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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