune Stones of Spirit Pond, Maine". ''Visible Language'' '''8'''(1).</ref> The three stones were found by Walter J. Elliot, Jr., a carpenter from [[Bath, Maine]]. The runestones are now in the possession of the [[Maine State Museum]] in [[Augusta, Maine]].

<gallery widths="200px" heights="160px">
Image:Steamer Eldorado of the Bath & Popham Beach Line.jpg|Popham Beach steamer, {{circa|1910}}
Image:View of Popham Beach, Phippsburg, ME.jpg|View of Popham Beach in 1906
File:Fort Popham, Phippsburg.jpg|[[Fort Popham]]
</gallery>