Description & History of Richmond

 

 

 

Richmond (see map at Sagadahoc County and Its Towns ), approximately 5-1/2 miles long by 6 miles wide, is the most northerly town of Sagadahoc County and situated on the west bank of the Kennebec River, 17 miles south of Augusta and 12 miles north of Bath by water.  Gardiner bounds it on the north, Bowdoinham on the south, Dresden on the east, and Littlefield on the west.  Preble, Wilson, and Mount Tom hills are the principal elevations; Cobbossee Contee (or Pleasant Pond), with its southern feeder, forms the western boundary of the town.  Abagadasset River rises in the northwestern part and runs southward through the town, and Mill Brook is the principal stream in the eastern part of the town, discharging into the Kennebec at the village in the southeastern part of the town.  A mineral spring, known as Richmond Mineral Spring, is highly esteemed by some.  At one time, a shoe factory, brass foundry, large saw and planing mill, four shipyards, furniture factory, sail-loft, bakery, edge-tool shops, etc., all flourished in Richmond.

In 1649, one Christopher Lawson purchased from the Indians a tract of land on the western side of the Kennebec, extending from the mouth of the stream falling into the river near the head of Swan Island (Perkins Township) to the mouth of the Cobbossee Contee, and back from the Kennebec 10 miles.  This tract was sold in 1650 by Lawson to Clarke and Lake and is about equally divided between Richmond and Gardiner.  In 1719/20, a fortification bearing the name "Fort Richmond" was erected within the present limits of Richmond Village and dismantled in 1754 when the forts Shirely, Western, and Halifax were built further up the river. Its purpose was to facilitate trade with the Indians and, at the same time, afford security to the settlers against them.  It was sharply assailed by the savages in 1722 and again in 1750.  On the incorporation of Bowdoinham in 1762, the territory now comprising Richmond was embraced in it, which brought on a violent contest between the claimants under the Plymouth Patent and those who held under Lawson's purchase.

Among former residents of note were Nathaniel Langdon, William Pitt, formerly the owner of nearly all the territory of the town; M. S. Hagar, Ezra Abbott, Robert B. Street, P. M. Foster, noted lawyers of their time; F. R. Theobald, William H. Sturtevant, J. T. Harward, Jabez R. Blanchard, Ambury Southard, successful shipmasters; J. C. Boynton, D. W. C. Chamberlain, physicians; John Toothaker, Thomas Spear, William Patten, extensive shipbuilders; George H. Hatch, George H. Thomas, J. J. Hathorn, Charles White, Henry Darrah, merchants; Low Curtis, Ambrose Curtis, Samuel Harlow, Benjamin Randall, James B. Beedle, wealthy farmers.  The centenarian of the town was Frederick Bates, who died at the age of 100 years and 3 months.  Aaron Davis, Nicholas Gaubert, Nathaniel Tebbetts, James Woodworth, Charles Blanchard, Peter Cooper, Samuel Allen, soldiers of the War of 1812.

Richmond Town Hall

Town Clerk
Richmond, ME 04357

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