Editing South Bristol, Maine (section)

==History==

The town was once territory of the Wawenock (or more precisely Walinakiak, meaning "People of the Bays") [[Abenaki]] [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|people]], who traveled in canoes to hunt for fish, shellfish, [[earless seal|seal]]s and seafowl. In 1614, Captain [[John Smith (explorer)|John Smith]] explored the coast, and is said to have named Christmas Cove when he visited it on [[Christmas Day]]. The land was subsequently part of the Pemaquid Patent, granted by the [[Plymouth Council for New England]] in 1631 to Robert Aldsworth and Gyles Elbridge, merchants from [[Bristol]], England, from which the town derives its name.<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/n98 66]–72| url = https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_OcoMAAAAYAAJ}}</ref>

A [[palisade]] fort and settlement were built on the adjacent [[Pemaquid Peninsula]]. Between 1630 and 1650, the area was the center for [[fur trading]] in Maine. It was attacked and rebuilt repeatedly during the [[French and Indian Wars]], with the final two attacks occurring in 1747 at Fort Frederick. In 1765, [[Bristol, Maine|Bristol]] was incorporated as a town, with South Bristol its western portion.<ref name="Coolidge"/> On March 26, 1915, South Bristol was set off and incorporated as a separate town.<ref name="mainegenealogy.net">[http://www.mainegenealogy.net/individual_place_record.asp?place=south_bristol Maine Genealogy: South Bristol, Lincoln County, Maine]</ref>

In the 1800s, the village of Walpole was noted for [[brickmaking]] and [[ice harvesting]]. Brickyards along the Damariscotta River supplied many of the bricks used to build [[Boston]]'s [[Back Bay]] neighborhood. The ice business faded with the advent of [[refrigeration]], but the Thompson Ice House, established in 1826, is now preserved as the Thompson Ice Harvesting Museum. The Bristol Yacht Building Company, later known as H.F. Gamage Shipbuilding, built [[minesweeper]]s for the [[United States Navy]] during [[World War II]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ref/USN-Act/ME.html|title=U.S.Navy Activities World War II by State|publisher=U.S. Naval Historical Center|access-date=March 7, 2012}}</ref> [[Shipbuilding]] has remained important, with [[schooner]]s, [[fishing trawler]]s, lobster boats and [[yacht]]s constructed at the town.<ref>{{Citation
  | last = Varney
  | first = George J.
  | title = Gazetteer of the state of Maine. Bristol
  | place = Boston
  | publisher = Russell
  | year = 1886
  | url = http://history.rays-place.com/me/bristol-me.htm }}
</ref> The [[Hudson River Sloop Clearwater|Hudson River Sloop ''Clearwater'']] was built here in 1968. Other industries in South Bristol are fishing, [[lobster fishing|lobstering]], [[clamming]], [[aquaculture]] and [[tourism]].<ref name="mainegenealogy.net"/>

The [[peninsula]] and Rutherford Island were connected by a [[swing bridge]], one of only three in Maine, which spanned "The Gut." In 2017 the swing bridge was replaced with a safer [[drawbridge]]. For well over a century, Rutherford Island in particular has been a vacation destination for families from [[Massachusetts]], [[Connecticut]], [[New York (state)|New York]] and [[New Jersey]]. Many homes on the island are owned by these families.<ref>[http://lincoln.midcoast.com/~sbes/sbhistory/ History of South Bristol, Maine] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714090950/http://lincoln.midcoast.com/~sbes/sbhistory/ |date=July 14, 2011 }}</ref>

<gallery>
File:View of South Bristol, ME.jpg|View of South Bristol in 1908
File:Walpole Meeting House, Walpole, ME.jpg|Walpole Meeting House {{circa|1908}}
File:Steamboat Landing, Christmas Cove, ME.jpg|[[Steamboat]] landing in 1910
</gallery>