Augusta is the capital of the U.S. state of Maine, county seat of Kennebec County, and center of population for Maine . The city's population was 18,560 at the 2000 census. Located on the Kennebec River at the head of tide, it is home to the University of Maine at Augusta.
The area was first explored by members of the ill-fated Popham Colony in September 1607. It was first inhabited by English settlers from the Plymouth Colony in 1629 as a tradin...
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Augusta is the capital of the U.S. state of Maine, county seat of Kennebec County, and center of population for Maine . The city's population was 18,560 at the 2000 census. Located on the Kennebec River at the head of tide, it is home to the University of Maine at Augusta.
The area was first explored by members of the ill-fated Popham Colony in September 1607. It was first inhabited by English settlers from the Plymouth Colony in 1629 as a trading post on the Kennebec River. The settlement was known by its Indian name—Cushnoc (or Coussinoc or Koussinoc), meaning "head of tide." Fur trading was at first profitable, but with Indian uprisings and declining revenues, the Plymouth Colony sold the Kennebec Patent in 1661. Cushnoc would remain empty for the next 75 years.
A hotbed of Abenaki hostility toward British settlements was located further up the Kennebec at Norridgewock. In 1722, the tribe and its allies attacked Fort Richmond (now Richmond) and destroyed Brunswick. In response,...
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