Wiscasset, ME Summary

Wiscasset (population 3,700), a lovely old village, is on the Sheepscot River, 10 miles northeast of Bath on US-1. It was settled in 1663, and was home to many sea captains and shipping magnates, and the hub for all shipping north of Boston. Today there are few boats built here, and most of the boat traffic is small pleasure craft.

Fort Edgecomb (1808), an octagonal blockhouse, was built nearby to protect American ships from British and French raids.

Today, the bustle is gone but old cemeteries and churches preserve the area’s history. Many of the old mansions have been converted to antique shops, art galleries, and guesthouses. It is now a center for artists and writers. The Maine Art Gallery exhibits local work.

Castle Tucker House was built in 1807 on a hill overlooking the Sheepscot River. This Federal-style house showcases the history of the town and of the families that lived there. There are ship portraits, furnishings from Victorian family life, keepsakes from foreign travel, and natural history exhibits about the area. The house is named for Captain Richard Tucker, who moved here with his young bride and managed the wharves and the iron foundry. The couple raised five children here. His business collapsed in 1871, so he took in boarders and began farming to feed his family. Years later, his daughter took over the house and preserved it as it had been in the late 1800s.

Nickels-Sortwell House has an imposing fa\347ade that is the centerpiece of Main Street. It is a threestory Colonial Revival-style house — white with black shutters, columns, and a central arched window.

Captain William Nickels, a ship owner and trader, built it when business was booming. There was little time to enjoy the house because the Embargo Act of 1807 and the War of 1812 decimated the shipping industry. Many families involved in shipping went broke. The house was turned into a hotel in 1830. Fortune changed again as the house became a summer resort in the late 1800s. It is open from June to October.

Portland International Jetport is the nearest major airport, 48 miles southwest of Wiscasset.