History & Context

Abenaki Indians originally inhabited the area around the Damariscotta River, leaving behind the 2,500-year-old Whaleback Shell Midden on the river shore. The Abenaki skirmished with colonists who moved upriver from the village of Pemaquid in the mid-1600s, but by the mid-1700s the groups established relative peace. Damariscotta’s name is a distortion of the Algonquin word Madamescontee, which means “place of an abundance of alewives,” and the region’s plentiful natural resources drove its early growth.

In the heyday of the clipper ships in the late 1700s and early 1800s, shipbuilding brought new wealth and many fine buildings to Damariscotta. Services followed to support the growing town, including carpenters, dressmakers, harness makers, stone and brick masons, tailors, surveyors and an undertaker. Damariscotta was incorporated in 1847 when the towns of Nobleboro and Bristol were partitioned to form three towns, and it was further divided from the Town of Newcastle in 1848. After its incorporation Damariscotta grew as a trade and manufacturing center, with industries including sawmills, a match factory, a tannery and several brickyards. As recently as the early 1900s, there were over 40 stores and 30 small trade shops in town.

The Town and region have lost most of their natural resource-based jobs and many independent businesses. Chain stores and auto-oriented development have slowly crept in toward the downtown, but the prospect of a Wal-Mart in 2005 spurred residents to action. The Town held a special election resulting in a retail size cap of 35,000 square feet, temporarily holding off large retail development. The community’s experience resisting a big box store revealed how ill-equipped it was to manage ever-increasing development pressure, and how much it needed to engage citizens in planning.

To improve the planning process and prepare for future controversies, the Town created the Damariscotta Planning Advisory Committee (DPAC) and charged it with “fostering a community visioning process, establishing and maintaining an ongoing long-range strategic planning process and monitoring implementation, incorporating and promoting public dialogue about community and regional planning….”

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