Augusta, ME Summary

Augusta (population 19,544) is inland from the coast on the Kennebec River, 55 miles northeast of Portland on I-95/495. It was originally settled in 1628 but was abandoned and then resettled in 1724. There was continuing violence during the French and Indian Wars and the War of 1812. Though Portland was the early capital, Augusta has been the capital since 1827.

Being inland, it was less vulnerable to attacks by sea from the French, British, or Native Americans.

In 1844, Augusta was already a center for lumber and had the raw materials for making paper. Paper mills quickly sprang up, using the local rivers as a water source, and the town grew as the paper industry blossomed.

Another industry also sprang up in Augusta in the mid-1800s. Each year the fresh, clean waters of the Kennebec River froze, and this provided the raw material for a huge industry — ice. Refrigeration had not yet been invented, and ice was needed to preserve food. The river ice was cut into blocks, and hundreds of tons were shipped to cities and towns all over the United States, and even to the Caribbean. The ice men would take blocks of ice and sell them, door-to-door, from a horse-drawn cart. The invention of refrigeration completely destroyed this industry, and many people had to leave Augusta to find other work.

Whitewater rafting and kayaking are popular on the Kennebec and the Dead Rivers, and on the west branch of the Penobscot, timed with dam releases. It is an exciting way to experience the wilderness.

The Maine State Museum in Augusta has wonderfully varied exhibits on quarrying, agriculture, shipbuilding, tools, Maine’s gems, furniture making, glass making, and Maine’s natural heritage. A feature is the “12,000 Years in Maine” exhibit on the Ice Age, which illustrates how the people lived and hunted then, and what they ate. One of the oldest remaining steam locomotives is here.

There are many hands-on exhibits and children are very welcome.

Augusta has its own airport, and Portland International Jetport is not far away. Buses also service the area.